Compositions and methods for the modification of gene expression

Abstract

Novel isolated plant polynucleotide promoter sequences are provided, together with genetic constructs comprising such polynucleotides. Methods for using such constructs in modulating the transcription of DNA sequences of interest are also disclosed, together with transgenic plants comprising such constructs.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the regulation of polynucleotide transcription and/or expression. More specifically, this invention relates to polynucleotide regulatory sequences isolated from plants that are capable of initiating and driving the transcription of polynucleotides, and the use of such regulatory sequences in the modification of transcription of endogenous and/or heterologous polynucleotides and production of polypeptides.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Gene expression is regulated, in part, by the cellular processes involved in transcription. During transcription, a single-stranded RNA complementary to the DNA sequence to be transcribed is formed by the action of RNA polymerases. Initiation of transcription in eukaryotic cells is regulated by complex interactions between cis-acting DNA motifs, located within the gene to be transcribed, and trans-acting protein factors. Among the cis-acting regulatory regions are sequences of DNA, termed promoters, to which RNA polymerase is first bound, either directly or indirectly. As used herein, the term “promoter” refers to the 5′ untranslated region of a gene that is associated with transcription and which generally includes a transcription start site. Other cis-acting DNA motifs, such as enhancers, may be situated further up- and/or down-stream from the initiation site.

Both promoters and enhancers are generally composed of several discrete, often redundant elements, each of which may be recognized by one or more trans-acting regulatory proteins, known as transcription factors. Promoters generally comprise both proximal and more distant elements. For example, the so-called TATA box, which is important for the binding of regulatory proteins, is generally found about 25 basepairs upstream from the initiation site. The so-called CAAT box is generally found about 75 basepairs upstream of the initiation site. Promoters generally contain between about 100 and 1000 nucleotides, although longer promoter sequences are possible.

To date, although numerous promoters have been isolated from various plants, only a few of these are usefully employed for expression of a transgene in a plant. Currently CaMV (cauliflower mosaic virus) 35S promoter and its derivatives have been most widely used. This promoter is constitutive, i.e. continuously active in all plant tissues. However, the CaMV 35S promoter exhibits lower activity in monocot plants, such as rice and maize, than in dicot plants, and does not exhibit any activity in certain cells such as pollen. Many other promoters that have originated from dicot plants have also been used for transgene expression in monocot plants, but exhibit lower activity than promoters originating from monocot plants.

Intron sequences inside monocot promoters have been shown to enhance promoter activity. These include the first intron of rice actin (McEloy et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 231:150-160, 1991), intron 1 of the maize ubiquitin gene (Christensen and Quail, Transgenic Res. 5:213-218, 1996), and the maize sucrose synthase gene (Clancy and Hannah, Plant Physiol. 130:918-929, 2002). Using the actin intron next to the 35S promoter increased expression 10-fold in rice, compared to 35S promoter alone (McElroy et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 231:150-160, 1991). Studies have shown that the introns used must be within the transcribed portion of the gene and preferably within the 5′ untranslated leader sequence (Bourdon et al., EMBO Rep. 2:394-398, 2001; Callis et al., Genes Dev. 1:1183-1200, 1987; Mascarenhas et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 15:913-920, 1990). It has also been shown that the intron plays a role in tissue specificity in some cases (Deyholos and Sieburth, Plant Cell 12:1799-1810, 2000).

In addition to introns, untranslated leader sequences (5′UTLs) have also been shown to enhance expression. It appears that 5′UTLs from dicots work better in dicot hosts and those from monocots work better in monocots (Koziel et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 32:393-405, 1996).

Constitutive promoters have been isolated from monocots, characterized, and used to drive transgene expression, for example the rice actin1 promoter and the maize ubiquitin 1 promoter. However, even within monocots, using a promoter in a heterologous system may give unexpected expression patterns. For example, the rbcS promoter from rice has a different pattern of expression than the endogenous maize rbcS when transformed into a maize plant (Nomura et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 44:99-106, 2000). Therefore, there is a need for the development of promoter systems from monocots and, in particular, important target species such as forage grasses.

Constitutive promoters for use in monocots, especially the forage grasses, are not abundant. Examples of these may be promoters from the genes of actin, tubulin or ubiquitin. Actin is a fundamental cytoskeletal component that is expressed in nearly every plant cell. The alpha- and beta-tubulin monomers associate to form tubulin dimers that are the basic units of microtubules, found in most cells. Ubiquitin is one of the most highly conserved proteins in nature. It has been linked to many cellular processes such as protein degradation, chromatin structure and DNA repair, and is highly abundant in nearly every plant cell (Kawalleck et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 21:673-684, 1993).

In some cases, constitutive over-expression of a transgene may interfere with the normal processes in a plant. The development of tissue-specific promoters, designed specifically to drive a particular gene of interest should help to alleviate these problems. For example, to manipulate the plant secondary cell wall, vascular specific promoters may be preferred, and to manipulate flowering habit, floral specific promoters may be preferred.

A number of genes in the pathway for lignin biosynthesis from Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea are described in International Patent Publications WO03/040306 and WO03/93464. These include Phenylalanine Ammonia Lyase (PAL), the first enzyme of the general phenylpropanoid pathway. Isoforms of this gene from Arabidopsis have been shown to be stem and vascular specific in expression (Ohl et al., Plant Cell 2:837-848, 1990; Leyva et al., Plant Cell 4:263-271, 1992). Several isoforms of 4-Coumarate:CoA ligase (4CL) have been isolated. 4CL is an enzyme that catalyzes the formation of CoA esters from p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, ferilic acid, 5-hydroxyferulic acid and sinapic acid. A number of caffeic acid O-methyltransferase (COMT) grass genes have also been identified. COMT genes, such as those from Arabidopsis and the monocot alfalfa, are expressed in lignifying tissues (Goujon et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 51:973-989, 2003; Inoue et al., Plant Physiol. 117:761-770, 1998). Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) catalyzes the last step in monolignol biosynthesis, and the grass CAD gene has also been identified. The promoters of these genes will be of use in manipulating cell wall modification and digestibility.

A number of genes involved in flowering development from Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea are described in International Patent Publication WO04/022755. The control of flowering has been extensively studied in model species, in particular Arabidopsis thaliana, and a large number of genes and transcription factors involved in floral development have been identified; for a review see Putterill et al., BioEssays 26:363-373, 2004, and Simpson & Dean, Science 296:285-289, 2002. In particular, the MADs box family of transcription factors play a role in the transition of vegetative to floral growth and show differential expression through floral development (Petersen et al., J. Plant Physiol. 161:439-447, 2004. In the manipulation of floral development, it is a prerequisite that floral specific promoters will be required to drive transgene expression. Therefore, the isolation and development of floral specific promoters from monocots is necessary.

A number of genes involved in anthocyanin and condensed tannin biosynthesis from Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea are described in International Patent Publications WO03/040306 and WO03/93464. Many of the genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis show specific cell type and developmental patterns of expression. The promoters of these genes will be of use in transgenic expression of genes, particularly to manipulate anthocyanin and tannin biosynthesis. Dihydroflavonol-4-Reductase (DFR) catalyzes the reduction of dihydroflavonols to leucoanthocyanidins, the precursors of anthocyanins and condensed tannins. DFR is a later key enzyme that may control the flux into the pathways of anthocyanin and condensed tannin synthesis. Another key enzyme that may control flux into these pathways is chalcone synthase (CHS), which catalyzes the condensation of malonyl-CoA and coumaroyl-CoA into chalcone intermediates. In many species, several gene family members exist for each enzyme. These different family members are differentially expressed and reflect the types of tissue in which different species accumulate anthocyanins, such as fruit or petals (Jaakola et al., Plant Physiol. 130:729-739, 2002; Rosati et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 35:303-311, 1997). In particular, grasses accumulate higher levels of anthocyanins in the stem.

