Arabidopsis derived promoters for regulation of plant expression

Abstract

The invention provides a method to identify a plurality of plant promoters having specified characteristics and promoters identified by the method. Also provided are transgenic plants comprising the genes identified by the methods of the invention.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 334,085 filed Jan. 18, 2006, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 09 / 887,567 filed Jun. 22, 2001, which claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 214,087 filed Jun. 23, 2000, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 213,848 filed Jun. 23, 2000, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 258,692, filed Dec. 29, 2000 under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), the entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.FIELD OF INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates generally to the field of plant molecular biology. More specifically, it relates to the regulation of gene expression in plants.BACKGROUND OF INVENTION[0003]Manipulation of crop plants to alter and / or improve phenotypic characteristics (such as productivity or quality) requires the expression of heterologous genes in plant tissues. Such genetic manipulat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016]As described herein, GENECHIP® technology was utilized to discover genes that are preferentially (or exclusively) expressed in various tissues including root and leaf, as well as those that are constitutively expressed, using labeled cRNA probes, determining expression levels by laser scanning and generally selecting for expression levels that were >2 fold over the control. The Arabidopsis oligonucleotide probe array consists of probes from about 8,100 unique Arabidopsis genes, which covers approximately one third of the genome. This genome array permits a broader, more complete and less biased analysis of gene expression. Using this approach, 51 genes were identified, the expression of which was altered, e.g., elevated, in root tissues, and 92 genes were identified, the expression of which was altered at least 4-fold in leaf tissue. Similarly, 288 genes were identified that were constitutively expressed.

[0017]Generally, the promoters of the invention may be employed to express an open reading frame from an insect resistance gene, a bacterial disease resistance gene, a fungal disease resistance gene, a viral disease resistance gene, a nematode disease resistance gene, a herbicide resistance gene, a gene affecting grain composition or quality, a nutrient utilization gene, a mycotoxin reduction gene, a male sterility gene, a selectable marker gene, a screenable marker gene, a negative selectable marker, a gene affecting plant agronomic characteristics, or an environment or stress resistance gene, i.e., one or more genes that confer herbicide resistance or tolerance, insect resistance or tolerance, disease resistance or tolerance (viral, bacterial, fungal, oomycete, or nematode), stress tolerance or resistance (as exemplified by resistance or tolerance to drought, heat, chilling, freezing, excessive moisture, salt stress, or oxidative stress), increased yields, food content and makeup, physical appearance, male sterility, drydown, standability, prolificacy, starch properties or quantity, oil quantity and quality, amino acid or protein composition, and the like. By “resistant” is meant a plant which exhibits substantially no phenotypic changes as a consequence of agent administration, infection with a pathogen, or exposure to stress. By “tolerant” is meant a plant which, although it may exhibit some phenotypic changes as a consequence of infection, does not have a substantially decreased reproductive capacity or substantially altered metabolism.

Problems solved by technology

Moreover, the increasing interest in cotransforming plants with multiple plant transcription units (PTU) and the potential problems associated with using common regulatory sequences for these purposes merit having a variety of promoter sequences available.