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AssigneePlant Sensory Systems, LLC
InventorsFrank J. Turano, Kathleen A. Turano, Peter S. Carlson, Alan M. Kinnersley
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The present invention describes an approach to increase taurine or hypotaurine production in prokaryotes or eukaryotes. More particularly, the invention relates to genetic transformation of organisms with genes that encode proteins that catalyze the conversion of cysteine to taurine, methionine to taurine, cysteamine to taurine, or alanine to taurine. The invention describes methods for the use of polynucleotides that encode functional cysteine dioxygenase (CDO), cysteine dioxygenase (CDO) and sulfinoalanine decarboxylase (SAD) or glutamate decarboxylase (GAD), cysteamine dioxygenase (ADO), taurine-pyruvate aminotransferase (TPAT), TPAT and sulfoacetaldehyde acetyltransferase (SA), taurine dioxygenase (TDO) or the small (ssTDeHase) and large subunits of taurine dehydrogenase (lsTDeHase) polypeptides in plants to increase taurine, hypotaurine or taurine precursor production. The preferred embodiment of the invention is in plants but other organisms may be used. Increased taurine production in plants will enhance plant growth and development, yield, or tolerance to biotic and/or abiotic stresses and could be used as nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, or therapeutic compounds or as a supplement in animal feed.
A plant cell comprising a first exogenous DNA which comprises two separate expression cassettes, wherein a first expression cassette comprises a first promoter operably linked to a first polynucleotide and a second expression cassette comprises a second promoter operably linked to a second polynucleotide, wherein:
A plant cell comprising a first exogenous DNA which comprises a single expression cassette, wherein the single expression cassette comprises a promoter operably linked to a polynucleotide which encodes (i) CDO and SAD;
A plant cell comprising a first exogenous DNA which comprises a promoter operably linked to a polynucleotide, wherein the polynucleotide encodes CDO.
A transgenic seed having in its genome (i) exogenous DNA encoding CDO or (ii) exogenous DNA encoding CDO and SAD, wherein enzymatic activity of the protein increases production of taurine or hypotaurine in a transgenic plant grown from the transgenic seed.
A transgenic plant having in its genome (i) exogenous DNA encoding CDO or (ii) exogenous DNA encoding CDO and SAD, wherein the plant has increased growth, yield, or biomass, altered development, or increased tolerance to biotic (pests, pathogens, bacteria, microbes, viruses, viroids, microorganisms, invertebrates, insects, nematodes, or vertebrates) or abiotic (changes in osmotic conditions, oxidative damage, drought, salt, cold, freezing, heat, UV light or light intensity) stress.
A transgenic plant having in its genome (i) exogenous DNA encoding CDO or (ii) exogenous DNA encoding CDO and SAD, wherein the plant has increased water-use-efficiency or nitrogen-use-efficiency.
A transgenic plant having in its genome (i) exogenous DNA encoding CDO or (ii) exogenous DNA encoding CDO and SAD, wherein the seeds have increased oil, starch or protein.
A method of altering a property of a transgenic plant, comprising contacting a transgenic plant having in its genome (i) exogenous DNA encoding CDO or (ii) exogenous DNA encoding CDO and SAD, with an agent which increases sulfur or nitrogen concentration in cells of the transgenic plant, wherein the property is selected from the group consisting of increased plant growth, altered plant development, increased tolerance to biotic stress, increased tolerance to abiotic stress, increased yield, and increased biomass.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.