Methods of improving drought tolerance and seed production in rice
AssigneeThe Penn State Research Foundation
InventorsSarah Assmann, Angel Ferrero-Serrano, David Chakravorty
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Abstract
The invention provides for compositions and methods for producing plants that have higher yield in drought conditions by manipulating the G-proteins such as the rice alpha subunit gene, RGA1. In particular, the present invention provides for plants, varieties, lines, and hybrids, as well as plant tissues and plant seeds that contain modified G-protein activity, particularly RGA1 activity to engineer drought tolerance and improved seed production in plants, as well as improved tolerance to high density planting
Claims20
A genetically modified plant with improved seed production in drought conditions and/or improved survival at high planting densities compared to the seed production of a corresponding plant with no such modification;
- said modified plant having reduced G-protein activity when compared to a non-modified plant in the same conditions, said G-protein selected from the group consisting of:
- Gα, Gβ, Gγ, GPCR, and GCR1.
An isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of:
- (a) the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1, or SEQ ID NO:3;
- (b) a nucleotide sequence which encodes the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 or 4;
- (c) a nucleotide sequence which includes about 90% identity to the full length sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 or 3.
A plant comprising in its genome at least one nucleic acid molecule of claim.
A method for conferring or improving seed production under drought conditions and/or improved in a rice plant, said method comprising:
- (a) transforming said plant with a nucleic acid molecule comprising an inhibition construct with a heterologous sequence operably linked to a promoter that induces transcription of said heterologous sequence in a plant cell;
- and
- (b) regenerating stably transformed plants, wherein said heterologous sequence comprises an inhibition nucleic acid molecule that reduces the activity or expression of one or more G-protein encoding sequences.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.