Isolated polynucleotides and polypeptides, construct and plants comprising same and methods of using same for increasing nitrogen use efficiency of plants

Abstract

Provided are isolated polypeptides which are at least 80% homologous to SEQ ID NOs: 496-794, 2898-3645, and 3647-4855, isolated polynucleotides which are at least 80% identical to SEQ ID NOs: 1-495 and 795-2897, nucleic acid constructs comprising same, transgenic cells expressing same, transgenic plants expressing same and method of using same for increasing fertilizer use efficiency, nitrogen use efficiency, yield, growth rate, biomass, vigor, oil content, photosynthetic capacity, seed yield, fiber yield, fiber quality, fiber length, and/or abiotic stress tolerance of a plant.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of increasing nitrogen use efficiency, yield, growth rate, biomass, vigor, oil content, seed yield, fiber yield, fiber quality, fiber length, photosynthetic capacity, abiotic stress tolerance, and/or reducing time to flowering or time to inflorescence emergence of a plant, as compared to a control plant of the same species which is grown under the same growth conditions, the method comprising over-expressing within the plant a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence as set forth by SEQ ID NO: 778, or an orthologue polypeptide thereof having an amino acid sequence at least 80% identical to SEQ ID NO: 778, wherein said orthologue polypeptide is capable of increasing the nitrogen use efficiency, yield, growth rate, biomass, vigor, oil content, seed yield, fiber yield, fiber quality, fiber length, photosynthetic capacity, abiotic stress tolerance, and/or reducing the time to flowering or time to inflorescence emergence of the plant. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising selecting plants over-expressing said polypeptide for an increased nitrogen use efficiency, yield, growth rate, biomass, vigor, oil content, seed yield, fiber yield, fiber quality, fiber length, photosynthetic capacity, and/or abiotic stress tolerance of a plant 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 plants over-expressing said polypeptide for a reduced time to flowering and/or a reduced time to inflorescence emergence of a plant 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 orthologue polypeptide is at least 95% identical to the polypeptide set forth by SEQ ID NO: 778. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said polypeptide is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 778, 632 and 4798-4806. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said polypeptide is expressed from a polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence at least 80% identical to SEQ ID NO: 418. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said polypeptide is expressed from a polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 418, 137 and 2840-2848. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising growing the plant over-expressing said polypeptide under the abiotic stress. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said abiotic stress is selected from the group consisting of salinity, drought, osmotic stress, water deprivation, flood, etiolation, low temperature, high temperature, heavy metal toxicity, anaerobiosis, nutrient deficiency, nitrogen deficiency, nutrient excess, atmospheric pollution and UV irradiation. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising growing the plant over-expressing said polypeptide under nitrogen-limiting conditions. 
     
     
         11 . A method of producing a crop, comprising growing a crop plant over-expressing a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence at least 80% identical to the amino acid sequence set forth by SEQ ID NO: 778 as compared to a control plant of the same species which is grown under the same growth conditions, wherein the crop plant is derived from plants selected for increased nitrogen use efficiency, 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 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 nitrogen use efficiency, 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 abiotic stress tolerance, reduced time to flowering and/or reduced time to inflorescence emergence, thereby producing the crop. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said polypeptide is expressed from a polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence which is at least 80% identical to the nucleic acid sequence set forth by SEQ ID NO: 418. 
     
     
         13 . 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: 778, and a heterologous promoter for directing transcription of said nucleic acid sequence in a host cell, wherein said amino acid sequence is capable of increasing nitrogen use efficiency, yield, growth rate, biomass, vigor, oil content, seed yield, fiber yield, fiber quality, fiber length, photosynthetic capacity, and/or abiotic stress tolerance, and/or reducing time to flowering or to inflorescence emergence of a plant. 
     
     
         14 . The nucleic acid construct of  claim 13 , wherein said polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 778, 632 and 4798-4806. 
     
     
         15 . The nucleic acid construct of  claim 13 , wherein said nucleic acid sequence is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 418, 137 and 2840-2848. 
     
     
         16 . A plant cell comprising the nucleic acid construct of  claim 13 . 
     
     
         17 . A  transgenic  plant comprising the nucleic acid construct of  claim 13 . 
     
     
         18 . 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 13 , wherein the plant is derived from plants selected for at least one trait selected from the group consisting of: increased nitrogen use efficiency, increased abiotic stress tolerance, increased biomass, increased growth rate, increased vigor, increased yield and increased fiber yield, increased fiber quality, increased fiber length, increased photosynthetic capacity, increased oil content, reduced time to flowering and reduced time to inflorescence emergence as compared to a non-transformed plant, thereby growing the crop. 
     
     
         19 . A method of selecting a transformed plant having increased nitrogen use efficiency, yield, growth rate, biomass, vigor, oil content, seed yield, fiber yield, fiber quality, fiber length, photosynthetic capacity, and/or abiotic stress tolerance, and/or reducing time to flowering or inflorescence emergence, as compared to a wild type plant of the same species which is grown under the same growth conditions, the method comprising:
 (a) providing the  transgenic  plants of  claim 17 ; and   (b) selecting from said plants a plant having increased nitrogen use efficiency, 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 abiotic stress tolerance, reduced time to flowering and/or reduced time to inflorescence emergence, as compared to wild type plant of the same species which is grown under the same growth conditions.   
     
     
         20 . The nucleic acid construct of  claim 13 , wherein said promoter is a constitutive promoter.