Isolated polynucleotides, polypeptides and methods of using same for increasing abiotic stress tolerance, biomass and yield of plants

Abstract

Provided are isolated polypeptides which are at least 80% homologous to SEQ ID NOs: 529, 475-528, 530-770, 6179-9796, 9798-10421, isolated polynucleotides which are at least 80% identical to SEQ ID NOs: 314, 1-313, 315-474, 771-6178, nucleic acid constructs comprising same, transgenic cells expressing same, transgenic plants expressing same and method of using same for increasing abiotic stress tolerance, yield, growth rate, biomass, vigor, oil content, photosynthetic capacity, seed yield, fiber yield, fiber quality, fiber length, and/or nitrogen use efficiency of a plant.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of increasing yield, growth rate, biomass, vigor, oil content, seed yield, fiber yield, fiber quality, fiber length, photosynthetic capacity, nitrogen use efficiency, or abiotic stress tolerance, or reducing time to flowering or to inflorescence emergence, of a plant, comprising over-expressing within the plant a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence at least 80% identical to the polypeptide set forth by SEQ ID NO: 475, 477-484, 486-510, 512-671, 673-770, 6179, 6181-6348, 6364-6947, 6960-9796, 9798-10075, 10079-10420 or 10421, thereby increasing the yield, growth rate, biomass, vigor, oil content, seed yield, fiber yield, fiber quality, fiber length, photosynthetic capacity, nitrogen use efficiency, abiotic stress tolerance, or reducing the time to flowering or to inflorescence emergence of the plant. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising selecting said plant over-expressing said polypeptide for an increased yield, growth rate, biomass, vigor, oil content, seed yield, fiber yield, fiber quality, fiber length, photosynthetic capacity, nitrogen use efficiency and/or abiotic stress tolerance as compared to a control plant of the same species which is grown under the same growth conditions. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising selecting said plant over-expressing said polypeptide for a reduced time to flowering or time to inflorescence emergence as compared to a control plant of the same species which is grown under the same growth conditions. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said amino acid sequence is at least 90% identical to the polypeptide set forth by SEQ ID NO: 475, 477-484, 486-510, 512-671, 673-770, 6179, 6181-6348, 6364-6947, 6960-9796, 9798-10075, 10079-10420 or 10421. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said amino acid sequence exhibits at least 95% sequence identity, and has conservative amino acid substitutions, with respect to the polypeptide set forth by SEQ ID NO: 475, 477-484, 486-510, 512-671, 673-770, 6179, 6181-6348, 6364-6947, 6960-9796, 9798-10075, 10079-10420 or 10421. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said amino acid sequence is set forth by SEQ ID NO: 475, 477-484, 486-510, 512-671, 673-770, 6179, 6181-6348, 6364-6947, 6960-9796, 9798-10075, 10079-10420 or 10421. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said polypeptide is expressed from a polynucleotide comprising the nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 3-10, 12-36, 38-197, 199-263, 265-271, 273-296, 298-453, 455-474, 771, 773-961, 978-2184, 2197-5816 and 5820-6178. 
     
     
         8 . A method of producing a crop, comprising growing a crop plant transformed with an exogenous polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence at least 80% identical to the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 475, 477-484, 486-510, 512-671, 673-770, 6179, 6181-6348, 6364-6947, 6960-9796, 9798-10075 and 10079-10421, wherein the crop plant is derived from plants selected for increased yield, increased growth rate, increased biomass, increased vigor, increased oil content, increased seed yield, increased fiber yield, increased fiber quality, increased fiber length, increased photosynthetic capacity, increased nitrogen use efficiency, increased abiotic stress tolerance, reduced time to flowering and/or reduced time to inflorescence emergence, as compared to a wild type plant of the same species which is grown under the same growth conditions, and the crop plant has the increased yield, increased growth rate, increased biomass, increased vigor, increased oil content, increased seed yield, increased fiber yield, increased fiber quality, increased fiber length, increased photosynthetic capacity, increased nitrogen use efficiency, increased abiotic stress tolerance, reduced time to flowering and/or reduced time to inflorescence emergence, thereby producing the crop. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said amino acid sequence exhibits at least 95% sequence identity, and has conservative amino acid substitutions, with respect to the polypeptide set forth by SEQ ID NO: 475, 477-484, 486-510, 512-671, 673-770, 6179, 6181-6348, 6364-6947, 6960-9796, 9798-10075, 10079-10420 or 10421. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said amino acid sequence is set forth by SEQ ID NO: 475, 477-484, 486-510, 512-671, 673-770, 6179, 6181-6348, 6364-6947, 6960-9796, 9798-10075, 10079-10420 or 10421. 
     
     
         11 . A nucleic acid construct comprising an isolated polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide which comprises an amino acid sequence at least 80% identical to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 475, 477-484, 486-510, 512-671, 673-770, 6179, 6181-6348, 6364-6947, 6960-9796, 9798-10075, 10079-10420 or 10421, and a promoter for directing transcription of said nucleic acid sequence in a host cell, wherein said promoter is heterologous to said isolated polynucleotide, and wherein said amino acid sequence is capable of increasing yield, growth rate, biomass, vigor, oil content, seed yield, fiber yield, fiber quality, fiber length, photosynthetic capacity, nitrogen use efficiency, or abiotic stress tolerance, or reducing time to flowering or to inflorescence emergence, of a plant. 
     
     
         12 . The nucleic acid construct of  claim 11 , wherein said polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 475, 477-484, 486-510, 512-671, 673-770, 6179, 6181-6348, 6364-6947, 6960-9796, 9798-10075 and 10079-10421. 
     
     
         13 . The nucleic acid construct of  claim 11 , wherein said nucleic acid sequence is at least 80% identical to SEQ ID NOs: 1, 3-10, 12-36, 38-197, 199-263, 265-271, 273-296, 298-453, 455-474, 771, 773-961, 978-2184, 2197-5816, 5820-6177 or 6178. 
     
     
         14 . The nucleic acid construct of  claim 11 , wherein said nucleic acid sequence is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 3-10, 12-36, 38-197, 199-263, 265-271, 273-296, 298-453, 455-474, 771, 773-961, 978-2184, 2197-5816 and 5820-6178. 
     
     
         15 . A plant cell transformed with the nucleic acid construct of  claim 11 . 
     
     
         16 . The plant cell of  claim 15 , wherein said plant cell forms part of a plant. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising growing the plant expressing said exogenous polynucleotide under the abiotic stress. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said abiotic stress is selected from the group consisting of salinity, drought, osmotic stress, water deprivation, flood, low temperature, high temperature, heavy metal toxicity, anaerobiosis, nutrient deficiency, nitrogen deficiency, nutrient excess, atmospheric pollution and UV irradiation. 
     
     
         19 . A transgenic plant comprising the nucleic acid construct of  claim 11 . 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising growing the plant expressing said exogenous polynucleotide under nitrogen-limiting conditions. 
     
     
         21 . A method of growing a crop, the method comprising seeding seeds and/or planting plantlets of a plant transformed with the nucleic acid construct of  claim 11 , wherein the plant is derived from plants selected for at least one trait selected from the group consisting of: increased nitrogen use efficiency, increased photosynthetic capacity, increased abiotic stress tolerance, increased biomass, increased growth rate, increased vigor, increased yield, increased fiber yield, increased fiber quality, increased fiber length, increased oil content, reduced time to flowering and reduced time to inflorescence emergence, as compared to a non-transformed plant, thereby growing the crop.