Plants with improved agronomic traits

Abstract

Isolated polynucleotides and polypeptides and recombinant DNA constructs useful for conferring drought tolerance, compositions (such as plants or seeds) comprising these recombinant DNA constructs, and methods utilizing these recombinant DNA constructs. The recombinant DNA construct comprises a polynucleotide operably linked to a promoter that is functional in a plant, wherein said polynucleotide encodes a PRE2 polypeptide.

1 . A method of altering an agronomic parameter of a plant, the method comprising downregulating the endogenous expression of a nucleotide encoding a polypeptide, wherein the polypeptide comprises a conserved domain selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 27-48. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the agronomic parameter is selected from the group consisting of greenness, yield, growth rate, biomass, plant nitrogen content, drought tolerance, nitrogen uptake, root lodging, harvest index, stalk lodging, plant height, ear height, ear width, ear length, ear area, salt tolerance, early seedling vigor and seedling emergence under low temperature stress, drought tolerance, increased nitrogen use efficiency, silk count, inducing early maturity, delaying maturity, days to shed and days to silk. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the suppression of endogenous expression of the messenger RNA is by RNAi. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or a sequence that is at least 90% identical to SEQ ID NO: 3. 
     
     
         5 . A plant comprising in its genome a polynucleotide operably linked to at least one heterologous regulatory element, wherein said polynucleotide comprises a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of:
 (a) a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide with drought tolerance activity, wherein the polypeptide has an amino acid sequence of at least 90% sequence identity, based on the Clustal W method of alignment with pairwise alignment default parameters (GAP PENALTY=10, GAP LENGTH PENALTY=0.2, DELAY DEVERGENT SEQS(%)=30%, DNA TRANSITION WEIGHT=0.5, PROTEIN WEIGHT MATRIX “Gonnet Series”), when compared to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20 and 22 or a fragment thereof;   (b) a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide with drought tolerance activity, wherein the nucleotide sequence is hybridizable under stringent conditions with a DNA molecule comprising the full complement compared to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23-26;   (c) a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide with drought tolerance activity, wherein the nucleotide sequence is derived from one or more SEQ ID NOS: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23-26; by alteration of one or more nucleotides by at least one method selected from the group consisting of: deletion, substitution, addition and insertion;   (d) a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20 and 22; and   (e) a nucleotide sequence comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23-26;   and wherein said plant exhibits increased drought tolerance or improved nitrogen utilization when compared to a control plant not comprising said polynucleotide.   
     
     
         6 . The plant of  claim 5 , wherein said plant exhibits said increase in yield when compared, under water limiting conditions, to said control plant not comprising said recombinant DNA construct. 
     
     
         7 . The plant of any one of  claim 5  wherein the plant is a monocot. 
     
     
         8 . The plant of  claim 5  wherein the plant is selected from the group consisting of: maize, soybean, sunflower, sorghum, canola, wheat, alfalfa, cotton, rice, barley, millet, sugarcane, switchgrass, tobacco, potato and sugar beet. 
     
     
         9 . An isolated polynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of:
 (a) a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide with drought tolerance activity, wherein the polypeptide has an amino acid sequence of at least 90% sequence identity, based on the Clustal W method of alignment with pairwise alignment default parameters (GAP PENALTY=10, GAP LENGTH PENALTY=0.2, DELAY DEVERGENT SEQS(%)=30%, DNA TRANSITION WEIGHT=0.5, PROTEIN WEIGHT MATRIX “Gonnet Series”), when compared to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20 and 22;   (b) a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide with drought tolerance activity, wherein the nucleotide sequence is hybridizable under stringent conditions with a DNA molecule comprising the full complement of SEQ ID NO a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23-26;   (c) a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide with drought tolerance activity, wherein the nucleotide sequence is a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23-26 a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23-26; by alteration of one or more nucleotides by at least one method selected from the group consisting of: deletion, substitution, addition and insertion;   (d) a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20 and 22; and   (e) a nucleotide sequence comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23-26 a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23-26;   wherein the polynucleotide is operably linked to a heterologous regulatory element.   
     
     
         10 . The polynucleotide of  claim 9 , wherein the polypeptide of part (a) has an amino acid sequence of at least 80% sequence identity, based on the Clustal W method of alignment with the pairwise alignment default parameters, when compared to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20 and 22. 
     
     
         11 . The polynucleotide of  claim 9 , wherein the polypeptide of part (a) has an amino acid sequence of at least 85% sequence identity, based on the Clustal W method of alignment with the pairwise alignment default parameters, when compared to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20 and 22. 
     
     
         12 . The polynucleotide of  claim 9 , wherein the polypeptide of part (a) has an amino acid sequence of at least 90% sequence identity, based on the Clustal W method of alignment with the pairwise alignment default parameters, when compared to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20 and 22. 
     
     
         13 . The polynucleotide of  claim 9 , wherein the polypeptide of part (a) has an amino acid sequence of at least 95% sequence identity, based on the Clustal W method of alignment with the pairwise alignment default parameters, when compared to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20 and 22. 
     
     
         14 . A recombinant DNA construct comprising the isolated polynucleotide of  claim 9  operably linked to at least one regulatory element. 
     
     
         15 . A cell comprising the recombinant DNA construct of  claim 14 , wherein the cell is selected from the group consisting of a bacterial cell, a yeast cell, and insect cell and a plant cell. 
     
     
         16 . A plant comprising the recombinant DNA construct of  claim 14 . 
     
     
         17 . A seed comprising the recombinant DNA construct of  claim 14 . 
     
     
         18 . Seed of the plant of  claim 5 . 
     
     
         19 . The plant of  claim 5 , wherein the plant is maize and wherein the polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or a sequence that is at least 95% identical to SEQ ID NO: 3, wherein the plant shows one or more improved agronomic parameters that contribute to drought tolerance or yield. 
     
     
         20 . A maize plant cell derived from the plant of  claim 19 .