Method for altering the content of reserve substances in plants

1. A method for increasing the production of starch and/or oil, comprising selecting a transformed plant that has an increase in starch and/or oil content as compared with a wild-type control plant, growing said transformed plant, and recovering the starch and/or oil from said transformed plant, wherein the transformed plant overexpresses at least one hemoglobin, and the overexpression of the at least one hemoglobin results in the increase in starch and/or oil content in the transformed plant as compared with the wild-type control plant.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one hemoglobin is from a plant selected from the group consisting of Lupinus luteus, Glycine max, Medicago sativa, Medicago trunculata, Phaseolus vulgaris, Vicia faba, Pisum sativum, Vigna unguiculata, Lotus japonicus, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, Sesbania rostrata, Casuarina glauca, Canvalaria lineate, Physcomitrella patens, Arabidopsis thaliana, Gossypium hirsutum, Oryza sativa, Brassica napus, Lycopersicon esculentum, Hordeum vulgare, Zea mays, Trema tomentosa , and Parasponia rigida.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one hemoglobin is from Arabidopsis thaliana.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one hemoglobin is overexpressed in a storage-organ-specific manner.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one hemoglobin is overexpressed in a tuber-specific, seed-specific, or tuber- and seed-specific manner.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one hemoglobin is encoded by a nucleotide sequence having at least 95% identity with the nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 5 and the transformed plant has an increase in starch and/or oil content as compared with the wild-type control plant.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one hemoglobin is encoded by the nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 5.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transformed plant is a monocotyledonous crop plant.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transformed plant is a Gramineae species.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transformed plant is a dicotyledonous crop plant.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transformed plant is a Asteraceae, Brassicacea, Compositae, Cruciferae, Cucurbitaceae, Leguminosae, Rubiaceae, Solanaceae, Sterculiaceae, Theaceae or Umbelliferae species.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transformed plant is selected from the group consisting of Borago officinalis (borage), Brassica campestris, Brassica napus, Brassica rapa (mustard or oilseed rape), Cannabis sativa (hemp), Carthamus tinctorius (safflower), Cocos nucifera (coconut), Crambe abyssinica (crambe), Cuphea species, Elaeis guinensis (African oil palm), Elaeis oleifera (American oil palm), Glycine max (soybean), Gossypium hirsutum (American cotton), Gossypium barbadense (Egyptian cotton), Gossypium herbaceum (Asian cotton), Helianthus annuus (sunflower), Linum usitatissimum (linseed or flax), Oenothera biennis (evening primrose), Olea europea (olive), Oryza sativa (rice), Ricinus communis (castor-oil plant), Sesamum indicum (sesame), Triticum species (wheat), Zea mays (maize), walnut and almond.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transformed plant is potato, Arabidopsis thaliana , soybean or oilseed rape.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transformed plant is a T2 plant.

15. A method of achieving a better utilization of areas under cultivation or a better utilization of fertilizer, comprising selecting transformed plants that have an increased storage reserve content in storage organs as compared with a wild-type control plant in an area, and growing said transformed plants, wherein the transformed plants overexpress at least one hemoglobin and the overexpression of the at least one hemoglobin increases the storage reserve content in the storage organs of the transformed plants as compared with the wild-type control plant.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the overexpression of the at least one hemoglobin results in an increase in starch content in the transformed plant as compared with the wild-type control plant.

17. A method for increasing the production of oil, comprising selecting a transformed plant that has an increase in oil content in seeds as compared with a wild-type control plant, growing said transformed plant, and recovering the oil from the seeds of said transformed plant, wherein the transformed plant overexpresses at least one hemoglobin, and the overexpression of the at least one hemoglobin results in the increase in oil content in the seeds of the transformed plant as compared with the wild-type control plant.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the at least one hemoglobin is from a plant selected from the group consisting of Arabidopsis thaliana, Lupinus luteus, Glycine max, Medicago sativa, Medicago trunculata, Phaseolus vulgaris, Vicia faba, Pisum sativum, Vigna unguiculata, Lotus japonicus, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, Sesbania rostrata, Casuarina glauca, Canvalaria lineate, Physcomitrella patens, Arabidopsis thaliana, Gossypium hirsutum, Oryza sativa, Brassica napus, Lycopersicon esculentum, Hordeum vulgare, Zea mays, Trema tomentosa , and Parasponia rigida.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the at least one hemoglobin is encoded by the nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 5 or a nucleotide sequence having at least 95% identity with the nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 5 and the transformed plant has an increase in oil content as compared with the wild-type control plant.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the transformed plant is a monocotyledonous crop plant or a dicotyledonous crop plant.

