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AssigneeUniversity of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.
InventorsFredy Altpeter, Baskaran Kannan
Estimating the term…
Described herein are compositions, including RNAi and/or CRISPR constructs, for modifying one or more Flowering Locus T (FT) genes in a plant and methods of using the compositions for producing plants having suppressed or delayed flowering time. In some embodiments, the plant is a Saccharum plant. The approach used herein involves methods for decreasing expression of one or more Flowering Locus T (FT) genes by RNAi inhibition or CRISPR/Cas9 targeted mutagenesis that results in suppressed or delayed flowering in Saccharum plants, such as sugarcane or energycane. Target genes were isolated from the sugarcane and energycane cultivar and a conserved sequence between these cultivars and closely related species was chosen to design intron-hairpin RNA constructs for RNAi suppression or sgRNA expression constructs for targeted mutagenesis. Recombinant DNA vectors were introduced into sugarcane by biolistic gene transfer and transgenic plants were regenerated and selected, vegetatively propagated for replicated field testing. These genetically modified plants produce significantly elevated biomass and recoverable sugar yield under replicated field conditions relative to a similar plant in which the FT4, FT8, and/or FT10 gene have not been disrupted, when grown under the same conditions.
An engineered sugarcane or energycane plant having delayed flowering, wherein the engineered sugarcane or energycane plant has decreased expression of one or more of the FT4 gene, the FT8 gene, and the FT10 gene.
A method for delaying flowering in a sugarcane or energycane plant comprising introducing into the sugarcane or energycane plant one or more CRISPR constructs for introducing a loss of function mutation into one or more of the FT4 gene, the FT8 gene, and the FT10 gene, or expressing in the sugarcane or energycane plant one or more RNAi constructs targeting one or more of the FT4 gene, the FT8 gene, and the FT10 gene.
A method for generating a sugarcane or energycane plant having delayed flowering comprising:
A method of decreasing expression of the FT4 gene, the FT8 gene, and/or the FT10 gene in a sugarcane or energycane plant comprising introducing into the plant or a progenitor of the plant one or more expression vectors encoding one or more CRISPR constructs for introducing loss of function mutations into one or more of the FT4 gene, the FT8 gene, and the FT10 gene, or one or more expression vectors encoding one or more RNAi constructs targeting one or more of the FT4 gene, the FT8 gene, and the FT10 gene.
A nucleic acid for decreasing expression of the FT4 gene, the FT8 gene, or the FT10 gene in a sugarcane or energycane cell or plant comprising:
A nucleic acid for decreasing expression of the FT4 gene, the FT8 gene, or the FT10 gene in a sugarcane or energycane cell plant comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.