A number of antifreeze protein genes from Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea are described in International Patent Publication WO04/022700. Overwintering plants produce antifreeze proteins (AFPs) having the ability to adsorb onto the surface of ice crystals and modify their growth. AFPs may play a role in protecting the plant tissues from mechanical stress caused by ice formation (Atici and Nalbantoglu, Phytochem. 64:1187-1196, 2003). The expression of AFPs is induced by cold temperature, in specific plant tissues, and a system utilizing these specific promoters will be very powerful.

A number of fructosyltransferase genes from Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea are described in International Patent Publication WO 03/040306. Fructosyltransferases catalyze the synthesis of fructans, polymers of fructose found in a range of plant families including the Poaceae. Fructans are found in specific organs dependent on the plant species. In the grasses they are found in the stems and leaf base where expression of specific fructosyltransferases occurs (Luscher et al., Plant Physiol. 124:1217-1227, 2000). The promoters of these genes will be useful to drive specific expression of transgenes.

Plants produce a number of Class III plant peroxidase (POX) enzymes, and each isoenzyme has diverse expression profiles, suggesting their involvement in various physiological processes (for a review see Hiraga et al., Plant Cell Physiol. 42:462-468, 2001). POXs have been suggested to play a role in lignification, suberization, auxin catabolism, wound healing and defense against pathogen infection. The unique expression profile of these genes, captured by isolation of their promoters will provide a valuable tool for expression of transgenes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, isolated polynucleotide regulatory sequences from Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass), Festuca arundinacea (tall fescue) and Arabidopsis thaliana that are involved in the regulation of gene expression are disclosed, together with methods for the use of such polynucleotide regulatory regions in modifying the expression of endogenous and/or heterologous polynucleotides in transgenic plants. In particular, the present invention provides polynucleotide promoter sequences from 5′ untranslated, or non-coding, regions of plant genes that initiate and regulate transcription of polynucleotides placed under their control, together with isolated polynucleotides comprising such promoter sequences.

In a first aspect, the present invention provides isolated polynucleotide sequences comprising a polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of: (a) sequences recited in SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48; (b) complements of the sequences recited in SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48; (c) reverse complements of the sequences recited in SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48; (d) reverse sequences of the sequences recited in SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48; and (e) sequences having at least 75%, 80%, 90%, 95% or 98% identity as defined herein, to a sequence of (a)-(d). Polynucleotides comprising at least a specified number of contiguous residues (“x-mers”) of any of SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48, and oligonucleotide probes and primers corresponding to SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48 are also provided. All of the above polynucleotides are referred to herein as “polynucleotides of the present invention.”

In another aspect, the present invention provides genetic constructs comprising a polynucleotide of the present invention, either alone, or in combination with one or more additional polynucleotides of the present invention, or in combination with one or more known polynucleotides, together with cells and target organisms comprising such constructs.

In a related aspect, the present invention provides genetic constructs comprising, in the 5′-3′ direction, a polynucleotide promoter sequence of the present invention, a polynucleotide to be transcribed, and a gene termination sequence. The polynucleotide to be transcribed may comprise an open reading frame of a polynucleotide that encodes a polypeptide of interest, or it may be a non-coding, or untranslated, region of a polynucleotide of interest. The open reading frame may be orientated in either a sense or antisense direction. Preferably, the gene termination sequence is functional in a host plant. Most preferably, the gene termination sequence is that of the gene of interest, but others generally used in the art, such as the Agrobacterium tumefaciens nopalin synthase terminator may be usefully employed in the present invention. The genetic construct may further include a marker for the identification of transformed cells.

In a further aspect, transgenic cells comprising the genetic constructs of the present invention are provided, together with organisms, such as plants, comprising such transgenic cells, and fruits, seeds and other products, derivatives, or progeny of such plants. Propagules of the inventive transgenic plants are also included in the present invention. As used herein, the word “propagule” means any part of a plant that may be used in reproduction or propagation, sexual or asexual, including cuttings.

Plant varieties, particularly registerable plant varieties according to Plant Breeders' Rights, may be excluded from the present invention. A plant need not be considered a “plant variety” simply because it contains stably within its genome a transgene, introduced into a cell of the plant or an ancestor thereof.

In yet another aspect, methods for modifying gene expression in a target organism, such as a plant, are provided, such methods including stably incorporating into the genome of the organism a genetic construct of the present invention. In a preferred embodiment, the target organism is a plant, more preferably a monocotyledonous plant, most preferably selected from the group consisting of Lolium and Festuca species, most preferably from the group consisting of Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea.

In another aspect, methods for producing a target organism, such as a plant, having modified polypeptide expression are provided, such methods comprising transforming a plant cell with a genetic construct of the present invention to provide a transgenic cell, and cultivating the transgenic cell under conditions conducive to regeneration and mature plant growth.

In other aspects, methods for identifying a gene responsible for a desired function or phenotype are provided, the methods comprising transforming a plant cell with a genetic construct comprising a polynucleotide promoter sequence of the present invention operably linked to a polynucleotide to be tested; cultivating the plant cell under conditions conducive to regeneration and mature plant growth to provide a transgenic plant; and comparing the phenotype of the transgenic plant with the phenotype of non-transformed, or wild-type, plants.

The above-mentioned and additional features of the present invention and the manner of obtaining them will become apparent, and the invention will be best understood by reference to the following more detailed description. All references disclosed herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety as if each was incorporated individually.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-17 show annotated versions of the promoter sequences of SEQ ID NO: 1-17, respectively. Motifs are identified by boxes, double underlining and bold font, and are described in detail below. Introns, where present, are underlined.

FIG. 18 shows expression levels in plant cells of the constitutive actin and tubulin promoters given in SEQ ID NO: 1-4, as determined by the level of GUS expression.

FIG. 19 shows expression levels of the lignin promoters of SEQ ID NO: 5-8 in plant cells, as determined by the level of GUS expression.

FIG. 20 shows expression levels of the CHS promoters given in SEQ ID NO: 9-11 in plant cells, as determined by the level of GUS expression. The longest promoter fragment (SEQ ID NO: 9) had the highest expression levels.

FIGS. 21-31 show annotated versions of the promoter sequences of SEQ ID NO: 38-48, respectively. Motifs are identified by boxes, double underlining and bold font, and are described in detail below.

FIG. 32 shows expression of EGFP from Lolium multiflorum protoplasts transfected with the EGFP gene under the control of the grass F5H promoter (SEQ ID NO: 8). The promoter::reporter construct was co-transfected either with a grass MYB transcription factor (TF) or without (basal expression level).

FIG. 33 shows expression of EGFP from Lolium multiflorum protoplasts transfected with the EGFP gene under the control of the grass 4CL3 promoter (SEQ ID NO: 5. The promoter::reporter construct was co-transfected either with a grass MYB TF, or without (basal expression level).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides isolated polynucleotide regulatory regions that may be employed in the manipulation of plant phenotypes, together with isolated polynucleotides comprising such regulatory regions. More specifically, polynucleotide promoter sequences isolated from Lolium, Festuca and Arabidopsis are disclosed. As discussed above, promoters are components of the cellular “transcription apparatus” and are involved in the regulation of gene expression. Both tissue- and temporal-specific gene expression patterns are initiated and controlled by promoters during the natural development of a plant. The isolated polynucleotide promoter sequences of the present invention may thus be employed in the modification of growth and development of plants, and of cellular responses to external stimuli, such as environmental factors and disease pathogens.