21. The method of claim 17 , wherein the transformed plant is a Asteraceae, Brassicacea, Compositae, Cruciferae, Cucurbitaceae, Gramineae, Leguminosae, Rubiaceae, Solanaceae, Sterculiaceae, Theaceae or Umbelliferae species.

22. The method of claim 17 , wherein the transformed plant is selected from the group consisting of Arabidopsis thaliana, Borago officinalis (borage), Brassica campestris, Brassica napus, Brassica raga (mustard or oilseed rape), Cannabis sativa (hemp), Carthamus tinctorius (safflower), Cocos nucifera (coconut), Crambe abyssinica (crambe), Cuphea species, Elaeis guinensis (African oil palm), Elaeis oleifera (American oil palm), Glycine max (soybean), Gossypium hirsutum (American cotton), Gossypium barbadense (Egyptian cotton), Gossypium herbaceum (Asian cotton), Helianthus annuus (sunflower), Linum usitatissimum (linseed or flax), Oenothera biennis (evening primrose), Olea europea (olive), Oryza sativa (rice), Ricinus communis (castor-oil plant), Sesamum indicum (sesame), Triticum species (wheat), Zea mays (maize), potato, walnut and almond.

23. A method for increasing starch and/or oil content in a plant, comprising transforming at least one hemoglobin into a plant, overexpressing said at least one hemoglobin in the plant, comparing starch and/or oil content of the plant with a wild-type control plant, and selecting a transformed plant with increased starch and/or oil content as compared with the wild-type control plant, wherein the overexpression of the at least one hemoglobin results in the increase in starch and/or oil content in said transformed plant as compared with the wild-type control plant.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the at least one hemoglobin is from a plant selected from the group consisting of Arabidopsis thaliana, Lupinus luteus, Glycine max, Medicago sativa, Medicago trunculata, Phaseolus vulgaris, Vicia faba, Pisum sativum, Vigna unguiculata, Lotus japonicus, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, Sesbania rostrata, Casuarina glauca, Canvalaria lineate, Physcomitrella patens, Arabidopsis thaliana, Gossypium hirsutum, Oryza sativa, Brassica napus, Lycopersicon esculentum, Hordeum vulgare, Zea mays, Trema tomentosa , and Parasponia rigida.

25. The method of claim 23 , wherein the at least one hemoglobin is overexpressed in a storage-organ-specific manner.

26. The method of claim 23 , wherein the at least one hemoglobin is overexpressed in tuber-specific, seed-specific, or tuber- and seed-specific manner.

27. The method of claim 23 , wherein the hemoglobin is encoded by the nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 5 or a nucleotide sequence having at least 95% identity with the nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 5 and the transformed plant has an increase in starch and/or oil content as compared with the wild-type control plant.

28. The method of claim 23 , wherein the transformed plant is a monocotyledonous crop plant or a dicotyledonous crop plant.

29. The method of claim 23 , wherein the transformed plant is a Asteraceae, Brassicacea, Compositae, Cruciferae, Cucurbitaceae, Gramineae, Leguminosae, Rubiaceae, Solanaceae, Sterculiaceae, Theaceae or Umbelliferae species.

30. The method of claim 23 , wherein the transformed plant is selected from the group consisting of Arabidopsis thaliana, Borago officinalis (borage), Brassica campestris, Brassica napus, Brassica rapa (mustard or oilseed rape), Cannabis sativa (hemp), Carthamus tinctorius (safflower), Cocos nucifera (coconut), Crambe abyssinica (crambe), Cuphea species, Elaeis guinensis (African oil palm), Elaeis oleifera (American oil palm), Glycine max (soybean), Gossypium hirsutum (American cotton), Gossypium barbadense (Egyptian cotton), Gossypium herbaceum (Asian cotton), Helianthus annuus (sunflower), Linum usitatissimum (linseed or flax), Oenothera biennis (evening primrose), Olea europea (olive), Oryza sativa (rice), Ricinus communis (castor-oil plant), Sesamum indicum (sesame), Triticum species (wheat), Zea mays (maize), potato, walnut and almond.

31. The method of claim 1 , wherein the overexpression of the at least one hemoglobin results in an increase in starch and oil content in the transformed plant as compared with the wild-type control plant.