Root-preferential and stress inducible promoter and uses thereof

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of agriculture. In particular, the invention provides a promoter, a recombinant gene, plants comprising the recombinant genes and a method to improve yield of a cotton plant under stress conditions.

1 - 19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . A recombinant gene comprising:
 (a) a root-preferential promoter;   (b) a nucleic acid sequence encoding an Annexin protein; and   (c) optionally, a transcription termination and polyadenylation sequence.   
     
     
         21 . The recombinant gene of  claim 20 , wherein the root-preferential promoter is the Pbtg-26GhD10 promoter. 
     
     
         22 . The recombinant gene of  claim 20 , wherein the nucleic acid encoding an Annexin protein comprises:
 (i) a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 14 or SEQ ID NO: 16;   (ii) a nucleotide sequence at least 80% identical to SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 14 or SEQ ID NO: 16;   (iii) a nucleotide sequence of a nucleic acid capable of hybridizing under stringent conditions to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 14 or SEQ ID NO: 16;   (iv) a nucleotide sequence encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 13, SEQ ID NO: 15 or SEQ ID NO: 17;   (v) a nucleotide sequence encoding the amino acid sequence having 80% identity with SEQ ID NO: 13, SEQ ID NO: 15 or SEQ ID NO: 17; or   (vi) a nucleotide sequence encoding a protein comprising four or more annexin-repeated domains.   
     
     
         23 . A method to increase yield of a plant under a stress condition, comprising:
 regenerating a plant from plant cells comprising the recombinant gene of  claim 20 , wherein the increase is compared to a control plant.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein said plant is cotton, soybean or wheat. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the stress condition is drought stress. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the stress condition occurs during the plant reproductive stage. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the stress condition occurs on field-grown plants. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the yield is lint yield. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the yield is seed yield. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the yield is increased by at least 5%. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the yield increase is more consistently obtained compared to a method to increase the yield of a plant under a stress condition comprising regenerating a plant comprising plant cells comprising (a) a constitutive plant expressible promoter, (b) a nucleic acid sequence encoding an Annexin protein; and (c) and optionally, a transcription termination and polyadenylation sequence,
 wherein the nucleic acid encoding an Annexin protein comprises:
 ((i) a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 14 or SEQ ID NO: 16; 
 (ii) a nucleotide sequence at least 80% identical to SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 14 or SEQ ID NO: 16; 
 (iii) a nucleotide sequence of a nucleic acid capable of hybridizing under stringent conditions to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 14 or SEQ ID NO: 16; 
 (iv) a nucleotide sequence encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 13, SEQ ID NO: 15 or SEQ ID NO: 17; 
 (v) a nucleotide sequence encoding the amino acid sequence having 80% identity with SEQ ID NO: 13, SEQ ID NO: 15 or SEQ ID NO: 17; or 
 (vi) a nucleotide sequence encoding a protein comprising four or more annexin-repeated domains. 
   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the constitutive plant expressible promoter is a CaMV35S promoter. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the transcription termination and polyadenylation sequence is functional in plants. 
     
     
         34 . A plant cell comprising the recombinant gene of  claim 20 . 
     
     
         35 . A plant comprising the plant cell of  claim 34 . 
     
     
         36 . A plant part obtainable from the plant of  claim 35 . 
     
     
         37 . The plant cell of  claim 34 , which is cotton, wheat or soybean. 
     
     
         38 . The plant of  claim 35 , which is cotton, wheat or soybean. 
     
     
         39 . The recombinant gene of  claim 20 , wherein the transcription termination and polyadenylation sequence is functional in plants.