Using the methods and materials of the present invention, the amount of a specific polypeptide of interest may be increased or reduced by incorporating additional copies of genes, or coding sequences, encoding the polypeptide, operably linked to an inventive promoter sequence, into the genome of a target organism, such as a plant. Similarly, an increase or decrease in the amount of the polypeptide may be obtained by transforming the target plant with antisense copies of such genes.

The polynucleotides of the present invention were isolated from plant sources, namely from Lolium perenne, Festuca arundinacea and Arabidopsis thaliana, but they may alternatively be synthesized using conventional synthesis techniques. Specifically, isolated polynucleotides of the present invention include polynucleotides comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of: sequences identified as SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48; complements of the sequences identified as SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48; reverse complements of the sequences identified as SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48; sequences comprising at least a specified number of contiguous residues (x-mers) of any of the above-mentioned polynucleotides; extended sequences corresponding to any of the above polynucleotides; antisense sequences corresponding to any of the above polynucleotides; and variants of any of the above polynucleotides, as that term is described in this specification.

The polynucleotides of the present invention, were putatively identified by DNA similarity searches. The inventive polynucleotides have demonstrated similarity to promoters that are known to be involved in regulation of transcription and/or expression in plants. The identity of each of the inventive polynucleotides is shown below in Table 1. The cDNA sequences of SEQ ID NO: 1-15, 39-42 and 44-47 were determined to have less than 40% identity to sequences in the EMBL database using the computer algorithm BLASTN, as described below.

TABLE 1
SEQ ID
NO:	Identity	Description of Gene Function
1-3	Actin1	Actins are molecules that play important roles in plant
		morphogenesis and development. The actin cytoskeleton is a
		key effector of signal transduction, which controls and
		maintains the shape of plant cells, as well as playing roles in
		plant morphogenesis (Vantard and Blanchoin, Curr. Opin.
		Plant Biol. 5: 502-506, 2002) and actin microfilaments play a
		role in delivery of materials required for growth to specified
		sites (Mathur and Hulskamp, Curr. Biol. 12: R669-676,
		2002).
4	Tubulin	Microtubules play important roles in cell morphogenesis and
		are important for establishing and maintaining growth
		polarity (Mathur and Hulskamp, Curr. Biol. 12: R669-676,
		2002) and other cellular processes such as cell division and
		cell elongation in plants (Yoshikawa et al., Plant Cell
		Physiol. 44: 1202-1207, 2003.
5, 6	4CL3a	4-Coumarate: coenzyme A ligase (4CL) plays a role in the
		phenylpropanoid pathway and lignin biosynthesis. 4CL is a
		key enzyme of general phenylpropanoid metabolism which
		provides the precursors for a large variety of important plant
		secondary products, such as lignin, flavonoids, or
		phytoalexins which serve important functions in plant
		growth and adaptation to environmental perturbations. Three
		isoforms have been identified with distinct substrate
		preference and specificities. Expression studies in
		angiosperms revealed a differential behavior of the three
		genes in various plant organs and upon external stimuli such
		as wounding and UV irradiation or upon challenge with
		fungi. One isoform is likely to participate in the biosynthetic
		pathway leading to flavonoids whereas the other two are
		probably involved in lignin formation and in the production
		of additional phenolic compounds other than flavonoids
		(Ehlting et al., Plant J. 19: 9-20, 1999).
7	COMT3	Caffeic acid 3-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is involved in
		lignin biosynthesis. COMT catalyzes the conversion of
		caffeic acid to ferulic acid and of 5-hydroxyferulic acid to
		sinapic acid. Lignin is formed by polymerization of at least
		three different monolignols that are synthesized in a
		multistep pathway, each step in the pathway being catalyzed
		by a different enzyme. Manipulation of the number of
		copies of genes encoding certain enzymes in this pathway,
		such as COMT results in modification of the amount of
		lignin produced.
8	F5H	Ferulate-5-hydroxylase (F5H), also known as cytochrome
		P450 84A1, is involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis.
		F5H belongs to the cytochrome P450 family and the CYP84
		subfamily. F5H enzymes are active in the pathways leading
		to the synthesis of sinapic acid esters, but has also been
		shown to have coniferaldehyde hydroxylase activity (Nair et
		al., Plant Physiol. 123: 1623-1634, 2000). In the generalized
		pathway for phenylpropanoid metabolism, F5H catalyzes the
		formation of 5-hydoxyferulate, a precursor of sinapate, and
		sinapate in turn is the precursor for sinapine and sinapoyl
		CoA in two bifurcated pathways (Chapple et al., Plant Cell
		4: 1413-1424, 1992). Sinapoyl CoA has been considered as
		the precursor for sinapyl alcohol, which is then polymerized
		into syringyl (S) lignin. In addition, the CYP84 product
		carries out the hydroxylation of coniferaldehyde (ConAld) to
		5-OH ConAld (Nair et al., Plant Physiol. 123: 1623-1634,
		2000).
9-11	CHS	Chalcone Synthase (CHS) is an important enzyme in
		flavonoid synthesis.
12	FT	Flowering locus T (FT) and “Suppression of overexpression
		of CO1” (SOC1) interact with Arabidopsis CONSTANS
		(CO) to promote flowering in response to day length. FT and
		SOC1 can act independently on CO by acting within a
		different flowering-time pathway (Samach et al., Science
		288: 1613-1616, 2000).
13-15	AFP5	Antifreeze proteins (AFP) are involved in inhibition of ice
		crystal growth in plants.
16, 17, 38	DFR	Dihydroflavonal-4-reductase (DFR) belongs to the
		dihydroflavonol-4-reductases family and is involved in
		flavonoid synthesis and anthocyanidins biosynthesis.
		Flavonoids are secondary metabolites derived from
		phenylalanine and acetate metabolism that perform a variety
		of essential functions in higher plants.
39	MYB	The Myb family of transcription factors is a group of
	transcription	functionally diverse transcriptional activators found in both
	factor	plants and animals that is characterized by a conserved
		amino-terminal DNA-binding domain containing either two
		(in plant species) or three (in animal species) imperfect
		tandem repeats of approximately 50 amino acids (Rosinski
		and Atchley, J. Mol. Evol. 46(1): 74-83, 1998; Stober-Grasser
		et al., Oncogene 7[3]: 589-596, 1992)
40-42	PER	Peroxidases are haem-containing enzymes that use hydrogen
		peroxide as the electron acceptor to catalyze a number of
		oxidative reactions. They belong to a superfamily consisting
		of 3 major classes. Class I contains intracellular peroxidases,
		Class II consists of secretory fungal peroxidases and Class
		III consists of the secretory plant peroxidases, which have
		multiple tissue-specific functions: e.g., removal of hydrogen
		peroxide from chloroplasts and cytosol, oxidation of toxic
		compounds, biosynthesis of the cell wall, defense responses
		towards wounding, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) catabolism
		and ethylene biosynthesis.
43	6-SFT	Sucrose-fructan 6-fructosyltransferase (6-SFT) is involved in
		plant fructan biosynthesis and contain the conserved
		signature of the glycosyl hydrolases family 32. The glycosyl
		hydrolases family 32 domain signature has a consensus of
		HYQPxxH/NxxNDPNG, where D is the active site residue
		(Henrissat, Biochem. J. 280: 309-316, 1991).
44, 45	PAL	Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) catalyzes the first step
		in phenylpropanoid metabolism and plays a central role in
		the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoid compounds.
46-48	MADS box	MADS box transcription factors play a role in regulation of
	transcription	transcription and interact with a conserved region of DNA
	factor	known as the MADS box. All MADS box transcription
		factors contain a conserved DNA-binding/dimerization
		region, known as the MADS domain, which has been
		identified throughout the different kingdoms (Riechmann
		and Meyerowitz, Biol. Chem. 378: 1079-1101, 1997). Many
		of the MADS box genes isolated from plants are expressed
		primarily in floral meristems or floral organs, and are
		believed to play a role in either specifying inflorescence and
		floral meristem identity or in determining floral organ
		identity.

