SEED-SPECIFIC PROMOTER IN COTTON
The present application discloses a(n) (isolated) nucleic acid sequence comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from (a) SEQ ID NO: 1 or a fragment thereof, wherein said fragment comprises at least 400 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO: 1 and has seed-specific promoter activity; (b) a nucleotide sequence with at least 80% sequence identity with SEQ ID NO: 1 and having seed-specific promoter activity; (c) a nucleotide sequence hybridizing under stringent conditions to the nucleotide sequence of (a) or (b); and (d) a nucleotide sequence complementary to the nucleotide sequence of any one of (a) to (c). Further disclosed herein is a chimeric gene comprising the (isolated) nucleic acid described herein operably linked to a nucleic acid coding for an expression product of interest, and optionally a transcription termination and polyadenylation sequence. Also disclosed herein are a vector, a transgenic plant cell, a transgenic plant and a seed as characterized in the claims. Methods disclosed herein relate to the production of a transgenic plant, growing cotton, producing a seed, effecting seed-specific expression of a product in cotton and of altering fiber properties in a cotton plant as characterized in the claims.
1 . A nucleic acid sequence comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from
(a) SEQ ID NO: 1 or a fragment thereof, wherein said fragment comprises at least 400 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO: 1 and has seed-specific promoter activity;
(b) a nucleotide sequence with at least 80% sequence identity to the nucleic acid sequence of (a) and having seed-specific promoter activity;
(c) a nucleotide sequence hybridizing under stringent conditions to the nucleotide sequence of (a) or (b); and
(d) a nucleotide sequence complementary to the nucleotide sequence of any one of (a) to (c).
2 . The nucleic acid of claim 1 , wherein said seed-specific promoter activity is in cotton.
3 . The nucleic acid of claim 1 or 2 , wherein said seed-specific promoter activity is trichome-specific.
4 . A chimeric gene comprising the nucleic acid of any one of claims 1 to 3 operably linked to a nucleic acid sequence encoding an expression product of interest, and optionally a transcription termination and polyadenylation sequence.
5 . The chimeric gene of claim 4 , wherein the said expression product of interest is a protein or an RNA molecule capable of modulating the expression of a gene endogenous to said plant.
6 . The chimeric gene of claim 4 or 5 , wherein said expression product is a reporter gene or a fiber-specific gene.
7 . The chimeric gene of claim 5 or 6 , wherein said RNA molecule comprises a first and second RNA region wherein
1. said first RNA region comprises a nucleotide sequence of at least 19 consecutive nucleotides having at least about 94% sequence identity to the nucleotide sequence of said endogenous gene;
2. said second RNA region comprises a nucleotide sequence complementary to said 19 consecutive nucleotides of said first RNA region; and
3. said first and second RNA region are capable of base-pairing to form a double stranded RNA molecule between at least said 19 consecutive nucleotides of said first and second region.
8 . A vector comprising the chimeric gene of any one of claims 4 to 7 .
9 . A transgenic plant cell comprising the chimeric gene of any one of claims 4 to 7 or the vector of claim 8 .
10 . The transgenic plant cell of claim 9 , which is a cotton plant cell.
11 . A transgenic plant comprising the chimeric gene of any one of claims 4 to 7 or the vector of claim 8 stably integrated in its genome or consisting of the transgenic cotton plant cell of claim 9 or 10 .
12 . The transgenic plant of claim 11 , which is a cotton plant.
13 . The transgenic plant of claim 12 which is G. hirsutum, G. barbadense, G. arboreum or G. herbaceum.
14 . A seed generated from a transgenic plant according to any one of claims 11 to 13 , wherein the seed comprises the chimeric gene according to any one of claims 4 to 7 .
15 . Cotton fibers obtainable from the transgenic plant of claim 12 or 13 .
16 . A method of producing a transgenic plant comprising
(a) providing a chimeric gene according to any one of claims 4 to 7 or a vector according to claim 8 ; and
(b) introducing said chimeric gene or vector in a plant.
17 . A method of growing cotton comprising
(a1) providing the transgenic plant of any one of claims 11 to 13 or produced by the method of claim 16 ; or
(a2) introducing a chimeric gene according to any one of claims 4 to 7 or a vector according to claim 8 in a plant;
(b) growing the plant of (a1) or (a2); and
(c) harvesting cotton produced by said plant.
18 . A method of producing a seed comprising the chimeric gene of any one of claims 4 to 7 comprising
(a) growing a transgenic plant comprising the chimeric gene of any one of claims 4 to 7 or the vector of claim 8 , a transgenic plant according to any one of claims 11 to 13 or a transgenic plant obtained by the method of claim 16 , wherein said transgenic plant produces said seed and said chimeric gene is comprised in said seed, and
(b) isolating said seed from said transgenic plant.
19 . The method of claim 16 or 18 , wherein said plant is a cotton plant.
20 . A method of effecting seed-specific expression of a product in cotton comprising introducing the chimeric gene of any one of claims 4 to 7 or the vector of claim 8 into the genome of a cotton plant; or
providing the transgenic plant of claims 11 to 13 .
21 . A method of altering fiber properties in a cotton plant comprising introducing the chimeric gene of any one of claims 4 to 7 or the vector of claim 8 into the genome of a cotton plant; or
providing the transgenic plant of claims 11 to 13 .
22 . The method of claim 20 or 21 , further comprising growing said plant until seeds are generated.
23 . The method of claim 22 , which is for increasing cotton yield from a cotton plant and further comprises harvesting the cotton produced by said cotton plant.
24 . The method of any one of claims 21 to 23 , wherein said fiber properties are fiber length, fiber strength, charge of the fiber cell walls, dyeability, fuzz fiber content, fiber maturity ratio, immature fiber content, fiber uniformity and micronaire.
25 . Use of the chimeric gene of any one of claims 4 to 7 , the vector of claim 8 or the transgenic plant of claim 11 or 13 for seed-specific expression of a product in cotton, for altering fiber properties in cotton or for increasing cotton yield.