Tobacco plant and production method thereof

A method of producing a mutated tobacco plant, comprising the step of:

• (A) introducing, into the genome of a tobacco plant, at least two mutations causing functional suppression of each of at least two of the following nucleotide products (1) through (3):
• (1) at least one of:
• a gene comprising, as a coding region, a polynucleotide (a);
• and a gene comprising, as a coding region, a polynucleotide (c);
• (2) at least one of:
• a gene comprising, as a coding region, a polynucleotide (e);
• and a gene comprising, as a coding region, a polynucleotide (g);
• and
• (3) at least one of:
• a gene comprising, as a coding region, a polynucleotide (i);
• and a gene comprising, as a coding region, a polynucleotide (k),
• the functional suppression suppressing development of primary axillary buds,
• the polynucleotide (a) being a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having a sequence identity of 98% or higher with an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:
• 1,
• the polynucleotide (c) being a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having a sequence identity of 98% or higher with an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:
• 2,
• the polynucleotide (e) being a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having a sequence identity of 98% or higher with an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:
• 3,
• the polynucleotide (g) being a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having a sequence identity of 98% or higher with an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:
• 4,
• the polynucleotide (i) being a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having a sequence identity of 98% or higher with an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:
• 5,
• the polynucleotide (k) being a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having a sequence identity of 98% or higher with an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:
• 6, wherein
• the tobacco plant is Nicotiana tabacum;
• the mutation is introduced into each of at least two of the nucleotide products (1)— (3);
• the mutation that causes the functional suppression is selected from the group consisting of a frame-shift mutation or a nonsense mutation;
• and
• the functional suppression causes the number or weight of primary axillary buds to decrease to not more than ½ of that of a wild-type plant which is a wild type of a variety identical to that of said mutated tobacco plant that comprises at least two of said nucleotide products (1)— (3) and not having said at least two mutations.

A method of determining a mutated tobacco plant in which development of primary axillary buds is suppressed, the method comprising the steps of:

• (A) obtaining a sample by collecting a part of a tobacco plant;
• (B) detecting, from the genome included in the sample, at least two mutations causing functional suppression of each of at least two of the following nucleotide products (1) through (3) on the genome:
• (1) at least one of:
• a gene comprising, as a coding region, a polynucleotide (a);
• and a gene comprising, as a coding region, a polynucleotide (c);
• (2) at least one of:
• a gene comprising, as a coding region, a polynucleotide (e);
• and a gene comprising, as a coding region, a polynucleotide (g);
• and
• (3) at least one of:
• a gene comprising, as a coding region, a polynucleotide (i);
• and a gene comprising, as a coding region, a polynucleotide (k);
• and
• (C) determining that a tobacco plant, in which the mutation has been detected, is a tobacco plant in which the development of the primary axillary buds is suppressed,
• the polynucleotide (a) being a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having a sequence identity of 98% or higher with an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:
• 1,
• the polynucleotide (c) being a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having a sequence identity of 98% or higher with an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:
• 2,
• the polynucleotide (e) being a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having a sequence identity of 98% or higher with an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:
• 3,
• the polynucleotide (g) being a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having a sequence identity of 98% or higher with an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:
• 4,
• the polynucleotide (i) being a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having a sequence identity of 98% or higher with an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:
• 5,
• the polynucleotide (k) being a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having a sequence identity of 98% or higher with an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:
• 6, wherein
• the tobacco plant is Nicotiana tabacum;
• the mutation is introduced into each of at least two of the nucleotide products (1)— (3);
• the mutation that causes the functional suppression is selected from the group consisting of a frame-shift mutation or a nonsense mutation;
• and
• the functional suppression causes the number or weight of primary axillary buds to decrease to not more than ½ of that of a wild-type plant which is a wild type of a variety identical to that of said mutated tobacco plant that comprises at least two of said nucleotide products (1)— (3) and not having said at least two mutations.