The term “polynucleotide(s),” as used herein, means a single or double-stranded polymer of deoxyribonucleotide or ribonucleotide bases and includes DNA and corresponding RNA molecules, including HnRNA and mRNA molecules, both sense and anti-sense strands, and comprehends cDNA, genomic DNA and recombinant DNA, as well as wholly or partially synthesized polynucleotides. An HnRNA molecule contains introns and corresponds to a DNA molecule in a generally one-to-one manner. An mRNA molecule corresponds to an HnRNA and DNA molecule from which the introns have been excised. A polynucleotide may consist of an entire gene, or any portion thereof. Operable anti-sense polynucleotides may comprise a fragment of the corresponding polynucleotide, and the definition of “polynucleotide” therefore includes all such operable anti-sense fragments. Anti-sense polynucleotides and techniques involving anti-sense polynucleotides are well known in the art and are described, for example, in Robinson-Benion et al., Methods in Enzymol. 254:363-375, 1995; and Kawasaki et al., Artific. Organs 20:836-848, 1996.

All of the polynucleotides described herein are isolated and purified, as those terms are commonly used in the art. Preferably, the polynucleotides are at least about 80% pure, more preferably at least about 90% pure, and most preferably at least about 99% pure.

The definition of the terms “complement”, “reverse complement” and “reverse sequence”, as used herein, is best illustrated by the following example. For the sequence 5′ AGGACC 3′, the complement, reverse complement and reverse sequence are as follows:

Complement         3′ TCCTGG 5′
Reverse complement 3′ GGTCCT 5′
Reverse sequence   5′ CCAGGA 3′

Preferably, sequences that are complements of a specifically recited polynucleotide sequence are complementary over the entire length of the specific polynucleotide sequence.

As used herein, the term “x-mer,” with reference to a specific value of “x,” refers to a polynucleotide comprising at least a specified number (“x”) of contiguous residues of any of the polynucleotides provided in SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 3848. The value of x may be from about 20 to about 600, depending upon the specific sequence.

Polynucleotides of the present invention comprehend polynucleotides comprising at least a specified number of contiguous residues (x-mers) of any of the polynucleotides identified as SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48, or their variants. According to preferred embodiments, the value of x is at least 20, more preferably at least 40, more preferably yet at least 60, and most preferably at least 80. Thus, polynucleotides of the present invention include polynucleotides comprising a 20-mer, a 40-mer, a 60-mer, an 80-mer, a 100-mer, a 120-mer, a 150-mer, a 180-mer, a 220-mer, a 250-mer, a 300-mer, 400-mer, 500-mer or 600-mer of a polynucleotide provided in SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48, or a variant of one of the polynucleotides corresponding to the polynucleotides provided in SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48.

RNA sequences, reverse sequences, complementary sequences, antisense sequences, and the like, corresponding to the polynucleotides of the present invention, may be routinely ascertained and obtained using the cDNA sequences identified as SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48.

The polynucleotides of the present invention may be isolated as described below. Alternatively, oligonucleotide probes and primers based on the sequences provided in SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48 can be synthesized as detailed below, and used to identify positive clones in DNA libraries from by means of hybridization or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques. Hybridization and PCR techniques suitable for use with such oligonucleotide probes are well known in the art (see, for example, Mullis et al., Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol., 51:263, 1987; Erlich, ed., PCR technology, Stockton Press: NY, 1989; Sambrook et al., eds., Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual, 2nd ed., CSHL Press: Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989; and Sambrook, ed., Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual, 3nd ed., CSHL Press: Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 2001). Artificial analogs of DNA hybridizing specifically to target sequences could also be employed. Positive clones may be analyzed by restriction enzyme digestion, DNA sequencing or the like.

The polynucleotides of the present invention may also, or alternatively, be synthesized using techniques that are well known in the art. The polynucleotides may be synthesized, for example, using automated oligonucleotide synthesizers (e.g., Beckman Oligo 1000M DNA Synthesizer; Beckman Coulter Ltd., Fullerton, Calif.) to obtain polynucleotide segments of up to 50 or more nucleic acids. A plurality of such polynucleotide segments may then be ligated using standard DNA manipulation techniques that are well known in the art of molecular biology. One conventional and exemplary polynucleotide synthesis technique involves synthesis of a single stranded polynucleotide segment having, for example, 80 nucleic acids, and hybridizing that segment to a synthesized complementary 85 nucleic acid segment to produce a 5 nucleotide overhang. The next segment may then be synthesized in a similar fashion, with a 5 nucleotide overhang on the opposite strand. The “sticky” ends ensure proper ligation when the two portions are hybridized. In this way, a complete polynucleotide of the present invention may be synthesized entirely in vitro.

As used herein, the term “variant” comprehends nucleotide sequences different from the specifically identified sequences, wherein one or more nucleotides is deleted, substituted, or added. Variants may be naturally occurring allelic variants, or non-naturally occurring variants. Variant sequences preferably exhibit at least 75%, more preferably at least 80%, more preferably at least 85%, more preferably at least 90%, more preferably yet at least 95%, and most preferably at least 98% identity to a sequence of the present invention. The percentage identity is determined by aligning the two sequences to be compared as described below, determining the number of identical residues in the aligned portion, dividing that number by the total number of residues in the inventive (queried) sequence, and multiplying the result by 100.

Polynucleotides having a specified percentage identity to a polynucleotide identified in one of SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48 thus share a high degree of similarity in their primary structure. In addition to a specified percentage identity to a polynucleotide of the present invention, variant polynucleotides preferably have additional structural and/or functional features in common with a polynucleotide of the present invention. Polynucleotides having a specified degree of identity to, or capable of hybridizing to, a polynucleotide of the present invention preferably additionally have at least one of the following features: (1) they have substantially the same functional properties as a polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 3848; or (2) they contain identifiable domains in common.

Polynucleotide sequences may be aligned, and percentage of identical residues in a specified region may be determined against other polynucleotide sequences, using computer algorithms that are publicly available. Two exemplary algorithms for aligning and identifying the similarity of polynucleotide sequences are the BLASTN and FASTA algorithms. The BLASTN algorithm Version 2.2.6 [Apr.-9-2003] set to the default parameters described in the documentation and distributed with the algorithm, is preferred for use in the determination of polynucleotide variants of SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48. The use of the BLAST family of algorithms, including BLASTN, BLASTP, and BLASTX, is described in the publication of Altschul et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 25:3389-3402, 1997. The BLASTN software is available on the NCBI anonymous FTP server and from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), National Library of Medicine, Building 38A, Room 8N8O5, Bethesda, Md. 20894, USA.

The FASTA software package is available from the University of Virginia (University of Virginia, PO Box 9025, Charlottesville, Va. 22906-9025). Version 2.0u4, February 1996, set to the default parameters described in the documentation and distributed with the algorithm, may be used in the determination of variants according to the present invention. The use of the FASTA algorithm is described in Pearson and Lipman, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:2444-2448, 1988; and Pearson, Methods in Enzymol. 183:63-98, 1990.

The following running parameters are preferred for determination of alignments and similarities using BLASTN that contribute to the E values and percentage identity for polynucleotide sequences: Unix running command: blastall −p blastn −d embldb −e 10 −G 0 −E 0 −r 1 −F F −v 30 −b 30 −i queryseq −o results; the parameters are: −p Program Name [String]; −d Database [String]; −e Expectation value (E) [Real]; −G Cost to open a gap (zero invokes default behavior) [Integer]; −E Cost to extend a gap (zero invokes default behavior) [Integer]; −F low complexity filter; −r Reward for a nucleotide match (BLASTN only) [Integer]; −v Number of one-line descriptions (V) [Integer]; −b Number of alignments to show (B) [Integer]; −i Query File [File In]; and −o BLAST report Output File [File Out] Optional.

