Genetically modified plants which synthesize a starch having increased swelling power

1. A genetically modified plant cell comprising a foreign nucleic acid encoding a protein having the activity of a starch synthase II and a foreign nucleic acid encoding a protein having the activity of a glucan-water dikinase, wherein said starch synthase II activity and said glucan-water dikinase activity is increased in comparison to genetically unmodified wild-type plant cells.

2. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 1 , wherein said cell which synthesizes a modified starch in comparison to starch isolated from corresponding wild-type plant cells which are not genetically modified.

3. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 2 , wherein the modified starch has a hot water swelling power of at least 110 g/g.

4. A plant comprising the genetically modified plant cell of claim 3 .

5. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 2 , wherein the modified starch has a hot water swelling power of at least 120 g/g.

6. A plant comprising the genetically modified plant cell of claim 5 .

7. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 2 , wherein plant cell is a corn plant cell and the modified starch from said corn plant cell has a hot water swelling power of at least 45 g/g.

8. A plant comprising the genetically modified plant cell of claim 7 .

9. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 2 , wherein the modified starch has a phosphate content that is increased at least 10-fold compared to starch isolated from corresponding wild-type plant cells.

10. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 2 , wherein the modified starch has at least 10-fold more starch phosphate in the C6 position of the glucose molecules of the starch than starch isolated from corresponding wild-type plant cells.

11. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 1 , wherein said cell synthesizes a starch having an increased hot water swelling power in comparison to starch synthesized by corresponding wild-type plant cells.

12. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 11 , wherein the starch has a hot water swelling power that is increased by at least a factor of two compared to starch from a corresponding wild-type plant cell.

13. A plant comprising the genetically modified plant cell of claim 12 .

14. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 11 , wherein the starch has a hot water swelling power is increased by at least a factor of four compared to starch from a corresponding wild-type plant cell.

15. A plant comprising the genetically modified plant cell of claim 14 .

16. A plant comprising the genetically modified plant cell of claim 1 .

17. Propagation material of the plant of claim 16 , wherein said propagation material comprises said nucleic acid encoding a protein having the activity of a starch synthase II and said nucleic acid encoding a protein having the activity of a glucan-water dikinase.

18. A process for the production of flours comprising grinding of a plant of claim 16 .

19. A process for the production of a modified starch comprising extracting starch from the plant of claim 16 .

20. The plant of claim 16 , wherein the activity of starch synthase II is increased at least 6-fold compared to corresponding genetically unmodified wild-type plant cells.

21. A process for the production of a modified starch comprising extracting starch from the genetically modified plant cell of claim 1 , wherein the modified starch has a hot water swelling power of at least 110 g/g.

22. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 1 , wherein said foreign nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having the enzymatic activity of a glucan-water dikinase comprises:

a) a nucleic acid molecule that encodes a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 2 or SEQ. ID. NO.: 4;

b) a nucleic acid molecule that encodes a protein having glucan-water dikinase activity and has an amino acid sequence with at least 95% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 2 or SEQ. ID. NO.: 4;

c) a nucleic acid molecule comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 1 or SEQ. ID. NO.: 3 or a complementary sequence thereof;

d) a nucleic acid molecule having a sequence identity of at least 95% to the nucleic acid sequences described under c);

e) a nucleic acid molecule that hybridizes under stringent conditions with at least one strand of the nucleic acid molecules described under a) or c), wherein the stringent conditions are hybridization buffer: 2×SSC, 10×Denhardt solution (Ficoll 400+PEG+BSA; ratio 1:1:1), 0.1% SDS; 5 mM EDTA, 50 mM Na 2 HPO4, 250 μg/ml of herring sperm DNA, 50 μg/ml of tRNA, or 25 M sodium phosphate buffer pH 7.2; 1 mM EDTA; 7% SDS; hybridization temperature: T=65 to 68° C.; wash buffer: 0.1×SSC; 0.1% SDS; wash temperature: T=65 to 68° C.;

f) a nucleic acid molecule whose nucleotide sequence differs from the sequence of the nucleic acid molecules mentioned under c) because of the degeneracy of the genetic code; or

g) fragments, allelic variants, and/or derivatives of the nucleic acid molecules mentioned under a), b), c), d), e) or f), wherein said fragments, allelic variants, and/or derivatives encode a protein having glucan-water dikinase activity.

23. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 22 , wherein said foreign nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having the enzymatic activity of a starch synthase II comprises:

a) a nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 6;

b) a nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having starch synthase II activity and has an amino acid sequence with at least 95% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 6;

c) a nucleic acid molecule comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 5 or a complementary sequence thereof;

d) a nucleic acid molecule having a sequence identity of at least 95% to the nucleic acid sequences described under c);

e) a nucleic acid molecule that hybridizes under stringent conditions with at least one strand of the nucleic acid molecules described under a) or c), wherein the stringent conditions are hybridization buffer: 2×SSC, 10×Denhardt solution (Ficoll 400+PEG+BSA; ratio 1:1:1), 0.1% SDS; 5 mM EDTA, 50 mM Na2HPO4, 250 μg/ml of herring sperm DNA, 50 μg/ml of tRNA, or 25 M sodium phosphate buffer pH 7.2; 1 mM EDTA; 7% SDS; hybridization temperature: T=65 to 68° C.; wash buffer: 0.1×SSC; 0.1% SDS; wash temperature: T=65 to 68° C.;

f) a nucleic acid molecule whose nucleotide sequence differs from the sequence of the nucleic acid molecules mentioned under c) because of the degeneracy of the genetic code; or

g) fragments, allelic variants, and/or derivatives of the nucleic acid molecules mentioned under a), b), c), d), e) or f), wherein said fragments, allelic variants, and/or derivatives encode a protein having starch synthase II activity.

