Polynucleotides and polypeptides involved in plant fiber development and methods of using same
Isolated polynucleotides are provided. Each of the isolated polynucleotides comprise a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence at least 80% homologous to SEQ ID NO: 121, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 95 or 96, wherein the polypeptide is capable of regulating cotton fiber development. Also provided are methods of using such polynucleotides for improving fiber quality and/or yield of a fiber producing plant, as well as methods of using such polynucleotides for producing plants having increased biomass/vigor/yield.
1. A nucleic acid construct comprising an isolated polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence at least 99% identical to the polypeptide set forth by SEQ ID NO: 115, and a heterologous promoter for regulating expression of said nucleic acid sequence in a host cell, wherein the isolated polynucleotide is operably linked to said heterologous promoter, wherein a plant comprising said nucleic acid construct exhibits an increased biomass as compared to a control plant not comprising said nucleic acid construct.
2. The nucleic acid construct of claim 1 , wherein said polypeptide is set forth by SEQ ID NO: 115.
3. The nucleic acid construct of claim 1 , wherein said polynucleotide is set forth by SEQ ID NO: 10, or a codon usage variant thereof.
4. The nucleic acid construct of claim 1 , wherein said promoter is set forth in SEQ ID NO: 74, 75, 85 or 91.
5. The nucleic acid construct of claim 1 , wherein said promoter is a constitutive promoter.
6. The nucleic acid construct of claim 1 , wherein said promoter is selected from the group consisting of an inducible promoter, an endothelial cell promoter, a tissue-specific promoter and a developmental stage-specific promoter.
7. A transgenic plant cell comprising the nucleic acid construct of claim 1 .
8. The transgenic plant cell of claim 7 , wherein said cell forms part of a plant.
9. The transgenic plant cell of claim 7 , wherein the plant is a monocot plant.
10. The transgenic plant cell of claim 7 , wherein the plant is a dicot plant.
11. A transgenic plant comprising the nucleic acid construct of claim 1 .
12. A method of generating a transgenic plant, comprising introducing into a cell of the plant the nucleic acid construct of claim 1 , thereby generating the transgenic plant.
13. A method of improving biomass, fiber initiation and yield of a plant as compared to a non-transformed plant, the method comprising expressing within the plant a nucleic acid construct which comprises an isolated polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence at least 99% identical to the polypeptide set forth by SEQ ID NO: 115, and wherein the isolated polynucleotide is operably linked to a heterologous promoter for regulating expression of said polynucleotide in a plant cell, thereby improving the biomass, fiber initiation and yield of the plant as compared to the non-transformed plant.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said amino acid sequence is set forth by SEQ ID NOs: 115.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein said polynucleotide is set forth by SEQ ID NO: 10.
16. The method of claim 13 , wherein said promoter is set forth in SEQ ID NO: 74, 75, 85 or 91.
17. The method of claim 13 , wherein said promoter is a constitutive promoter.
18. The nucleic acid construct of claim 1 , wherein said polynucleotide is set forth by SEQ ID NO: 10.
19. A transgenic plant cell comprising the nucleic acid construct of claim 2 .
20. A transgenic plant comprising the nucleic acid construct of claim 2 .
21. A nucleic acid construct comprising an isolated polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence as set forth by SEQ ID NO: 115, and a heterologous promoter for regulating expression of said nucleic acid sequence in a host cell, wherein the isolated polynucleotide is operably linked to said heterologous promoter.
22. A transgenic plant cell comprising the nucleic acid construct of claim 21 .
23. A transgenic plant comprising the nucleic acid construct of claim 21 .
24. A method of improving biomass and yield of a plant as compared to a non-transformed plant, the method comprising expressing within the plant a nucleic acid construct which comprises an isolated polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence as set forth by SEQ ID NO: 115, and wherein the isolated polynucleotide is operably linked to a heterologous promoter for regulating expression of said polynucleotide in a plant cell, thereby improving the biomass and yield of the plant as compared to the non-transformed plant.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein said polynucleotide is set forth by SEQ ID NO: 10.