The “hits” to one or more database sequences by a queried sequence produced by BLASTN, FASTA, BLASTP or a similar algorithm, align and identify similar portions of sequences. The hits are arranged in order of the degree of similarity and the length of sequence overlap. Hits to a database sequence generally represent an overlap over only a fraction of the sequence length of the queried sequence.

The BLASTN, FASTA and BLASTP algorithms also produce “Expect” values for alignments. The Expect value (E) indicates the number of hits one can “expect” to see over a certain number of contiguous sequences by chance when searching a database of a certain size. The Expect value is used as a significance threshold for determining whether the hit to a database, such as the preferred EMBL database, indicates true similarity. For example, an E value of 0.1 assigned to a polynucleotide hit is interpreted as meaning that in a database of the size of the EMBL database, one might expect to see 0.1 matches over the aligned portion of the sequence with a similar score simply by chance. By this criterion, the aligned and matched portions of the polynucleotide sequences then have a probability of 90% of being the same. For sequences having an E value of 0.01 or less over aligned and matched portions, the probability of finding a match by chance in the EMBL database is 1% or less using the BLASTN or FASTA algorithm.

According to one embodiment, “variant” polynucleotides, with reference to each of the polynucleotides of the present invention, preferably comprise sequences having the same number or fewer base pairs than each of the polynucleotides of the present invention and producing an E value of 0.01 or less when compared to the polynucleotide of the present invention. That is, a variant polynucleotide is any sequence that has at least a 99% probability of being the same as the polynucleotide of the present invention, measured as having an E value of 0.01 or less using the BLASTN or FASTA algorithms set at parameters described above. According to a preferred embodiment, a variant polynucleotide is a sequence having the same number or fewer nucleic acids than a polynucleotide of the present invention that has at least a 99% probability of being the same as the polynucleotide of the present invention, measured as having an E value of 0.01 or less using the BLASTN or FASTA algorithms set at parameters described above.

In an alternative embodiment, variant polynucleotides are sequences that hybridize to a polynucleotide of the present invention under stringent conditions. Stringent hybridization conditions for determining complementarity include salt conditions of less than about 1 M, more usually less than about 500 mM, and preferably less than about 200 mM. Hybridization temperatures can be as low as 5° C., but are generally greater than about 22° C., more preferably greater than about 30° C., and most preferably greater than about 37° C. Longer DNA fragments may require higher hybridization temperatures for specific hybridization. Since the stringency of hybridization may be affected by other factors such as probe composition, presence of organic solvents, and extent of base mismatching, the combination of parameters is more important than the absolute measure of any one alone. An example of “stringent conditions” is prewashing in a solution of 6×SSC, 0.2% SDS; hybridizing at 65° C., 6×SSC, 0.2% SDS overnight; followed by two washes of 30 minutes each in 1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 65° C. and two washes of 30 minutes each in 0.2×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 65° C.

Polynucleotides comprising sequences that differ from the polynucleotide sequences recited in SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48, or complements, reverse complements or reverse sequences thereof, as a result of deletions and/or insertions totaling less than 10% of the total sequence length are also contemplated by and encompassed within the present invention.

In certain embodiments, variants of the inventive polynucleotides possess biological activities that are the same or similar to those of the inventive polynucleotides. Such variant polynucleotides function as promoter sequences and are thus capable of modifying gene expression in a plant.

As noted above, the inventive polynucleotide promoter sequences may be employed in genetic constructs to drive transcription and/or expression of a polynucleotide of interest. The polynucleotide of interest may be either endogenous or heterologous to an organism, for example a plant, to be transformed. The inventive genetic constructs may thus be employed to modulate levels of transcription and/or expression of a polynucleotide, for example a gene, that is present in the wild-type plant, or may be employed to provide transcription and/or expression of a DNA sequence that is not found in the wild-type plant.

In certain embodiments, the polynucleotide of interest comprises an open reading frame that encodes a target polypeptide. The open reading frame is inserted in the genetic construct in either a sense or antisense orientation, such that transformation of a target plant with the genetic construct will lead to a change in the amount of polypeptide compared to the wild-type plant. Transformation with a genetic construct comprising an open reading frame in a sense orientation will generally result in over-expression of the selected polypeptide, while transformation with a genetic construct comprising an open reading frame in an antisense orientation will generally result in reduced expression of the selected polypeptide. A population of plants transformed with a genetic construct comprising an open reading frame in either a sense or antisense orientation may be screened for increased or reduced expression of the polypeptide in question using techniques well known to those of skill in the art, and plants having the desired phenotypes may thus be isolated.

Alternatively, expression of a target polypeptide may be inhibited by inserting a portion of the open reading frame, in either sense or antisense orientation, in the genetic construct. Such portions need not be full-length but preferably comprise at least 25 and more preferably at least 50 residues of the open reading frame. A much longer portion, or even the full length DNA corresponding to the complete open reading frame, may be employed. The portion of the open reading frame does not need to be precisely the same as the endogenous sequence, provided that there is sufficient sequence similarity to achieve inhibition of the target gene. Thus a sequence derived from one species may be used to inhibit expression of a gene in a different species.

In further embodiments, the inventive genetic constructs comprise a polynucleotide including an untranslated, or non-coding, region of a gene coding for a target polypeptide, or a polynucleotide complementary to such an untranslated region. Examples of untranslated regions which may be usefully employed in such constructs include introns and 5′-untranslated leader sequences. Transformation of a target plant with such a genetic construct may lead to a reduction in the amount of the polypeptide expressed in the plant by the process of cosuppression, in a manner similar to that discussed, for example, by Napoli et al., Plant Cell 2:279-290, 1990 and de Carvalho Niebel et al., Plant Cell 7:347-358, 1995.

Alternatively, regulation of polypeptide expression can be achieved by inserting appropriate sequences or subsequences (e.g. DNA or RNA) in ribozyme constructs (McIntyre and Manners, Transgenic Res. 5:257-262, 1996). Ribozymes are synthetic RNA molecules that comprise a hybridizing region complementary to two regions, each of which comprises at least 5 contiguous nucleotides in a mRNA molecule encoded by one of the inventive polynucleotides. Ribozymes possess highly specific endonuclease activity, which autocatalytically cleaves the mRNA.

The polynucleotide of interest, such as a coding sequence, is operably linked to a polynucleotide promoter sequence of the present invention such that a host cell is able to transcribe an RNA from the promoter sequence linked to the polynucleotide of interest. The polynucleotide promoter sequence is generally positioned at the 5′ end of the polynucleotide to be transcribed.

The inventive genetic constructs further comprise a gene termination sequence which is located 3′ to the polynucleotide of interest. A variety of gene termination sequences which may be usefully employed in the genetic constructs of the present invention are well known in the art. One example of such a gene termination sequence is the 3′ end of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens nopaline synthase gene. The gene termination sequence may be endogenous to the target plant or may be exogenous, provided the promoter is functional in the target plant. For example, the termination sequence may be from other plant species, plant viruses, bacterial plasmids and the like.

The genetic constructs of the present invention may also contain a selection marker that is effective in cells of the target organism, such as a plant, to allow for the detection of transformed cells containing the inventive construct. Such markers, which are well known in the art, typically confer resistance to one or more toxins. One example of such a marker is the nptII gene whose expression results in resistance to kanamycin or hygromycin, antibiotics which are usually toxic to plant cells at a moderate concentration (Rogers et al., in Weissbach A and H, eds. Methods for Plant Molecular Biology, Academic Press Inc.: San Diego, Calif., 1988). Transformed cells can thus be identified by their ability to grow in media containing the antibiotic in question. Alternatively, the presence of the desired construct in transformed cells can be determined by means of other techniques well known in the art, such as Southern and Western blots.