24. A plant comprising the genetically modified plant cell of claim 23 .

25. Propagation material of the plant of claim 24 .

26. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 1 , wherein said foreign nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having the enzymatic activity of a starch synthase II comprises:

a) a nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 6;

b) a nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having starch synthase II activity and has an amino acid sequence with at least 95% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 6;

c) a nucleic acid molecule comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 5 or a complementary sequence thereof;

d) a nucleic acid molecule having a sequence identity of at least 95% to the nucleic acid sequences described under c);

e) a nucleic acid molecule that hybridizes under stringent conditions with at least one strand of the nucleic acid molecules described under a) or c), wherein the stringent conditions are hybridization buffer: 2×SSC, 10×Denhardt solution (Ficoll 400+PEG+BSA; ratio 1:1:1), 0.1% SDS; 5 mM EDTA, 50 mM Na 2 HPO4, 250 μg/ml of herring sperm DNA, 50 μg/ml of tRNA, or 25 M sodium phosphate buffer pH 7.2; 1 mM EDTA; 7% SDS; hybridization temperature: T=65 to 68° C.; wash buffer: 0.1×SSC; 0.1% SDS; wash temperature: T=65 to 68° C.;

f) a nucleic acid molecule whose nucleotide sequence differs from the sequence of the nucleic acid molecules mentioned under c) because of the degeneracy of the genetic code; or

g) fragments, allelic variants, and/or derivatives of the nucleic acid molecules mentioned under a), b), c), d), e) or f), wherein said fragments, allelic variants, and/or derivatives encode a protein having starch synthase II activity.

27. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 1 , wherein said foreign nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having the enzymatic activity of a glucan-water dikinase comprises:

a nucleic acid molecule that encodes a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 2 or SEQ. ID. NO.: 4.

28. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 1 , wherein said foreign nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having the enzymatic activity of a glucan-water dikinase comprises:

a nucleic acid molecule that encodes a protein having glucan-water dikinase activity and has an amino acid sequence with at least 95% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 2 or SEQ. ID. NO.: 4.

29. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 1 , wherein said foreign nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having the enzymatic activity of a glucan-water dikinase comprises:

a nucleic acid molecule that hybridizes under stringent conditions with at least one strand of (i) a nucleic acid molecule that encodes a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 2 or SEQ. ID. NO.: 4; or (ii) a nucleic acid molecule comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 1 or SEQ. ID. NO.: 3 or a complementary sequence thereof, wherein the stringent conditions are hybridization buffer: 2×SSC, 10×Denhardt solution (Ficoll 400+PEG+BSA; ratio 1:1:1), 0.1% SDS; 5 mM EDTA, 50 mM Na 2 HPO4, 250 μg/ml of herring sperm DNA, 50 μg/ml of tRNA, or 25 M sodium phosphate buffer pH 7.2; 1 mM EDTA; 7% SDS; hybridization temperature: T=65 to 68° C.; wash buffer: 0.1×SSC; 0.1% SDS; wash temperature: T=65 to 68° C.

30. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 1 , wherein said foreign nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having the enzymatic activity of a starch synthase II comprises:

a nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 6.

31. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 1 , wherein said foreign nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having the enzymatic activity of a starch synthase II comprises:

a nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having starch synthase II activity and has an amino acid sequence with at least 95% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 6.

32. The genetically modified plant cell of claim 1 , wherein said foreign nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having the enzymatic activity of a starch synthase II comprises:

a nucleic acid molecule that hybridizes under stringent conditions with at least one strand of (i) a nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 6; or (ii) a nucleic acid molecule comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ. ID. NO.: 5 or a complementary sequence thereof, wherein the stringent conditions are hybridization buffer: 2×SSC, 10×Denhardt solution (Ficoll 400+PEG+BSA; ratio 1:1:1), 0.1% SDS; 5 mM EDTA, 50 mM Na 2 HPO4, 250 μg/ml of herring sperm DNA, 50 μg/ml of tRNA, or 25 M sodium phosphate buffer pH 7.2; 1 mM EDTA; 7% SDS; hybridization temperature: T=65 to 68° C.; wash buffer: 0.1×SSC; 0.1% SDS; wash temperature: T=65 to 68° C.

33. A process for the production of a genetically modified plant comprising;

a) performing steps i and ii in any desired sequence, individually or simultaneously

(i) introducing a nucleic acid encoding a protein having the activity of a starch synthase II into a plant cell;

(ii) introducing a nucleic acid encoding a protein having the activity of a glucan-water dikinase into a plant cell,

 wherein said starch synthase II activity and said glucan-water dikinase is increased in comparison to corresponding wild-type plant cells which are not genetically modified;

b) regenerating a plant from the plant cell of step (a);

c) optionally producing further plants using the plant according to step (b), where plant cells are optionally isolated from plants according to step (b) or (c) and process steps (a) to (c) are repeated until a plant has been produced having an increased activity of a protein having the activity of a starch synthase II and an increased activity of a protein having the activity of a glucan-water dikinase.