Differential expression of subgenome specific alleles in cotton and uses thereof
View Patent ↗Disclosed are methods and means to alter fiber properties such as fiber length in fiber producing plants such as cotton. Additionally plant promoters with a fiber-preferential or fiber-selective expression profile are provided.
1. A chimeric gene comprising the following operably linked DNA regions:
(a) a fiber cell preferential promoter comprising:
(i) a nucleotide sequence comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No 9 from the nucleotide at position 1531 to the nucleotide at position 2307; or
(ii) the fiber cell preferential promoter Gluc1-SGA(A 1.9) deposited as LMBP8351 in the BCCM/LMPB, Collections of Micro-organisms, LMBP Plasmid Collection, Belgium;
(b) a heterologous DNA region encoding a biologically active RNA of interest; and
(c) a transcription termination and polyadenylation signal.
2. The fiber cell preferential promoter according to claim 1 comprising chimeric gene according to claim 1 , wherein said fiber cell promoter comprises the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No. 9 from position 465 to position 2307.
3. The chimeric gene according to claim 1 , wherein said fiber cell promoter comprises the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No 9 from position 1374 to position 2307.
4. The chimeric gene according to claim 1 , further comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID 9 from the nucleotide at position 2308 to the nucleotide at position 2409 between said fiber cell preferential promoter and said heterologous DNA.
5. The chimeric gene according to claim 1 , wherein said biologically active RNA encodes a protein of interest.
6. The chimeric gene according to claim 5 , wherein said heterologous DNA region encodes a molecule selected from a N-acetylglucosamine transferase, a cellulose synthase, a sucrose synthase, a sucrose phosphate synthase, a β-1,3-endoglucanase, xylan synthase (cslF), xyloglucan synthase (cslD), or 1,3-1,4 glucan synthase (cslC).
7. The chimeric gene according to claim 1 , wherein said biologically active RNA is a ribozyme, microRNA, or double stranded hairpin RNA.
8. A plant cell comprising the chimeric gene according to claim 1 .
9. A plant comprising the chimeric gene according to claim 1 .
10. The plant according to claim 9 , wherein said plant is a cotton plant.
11. A seed of a plant comprising the chimeric gene according to claim 1 .
12. A method for expressing a biologically active RNA in a cell of a plant, said method comprising
a) providing the cell of said plant with the chimeric gene according to claim 1 ;
and
b) growing said plant.
13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein said plant is a cotton plant.
14. The chimeric gene according to claim 1 , wherein said biologically active RNA downregulates the expression of an endogenous cotton gene.
15. The chimeric gene according to claim 14 , wherein said endogenous cotton gene encodes β-1,3-endoglucanase.
16. The chimeric gene according to claim 1 , wherein the fiber cell preferential promoter comprises the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 9 from position 1531 to position 2307.
17. The chimeric gene according to claim 1 , wherein the fiber cell preferential promoter comprises a fiber cell preferential promoter Gluc1-SGA(A 1.9) deposited as LMBP8351.