Plants having altered agronomic characteristics under nitrogen limiting conditions and related constructs and methods involving genes encoding lnt3 polypeptides

A method of increasing nitrogen stress tolerance in a plant, comprising:

• (a) introducing into a regenerable plant cell a recombinant DNA construct comprising a polynucleotide operably linked to at least one regulatory sequence, wherein the polynucleotide encodes a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence of at least 50% sequence identity, based on the Clustal V method of alignment, when compared to SEQ ID NO:18, 22, or 24;
• and
• (b) regenerating a transgenic plant from the regenerable plant cell after step (a), wherein the transgenic plant comprises in its genome the recombinant DNA construct;
• and
• c) obtaining a progeny plant derived from the transgenic plant, wherein said progeny plant comprises in its genome the recombinant DNA construct and exhibits increased nitrogen stress tolerance when compared to a control plant not comprising the recombinant DNA construct.

A method of evaluating nitrogen stress tolerance in a plant, comprising:

• (a) introducing into a regenerable plant cell a recombinant DNA construct comprising a polynucleotide operably linked to at least one regulatory sequence, wherein the polynucleotide encodes a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence of at least 50% sequence identity, based on the Clustal V method of alignment, when compared to SEQ ID NO:18, 22, or 24;
• (b) regenerating a transgenic plant from the regenerable plant cell after step (a), wherein the transgenic plant comprises in its genome the recombinant DNA construct;
• (c) evaluating the transgenic plant for nitrogen stress tolerance compared to a control plant not comprising the recombinant DNA construct;
• (d) obtaining a progeny plant derived from the transgenic plant, wherein the progeny plant comprises in its genome the recombinant DNA construct;
• and
• (e) evaluating the progeny plant for nitrogen stress tolerance compared to a control plant not comprising the recombinant DNA construct.

A method of determining an alteration of yield, biomass or both in a plant, comprising:

• (a) introducing into a regenerable plant cell a recombinant DNA construct comprising a polynucleotide operably linked to at least one regulatory sequence, wherein the polynucleotide encodes a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence of at least 50% sequence identity, based on the Clustal V method of alignment, when compared to SEQ ID NO:18, 22, or 24;
• (b) regenerating a transgenic plant from the regenerable plant cell after step (a), wherein the transgenic plant comprises in its genome the recombinant DNA construct;
• and
• (c) determining whether the transgenic plant exhibits an alteration of at least one agronomic characteristic when compared to a control plant not comprising the recombinant DNA construct;
• (d) obtaining a progeny plant derived from the transgenic plant, wherein the progeny plant comprises in its genome the recombinant DNA construct;
• and
• (e) determining whether the progeny plant exhibits an alteration of yield, biomass or both when compared to a control plant not comprising the recombinant DNA construct.