Techniques for operatively linking the components of the inventive genetic constructs are well known in the art and include the use of synthetic linkers containing one or more restriction endonuclease sites as described, for example, by Sambrook et al., (Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual, CSHL Press: Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989). The genetic construct of the present invention may be linked to a vector having at least one replication system, for example E. coli, whereby after each manipulation, the resulting construct can be cloned and sequenced and the correctness of the manipulation determined.

The genetic constructs of the present invention may be used to transform a variety of target organisms including, but not limited to, plants. Plants which may be transformed using the inventive constructs include both monocotyledonous angiosperms (e.g., grasses, corn, grains, oat, wheat and barley), dicotyledonous angiosperms (e.g., Arabidopsis, tobacco, legumes, alfalfa, oaks, eucalyptus, maple), and gymnosperms. In a preferred embodiment, the inventive genetic constructs are employed to transform monocotyledonous plants. Preferably the target plant is selected from the group consisting of Lolium and Festuca species, most preferably from the group consisting of Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea. Other species which may be usefully transformed with the genetic constructs of the present invention include, but are not limited to: fescues such as Festuca californica, Festuca idahoensis, Festuca ovina, Festuca rubra, Festuca rubra, Festuca saximontana, Festuca viviparoidea, Festuca vivipara, Festuca airoides, Festuca altaica, Festuca ammobia, Festuca arizonica, Festuca arvernensis, Festuca auriculata, Festuca baffinensis, Festuca brachyphylla, Festuca brevissima, Festuca californica, Festuca calligera, Festuca campestris, Festuca dasyclada, Festuca drymeia, Festuca drymeja, Festuca earlei, Festuca edlundiae, Festuca elmeri, Festuca filiformis, Festuca groenlandica, Festuca hallii, Festuca hawaiiensis, Festuca hawiiensis, Festuca heteromalla, Festuca heterophylla, Festuca howellii, Festuca hyperborean, Festuca idahoensis, Festuca kashmiriana Stapf, Festuca kitaibeliana, Festuca lenensis, Festuca ligulata, Festuca minutiflora, Festuca occidentalis, Festuca paradoxa, Festuca parishii, Festuca prolifera, Festuca richardsonii, Festuca rigescens, Festuca roemeri, Festuca rubra, Festuca saximontana, Festuca sororia, Festuca subulata, Festuca subuliflora, Festuca subverticillata, Festuca thurberi, Festuca trachyphylla, Festuca valesiaca, Festuca versuta, Festuca viridula, Festuca washingtonica; Lolium spp., such as Lolium rigidum, Lolium arundinaceum, Lolium X aschersoniana, Lolium X festucaceum, Lolium giganteum, Lolium persicum, Lolium pratense, Lolium remotum, Lolium rigidum, Lolium temulentum; other grasses from the Poaceae family (grasses), such as Agrostis spp. (bentgrass) e.g. Agrostis stolonifera, Avena spp. (oats) e.g. Avena sativa, Brachypodium spp. (brome grass), Dactylis glomerata, X Festulolium braunii, X Festulolium fredericii, X Festulolium holmbergii, Hordeum spp. (barley) e.g. Hordeum vulgare, Oryza spp. (rice) e.g. Oryza sativa, Poa spp. (bluegrass) e.g. Poa pratensis, Saccharum spp. (sugarcane) e.g. Saccharum officinarum, Secale cereale, Sorghum spp. e.g. Sorghum bicolor, Triticum spp. (wheat) e.g. Triticum aestivum, and Zea spp. (maize) e.g. Zea mays.

Techniques for stably incorporating genetic constructs into the genome of target plants are well known in the art and include Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated introduction, electroporation, protoplast fusion, injection into reproductive organs, injection into immature embryos, high velocity projectile introduction and the like. The choice of technique will depend upon the target plant to be transformed. For example, dicotyledonous plants, together with certain monocots and gymnosperms may be transformed by Agrobacterium Ti plasmid technology, as described, for example by Bevan, Nucleic Acids Res. 12:8711-8721, 1984. Targets for the introduction of the genetic constructs of the present invention include tissues, such as leaf tissue, dissociated cells, protoplasts, seeds, embryos, meristematic regions, cotyledons, hypocotyls, and the like. The most commonly used method for transforming lolium and fescue species is the biolistic method; for a review see Spangenberg et al., Biotechnology in Forage and Turf Grass Improvement, Monographs on Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 23, Springer-Verlag 1998. More recently Agrobacterium mediated transformation has been achieved for lolium and fescue species (Bettany et al., Plant Cell Rep. 21:437-444, 2003).

Once the cells are transformed, cells having the inventive genetic construct incorporated in their genome may be selected by means of a marker, such as the kanamycin resistance marker discussed above. Transgenic cells may then be cultured in an appropriate medium to regenerate whole plants, using techniques well known in the art. In the case of protoplasts, the cell wall is allowed to reform under appropriate osmotic conditions. In the case of seeds or embryos, an appropriate germination or callus initiation medium is employed. For explants, an appropriate regeneration medium is used. Regeneration of plants is well established for many species. For a review of regeneration from protoplasts see Folling and Olesen, Methods Mol. Biol. 111:183-193 (1999), and for a review of regeneration from other tissues see Spangenberg et al., Biotechnology in Forage and Turf Grass Improvement, Monographs on Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 23, Springer-Verlag 1998. Transformed plants having the desired phenotype may be selected using techniques well known in the art. The resulting transformed plants may be reproduced sexually or asexually, using methods well known in the art, to give successive generations of transgenic plants.

As discussed above, the production of RNA in target cells can be controlled by choice of the promoter sequence, or by selecting the number of functional copies or the site of integration of the polynucleotides incorporated into the genome of the target host. A target organism may be transformed with more than one genetic construct of the present invention, thereby modulating the activity of more than gene. Similarly, a genetic construct may be assembled containing more than one open reading frame coding for a polypeptide of interest or more than one untranslated region of a gene coding for such a polypeptide.

Polynucleotides of the present invention may also be used to specifically suppress gene expression by methods that operate post-transcriptionally to block the synthesis of products of targeted genes, such as RNA interference (RNAi), and quelling. For a review of techniques of gene suppression see Science, 288:1370-1372, 2000. Exemplary gene silencing methods are also provided in WO 99/49029 and WO 99/53050. Posttranscriptional gene silencing is brought about by a sequence-specific RNA degradation process which results in the rapid degradation of transcripts of sequence-related genes. Studies have provided evidence that double-stranded RNA may act as a mediator of sequence-specific gene silencing (see, e.g., review by Montgomery and Fire, Trends in Genetics, 14: 255-258, 1998). Gene constructs that produce transcripts with self-complementary regions are particularly efficient at gene silencing. A unique feature of this posttranscriptional gene silencing pathway is that silencing is not limited to the cells where it is initiated. The gene-silencing effects may be disseminated to other parts of an organism and even transmitted through the germ line to several generations.

