Compositions, organisms, systems, and methods for altering cold, drought, and salt tolerance in plants

Abstract

The present disclosure relates, in some embodiments, to materials, systems, organisms, and methods for enhancing abiotic stress tolerance (e.g., cold, salinity, drought, heat, wind) and/or enhancing biomass in plants. For example, enhancing abiotic stress tolerance may be achieved in plants having Arabidopsis thaliana BCL-2-associated athanogene 4 (AtBAG4) nucleic acids and/or polypeptides, Caenorhabditis elegans Ced-9 nucleic acids and/or polypeptides, and/or human Bcl-2-161 nucleic acids and/or polypeptides.

1 . A sugarcane plant having improved abiotic stress tolerance over a corresponding wild-type plant, the sugarcane plant comprising:
 an expression control sequence operable in the host; and   an expressible nucleic acid sequence encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:10 operably linked to the expression control sequence.   
     
     
         2 . The sugarcane plant according to  claim 1 , wherein the expressible nucleic acid sequence is SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, nucleotides 2135-2980 of SEQ ID NO: 5, nucleotides 2017-2826 of SEQ ID NO: 6, nucleotides 2017-2826 of SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 9. 
     
     
         3 . The sugarcane plant according to  claim 1 , wherein the improved abiotic stress tolerance is selected from the group consisting of improved cold tolerance, improved drought tolerance, improved heat tolerance, improved wind resistance, improved salt tolerance, and combinations thereof, and wherein the expressible nucleic acid encodes the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2. 
     
     
         4 . The sugarcane plant according to  claim 1 , wherein the improved abiotic stress tolerance is selected from the group consisting of improved cold tolerance, improved drought tolerance, improved wind resistance, and combinations thereof, and wherein the expressible nucleic acid encodes the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4. 
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . The sugarcane plant according to  claim 1 , wherein the plant has substantially the same stem height, leaf area, dry mass, sugar content, and/or days to flowering as the corresponding wild-type plant when both are cultivated under the same greenhouse conditions. 
     
     
         7 . The sugarcane plant according to  claim 1 , wherein the expression control sequence comprises a ubiquitin promoter or a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. 
     
     
         8 . A method of producing sugarcane having improved abiotic stress tolerance over corresponding wild-type plants, the method comprising:
 contacting a sugarcane plant cell with a nucleic acid under conditions that permit incorporation of at least a portion of the nucleic acid into the host genome; and   regenerating a plant from the contacted plant cell,
 wherein the plant comprises the incorporated nucleic acid, and 
 wherein the incorporated nucleic acid comprises an expression control sequence operable in the host, and an expressible nucleic acid sequence encoding an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:10 operably linked to the expression control sequence. 
   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the nucleic acid sequence is SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, nucleotides 2135-2980 of SEQ ID NO: 5, nucleotides 2017-2826 of SEQ ID NO: 6, nucleotides 2017-2826 of SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 9. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the improved abiotic stress tolerance is selected from the group consisting of improved cold tolerance, improved drought tolerance, improved heat tolerance, improved wind resistance, improved salt tolerance, and combinations thereof, and wherein the expressible nucleic acid encodes the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the improved abiotic stress tolerance is selected from the group consisting of improved cold tolerance, improved drought tolerance, improved wind resistance, and combinations thereof, and wherein the expressible nucleic acid encodes the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4. 
     
     
         12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the regenerated transgenic plant has substantially the same stem height, leaf area, dry mass, sugar content, and/or days to flowering as the corresponding wild-type plant when both are cultivated under the same greenhouse conditions. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the expression control sequence comprises a ubiquitin promoter or a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. 
     
     
         15 . An expression cassette or expression vector for improving abiotic stress tolerance in a sugarcane plant, the expression cassette or expression vector comprising, in a 5′ to 3′ direction:
 an expression control sequence operable in the sugarcane host plant; 
 a nucleic acid sequence that encodes an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:10; and 
 a terminator operable in in the sugarcane host plant. 
 
     
     
         16 . The expression cassette or expression vector according to  claim 15 , wherein the nucleic acid sequence is SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, nucleotides 2135-2980 of SEQ ID NO: 5, nucleotides 2017-2826 of SEQ ID NO: 6, nucleotides 2017-2826 of SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 9. 
     
     
         17 . The expression cassette or expression vector according to  claim 16 , wherein the expression control sequence comprises a ubiquitin promoter or a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. 
     
     
         18 . The expression cassette or expression vector according to  claim 16 , wherein the terminator comprises a 35S terminator and/or a NOS terminator. 
     
     
         19 . A microorganism for improving abiotic stress tolerance in a sugarcane plant, the microorganism comprising:
 an expression cassette or expression vector comprising, in a 5′ to 3′ direction:
 an expression control sequence operable in the sugarcane host plant; 
 a nucleic acid sequence that encodes an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:10; and 
 a terminator operable in in the sugarcane host plant. 
   
     
     
         20 . The microorganism according to  claim 19 , wherein the nucleic acid sequence is SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, nucleotides 2135-2980 of SEQ ID NO: 5, nucleotides 2017-2826 of SEQ ID NO: 6, nucleotides 2017-2826 of SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 9. 
     
     
         21 . The microorganism according to  claim 19 , wherein the expression control sequence comprises a ubiquitin promoter or a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. 
     
     
         22 . The microorganism according to  claim 19 , wherein the terminator comprises a 35S terminator and/or a NOS terminator. 
     
     
         23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . The sugarcane plant of  claim 1 , the plant further having improved plant biomass over a corresponding wild-type plant, the sugarcane plant comprising an  Arabidopsis thaliana  BCL-2-associated athanogene 4 (AtBAG4) protein and a  Caenorhabditis elegans  Ced-9 protein. 
     
     
         25 . (canceled)