Plants having altered agronomic characteristics under nitrogen limiting conditions and related constructs and methods involving genes encoding lnt6 polypeptides and homologs thereof

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, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31, 33, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, or 47;
• (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 of step (b), 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, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31, 33, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, or 47;
• (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) obtaining a progeny plant derived from the transgenic plant, wherein the progeny plant comprises in its genome the recombinant DNA construct;
• and
• (d) 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 an agronomic characteristic 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, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31, 33, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, or 47;
• (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) obtaining a progeny plant derived from the transgenic plant, wherein the progeny plant comprises in its genome the recombinant DNA construct;
• and
• (d) determining whether the progeny plant exhibits an alteration of at least one agronomic characteristic when compared to a control plant not comprising the recombinant DNA construct.