The polynucleotides of the present invention may be employed to generate gene silencing constructs and or gene-specific self-complementary RNA sequences that can be delivered by conventional art-known methods to plant tissues, such as forage grass tissues. Within genetic constructs, sense and antisense sequences can be placed in regions flanking an intron sequence in proper splicing orientation with donor and acceptor splicing sites, such that intron sequences are removed during processing of the transcript and sense and antisense sequences, as well as splice junction sequences, bind together to form double-stranded RNA. Alternatively, spacer sequences of various lengths may be employed to separate self-complementary regions of sequence in the construct. During processing of the gene construct transcript, intron sequences are spliced-out, allowing sense and anti-sense sequences, as well as splice junction sequences, to bind forming double-stranded RNA. Select ribonucleases bind to and cleave the double-stranded RNA, thereby initiating the cascade of events leading to degradation of specific mRNA gene sequences, and silencing specific genes. Alternatively, rather than using a gene construct to express the self-complementary RNA sequences, the gene-specific double-stranded RNA segments are delivered to one or more targeted areas to be internalized into the cell cytoplasm to exert a gene silencing effect. Gene silencing RNA sequences comprising the polynucleotides of the present invention are useful for creating genetically modified plants with desired phenotypes as well as for characterizing genes (e.g., in high-throughput screening of sequences), and studying their functions in intact organisms.

The isolated polynucleotides of the present invention also have utility in genome mapping, in physical mapping, and in positional cloning of genes. As detailed below, the polynucleotide sequences identified as SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48, and their variants, may be used to design oligonucleotide probes and primers. Oligonucleotide probes designed using the polynucleotides of the present invention may be used to detect the presence and examine the expression patterns of genes in any organism having sufficiently similar DNA and RNA sequences in their cells using techniques that are well known in the art, such as slot blot DNA hybridization techniques. Oligonucleotide primers designed using the polynucleotides of the present invention may be used for PCR amplifications. Oligonucleotide probes and primers designed using the polynucleotides of the present invention may also be used in connection with various microarray technologies, including the microarray technology of Affymetrix (Santa Clara, Calif.).

As used herein, the term “oligonucleotide” refers to a relatively short segment of a polynucleotide sequence, generally comprising between 6 and 60 nucleotides, and comprehends both probes for use in hybridization assays and primers for use in the amplification of DNA by polymerase chain reaction.

An oligonucleotide probe or primer is described as “corresponding to” a polynucleotide of the present invention, including one of the sequences set out as SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48, or a variant, if the oligonucleotide probe or primer, or its complement, is contained within one of the sequences set out as SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48, or a variant of one of the specified sequences. Oligonucleotide probes and primers of the present invention are substantially complementary to a polynucleotide disclosed herein.

Two single stranded sequences are said to be substantially complementary when the nucleotides of one strand, optimally aligned and compared, with the appropriate nucleotide insertions and/or deletions, pair with at least 80%, preferably at least 90% to 95% and more preferably at least 98% to 100% of the nucleotides of the other strand. Alternatively, substantial complementarity exists when a first DNA strand will selectively hybridize to a second DNA strand under stringent hybridization conditions. Stringent hybridization conditions for determining complementarity include salt conditions of less than about 1 M, more usually less than about 500 mM, and preferably less than about 200 mM. Hybridization temperatures can be as low as 5° C., but are generally greater than about 22° C., more preferably greater than about 30° C., and most preferably greater than about 37° C. Longer DNA fragments may require higher hybridization temperatures for specific hybridization. Since the stringency of hybridization may be affected by other factors such as probe composition, presence of organic solvents and extent of base mismatching, the combination of parameters is more important than the absolute measure of any one alone.

In specific embodiments, the oligonucleotide probes and/or primers comprise at least about 6 contiguous residues, more preferably at least about 10 contiguous residues, and most preferably at least about 20 contiguous residues complementary to a polynucleotide sequence of the present invention. Probes and primers of the present invention may be from about 8 to 100 base pairs in length or, preferably from about 10 to 50 base pairs in length or, more preferably from about 15 to 40 base pairs in length. The probes can be easily selected using procedures well known in the art, taking into account DNA-DNA hybridization stringencies, annealing and melting temperatures, and potential for formation of loops and other factors, which are well known in the art. Preferred techniques for designing PCR primers are disclosed in Dieffenbach, C W and Dyksler, G S. PCR Primer: a laboratory manual, CSHL Press: Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1995. A software program suitable for designing probes, and especially for designing PCR primers, is available from Premier Biosoft International, 3786 Corina Way, Palo Alto, Calif. 94303-4504.

A plurality of oligonucleotide probes or primers corresponding to a polynucleotide of the present invention may be provided in a kit form. Such kits generally comprise multiple DNA or oligonucleotide probes, each probe being specific for a polynucleotide sequence. Kits of the present invention may comprise one or more probes or primers corresponding to a polynucleotide of the present invention, including a polynucleotide sequence identified in SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48.

In one embodiment useful for high-throughput assays, the oligonucleotide probe kits of the present invention comprise multiple probes in an array format, wherein each probe is immobilized at a predefined, spatially addressable location on the surface of a solid substrate. Array formats which may be usefully employed in the present invention are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,412,087 and 5,545,451; and PCT Publication No. WO 95/00450, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The following examples are offered by way of illustration and not by way of limitation.

EXAMPLE 1

Isolation of Gene Sequences from L. perenne and F. arundinacea cDNA Libraries

L. perenne and F. arundinacea cDNA expression libraries were constructed and screened as follows. Tissue was collected from L. perenne and F. arundinacea during winter and spring, and snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen. The tissues collected include those obtained from leaf blades, leaf base, pseudostem, floral stems, inflorescences, roots and stem. Total RNA was isolated from each tissue type using TRIzol Reagent (BRL Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, Md.). mRNA from each tissue type was obtained using a Poly(A)Quik mRNA isolation kit (Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif.), according to the manufacturer's specifications. cDNA expression libraries were constructed from the purified mRNA by reverse transcriptase synthesis followed by insertion of the resulting cDNA in Lambda ZAP using a ZAP Express cDNA Synthesis Kit (Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif.), according to the manufacturer's protocol. The resulting cDNA clones were packaged using a Gigapack II Packaging Extract (Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif.) employing 1 μl of sample DNA from the 5 μl ligation mix. Mass excision of the libraries was done using XL1-Blue MRF′ cells and XLOLR cells (Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif.) with ExAssist helper phage (Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif.). The excised phagemids were diluted with NZY broth (Gibco BRL, Gaithersburg, Md.) and plated out onto LB-kanamycin agar plates containing 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-galactosidase (X-gal) and isopropylthio-beta-galactoside (IPTG). Of the colonies plated and picked for DNA preparations, the large majority contained an insert suitable for sequencing. Positive colonies were cultured in NZY broth with kanamycin and DNA was purified following standard protocols. Agarose gel at 1% was used to screen sequencing templates for chromosomal contamination. Dye terminator sequences were prepared using a Biomek 2000 robot (Beckman Coulter Inc., Fullerton, Calif.) for liquid handling and DNA amplification using a 9700 PCR machine (Perkin Elmer/Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.) according to the manufacturer's protocol.

The DNA sequences for positive clones were obtained using a Perkin Elmer/Applied Biosystems Division Prism 377 sequencer. cDNA clones were sequenced from the 5′ end. The determined sequences were assembled into consensus sequences using Stackpack™, version 1.2 (Electric Genetics Corporation, Cape Town, South Africa.). To identify polynucleotides of interest, these consensus sequences were compared to selected ‘seed’ sequences using BLAST analyses, described above.

EXAMPLE 2

Isolation of Grass Promoter Regions Using GenomeWalker Technology

The inventive promoter sequences were isolated using the following methodology.

