Generation of plants with altered oil content

1. A transgenic plant comprising a heterologous polynucleotide that encodes a HIO32.2 polypeptide having an amino acid sequence at least 95% identical to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 and conveying a high oil phenotype on a plant when expressed in said plant, whereby the transgenic plant has at least 3.5% greater seed oil content relative to a plant of the same species that does not comprise the heterologous polynucleotide.

2. The transgenic plant of claim 1 , wherein the heterologous polynucleotide encodes a HIO32.2 polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2.

3. The transgenic plant of claim 1 , which is selected from the group consisting of rapeseed, soy, corn, sunflower, cotton, cocoa, safflower, oil palm, coconut palm, flax, castor and peanut.

4. The transgenic plant of claim 1 , further comprising a heterologous constitutive promoter operatively linked to the heterologous polynucleotide.

5. A plant part obtained from the plant according to claim 1 .

6. The plant part of claim 5 , wherein the plant part has at least 3.5% greater oil content relative to an equivalent plant part obtained from a plant of the same species that does not comprise the heterologous polynucleotide.

7. A meal, feed, or food comprising a plant part obtained from the plant of claim 1 , wherein the meal, feed, or food has at least 3.5% greater oil content relative to meal feed or food comprising a plant part from a plant of the same species that does not comprise the heterologous polynucleotide.

8. The plant part of claim 5 , which is a seed.

9. The seed of claim 8 , wherein the seed has at least 3.5% greater oil content relative to seed from a plant of the same species that does not comprise the heterologous polynucleotide.

10. A meal, feed, or food comprising the seed of claim 8 , wherein the meal, feed, or food has at least 3.5% greater oil content relative to meal, feed, or food comprising seed from a plant of the same species that does not comprise the heterologous polynucleotide.

11. A method of producing oil comprising growing the transgenic plant of claim 1 and recovering oil from said plant.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the oil is recovered from a seed of the plant.

13. A feed, meal, grain, food, or seed comprising a polypeptide:

encoded by the nucleic acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1;

having the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2; or

having an amino acid sequence at least 95% identical to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, wherein the feed, meal, grain, food, or seed has at least 3.5% greater oil content relative to meal, grain, food, or seed that does not comprise the polypeptide.

14. A transgenic plant with a high oil phenotype made by a method comprising:

introducing into progenitor cells of the plant a heterologous constitutive promoter operatively linked to a heterologous polynucleotide that encodes a HIO32.2 polypeptide, to produce transformed cells overexpressing the HIO32.2 polypeptide, wherein the HIO32.2 polypeptide has an amino acid sequence at least 95% identical to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 and conveys a high oil phenotype on a plant when expressed in said plant;

growing the transformed progenitor cells to produce a transgenic plant; and

identifying the high oil phenotype in said transgenic plant by measuring oil content of the transgenic plant and selecting a transgenic plant that possesses at least 3.5% greater seed oil content relative to a plant of the same species that does not comprise the heterologous constitutive promoter operatively linked to the heterologous polynucleotide;

thereby producing the transgenic plant with a high oil phenotype.

15. The transgenic plant of claim 14 wherein the HIO32.2 polypeptide has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2.