Molecular markers of plant embryogenesis

A genetic construct comprising a nucleic acid molecule encoding a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 or an amino acid sequence having at least about 71% similarity to SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said polypeptide is present in plant zygotic embryos or embryogenic callus and is substantially not present in non-embryogenic tissue.

A host cell comprising a nucleic acid molecule encoding a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 or an amino acid sequence having at least about 71% similarity to SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said polypeptide is present in plant zygotic embryos or embryogenic callus and is substantially not present in non-embryogenic tissue.

An isolated polypeptide or biologically-active fragment thereof or a variant or derivative of these, said polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 or an amino acid sequence having at least about 71% similarity to SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said polypeptide is present in plant zygotic embryos or embryogenic callus and is substantially not present in non-embryogenic tissue.

A method for producing a recombinant polypeptide in a host cell or tissue, said method comprising introducing into the said cell or tissue an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule wherein said nucleic acid molecule comprises a sequence of nucleotides substantially as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:3 or its complementary form, or a nucleotide sequence having at least about 71% similarity to SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:3 or its complementary form or a nucleotide sequence capable of hybridizing to SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:3 or its complementary form under low stringency conditions, wherein said nucleic acid molecule is operably linked to one or more regulatory sequences such that the nucleic acid molecule is capable of being expressed in said cell or tissue.

A method for modulating apoptotic processes in a cell or tissue, said method comprising introducing into said cell or tissue an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule, said nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides substantially as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:3 or its complementary form, a nucleotide sequence having at least about 71% similarity to SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:3 or its complementary form or a nucleotide sequence capable of hybridizing SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:3 or its complementary form under low stringency conditions wherein said nucleic acid molecule is operably linked to one or more regulatory sequences such that the nucleic acid molecule is capable of being expressed in said cell or tissue.

A method for modulating apoptotic processes in a cell, said method comprising administering to said cell an apoptotic process-controlling effective amount of a recombinant polypeptide, said polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 or an amino acid sequence having at least about 71% similarity to SEQ ID NO:2, said administration being for a time and under conditions sufficient to modulate apoptosis.

A method for detecting embryogenic plant material, said method comprising immobilizing a sample putatively containing RNA from the material to be screened on a solid support and contacting said immobilized RNA with a labelled nucleotide sequence capable of hybridizing to all or part of an mRNA transcript corresponding to the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:3 or their derivatives or homologues as defined herein and then detecting the presence of said label.

An antibody to a polypeptide, said polypeptide comprising a sequence of amino acids substantially as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 or an amino acid sequence having at least 71% similarity to SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said polypeptide is present in plant zygotic embryos or embryogenic callus and is substantially not present in non-embryogenic tissue.

A method for detecting a polypeptide which is indicative of the presence of embryogenic tissue in oil-palm or related plants, said method comprising contacting the tissue or an extract thereof with an antibody specific for said polypeptide or its derivatives or homologues for a time and under conditions sufficient for an antibody-polypeptide complex to form, and then detecting said complex.

A pharmaceutical composition comprising the polypeptide having an amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 or a functional homologue thereof or a molecule having at least 71% similarity to SEQ ID NO:2 and one or more pharmaceutically-acceptable carriers and/or diluents.

A regenerated differentiated plant comprising a nucleic acid molecule encoding a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 or an amino acid sequence having at least about 71% similarity to SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said polypeptide is present in plant zygotic embryos or embryogenic callus and is substantially not present in non-embryogenic tissue.