The grass gene promoters were cloned using a GenomeWalker kit (Clontech, Palo Alto, Calif.). This is a PCR-based method, which requires two gene-specific PCR primers to be constructed for nested PCR. In brief, genomic DNA from Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea was isolated, purified and digested with one of four different restriction enzymes that recognize a 6-base site, leaving blunt ends. Following digestion, each pool of DNA fragments was ligated to the GenomeWalker Adaptor. Two rounds of PCR were performed with an adaptor primer and a gene-specific primer to amplify a promoter fragment. The polynucleotide fragments were cloned into the pART9 DNA vector and the insert DNA was sequenced using the methods described above. pART9 is a modified pART7 vector (Gleave, Plant Mol. Biol. 20:1203-1207, 1992), where the CaMV 35S promoter has been removed and replaced with a polylinker containing the following restriction enzyme sites: SstI NotI EcoRI XcmI (2 SITES), KpnI and NcoI.

The isolated promoter polynucleotide sequences were searched for cis motifs using a set of 340 specific motifs from the PLACE database (Higo et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 27: 297-300, 1999). Motifs were highlighted and numbered; the number and details of cis element identification is given in Table 2.

TABLE 2
Description of cis-motifs from PLACE database (Higo et al.,
Nucleic Acids Res. 27:297-300, 1999)
Motif	Motif	Description/
No	Description	Identifier	Reference
I	AAAG	Core site for binding of	Plant J. 17:209-214
		Dof proteins in maize	(1999)
II	AATAAT/	Plant polyA signal	Nucleic Acids Res.
	AATAAA/		15:9627-9640 (1987)
	AATTAAA
III	ACACAGG/	Novel class of bZIP	Plant J. 11:1237-1251
	ACACCAG/	transcription factors,	(1997)
	ACACCTG/	DPBF-1 and 2 binding
	ACACCCG/	core sequence in carrot
	ACACGGG/	Dc3 gene promoter
	ACACTGG/
	ACACTTG
IV	ATATT	Root motif TAPOX1 - found	Transgenic Res. 4:388-
		in promoters of rolD	396 (1995)
V	CAAT/	CAAT box	Mol. Gen. Genet.
	CCAAT		215:326-331 (1989)
VI	CATGTG	MYC recognition sequence	Plant J. 33:259-270
		necessary for expression	(2003)
		of erd1 in dehydrated
		Arabidopsis
VII	CCGAAA	LTRE (low temperature	Plant Mol. Bid.
		responsive element) in	38:551-564 (1998)
		barley
VIII	GATA	GATA box	Plant Cell 1:1147-
			1156 (1989)
IX	GGTAAA/	Consensus GT-1 binding	J. Bid. Chem.
	GAAAAA/	site in many light	271:32593-32598
	GGAAAA/	regulated genes	(1996)
	GGAAAT/
	GAAAAT
X	TGACG	ASF-1 binding site in	Plant Cell 15:2181-
		CaMV 35S promoter -	2191 (2003)
		motif is found in many
		promoters and are in-
		volved in transcriptional
		activation of several
		genes by auxin and or
		salicylic acid
XI	TTATTT/	box - found in the	Plant Physiol.
	TATAAAT/	5′ upstream region of	108:1109-1117 (1995)
	TATATAA/	pea
	TATTAAT
XII	ACACATG/	Binding site for MYC in	Plant J. 33:259-270
	CAGATG/	Arabidopsis dehydration	(2003)
	CAGTTG	responsive gene rd22
XIII	ACGTCA/	“hexamer motif” found	Plant J. 10:425-435
	CCGTCG	in promoter of wheat	(1996)
		histone genes H3 and
		H4. “hexamer motif” in
		type 1 element may
		play important roles
		in regulation of
		replication dependant
		but not replication
		independent expression
		of the wheat histone
		H3 gene
XIV	AGAAA	One of two co-dependent	Plant Mol. Biol.
		regulatory elements	37:859-869 (1998)
		responsible for pollen
		specific activation of
		tomato lat52 gene
		AGAAA and TCCACCATA
		are required for pollen
		specific expression
XV	CAAATG/	E-box of napA storage	Planta 199:515-519
	CAAGT/	protein gene of	(1996)
	CATTTG/	Brassica napus
	CAACTG/
	CATCTG/
	CAGCTG/
	CAGGTG
XVI	CAACA/	Binding consensus	Nucleic Acids Res.
	CACCTG	sequence of Arabidopsis	27:470-478 (1999)
		transcription factor
		RAV1.
XVII	CCAACC	Core of consensus maize	Cell 76:543-553
		P (myb homolog) binding	(1994)
		site
XVIII	CCGAC	Core of low temperature	Plant Mol. Biol.
		response element (LTRE)	24:701-713 (1994)
		of cor15a gene in
		Arabidopsis
XIX	CGACG	CGACG element found in	Plant Mol. Biol.
		the GC rich regions of	36:331-341 (1998)
		the rice Amy3D and
		Amy3E amylase genes.
		May function as a
		coupling element for
		the G-box element
XX	CTCCCAC	Box C in pea aspara-	Plant J. 12:1021-1234
		gine synthase (ASI)	(1997)
		gene
XXI	TACACAT	Sequence found in 5′	Eur. J. Biochem.
		upstream region of	197:741-746 (1991)
		napin gene in Brassica
		napus. Binds nuclear
		protein in crude ex-
		tracts from developing
		B. napus seeds
XXII	TGCAAAAT/	Present upstream of	Plant Cell 2:1171-
	TGAAAAAG/	the promoter from the	1180 (1990)
	TGTAAAGT	B-hordein gene of barley
		and the low molecular
		weight genes of wheat
XXIII	TGGTCCCAC	“Site lib” of rice PCNA	Plant J. 7:877-886
		(proliferating cell	(1995)
		nuclear antigen) gene.
		Binding site for two
		nuclear proteins PCF1
		and PCF2.
XXIV	TGTCTC	ARF binding site found	Plant J. 19:309-319
		in the promoters of	(1999)
		primary/early auxin
		response genes of
		Arabidopsis thaliana.
XXV	TTGACC	“WA box” One of the W	Plant Cell 13:1527-
		boxes found in the	1540 (2001)
		Parsley WRKY1 gene
		promoter
XXVI	TTTTTTTTTT	“T-box” Motif found in	Int. Rev. Cyto. 119:
		SAR or MAR	57-96(1989)
XXVII	AACGTGT	Promoter regions of	Plant Mol. Biol.
		the extA extensin gene	37:675-687 (1998)
		from Brassica napus
		control activation in
		response to wounding
		and tensile stress
XXVIII	CAAACAC	Conserved in many	Planta 199:515-519
		storage protein gene	(1996)
		promoters. May be
		important for high
		activity of the napA
		promoter
XXIX	CTGTTG/	Binding site for all	EMBO J. 14:1773
	CGGTTA/	animal MYB and at	(1995)
	CAGTTA/	least two plant MYB
	CCGTTG/	proteins ATMYB1 and
	CAATTG/	ATMYB2
	CGGTTG/
	CTGTTA
XXX	ATAGAA	“Box II” found in the	Plant Cell 11:1799-
		tobacco plastid atpB	1810 (1999)
		gene promoter.
		Important for activity
		of NCII promoter
XXXI	CACGTG	“G-box” Binding site	Trends in Biochem.
		of Arabidopsis GBF4	20:506-510 (1995)
XXXII	CATATG	Sequence found in NDE	Plant Sci. 126:193-201
		element in soya bean
		SAUR 15A gene pro-
		moter. Involved in
		auxin responsiveness
XXXIII	CCTTTT	Pyrimidine box found	FEBS Lett. 423:81-85
		in rice alpha-amylase	(1998)
		gene. Gibberellin
		response cis element
		of GARE and pyrimidine
		box are partially
		involved in sugar
		repression;
XXXIV	TAACTG	Binding site for	Plant Cell 5:1529-1539
		ATMYB2, and	(1993)
		Arabidopsis MYB
		homolog. ATMYB2 is
		involved in regulation
		of genes that are
		responsive to water
		stress in Arabidopsis
		thaliana
XXXV	TACGTA	“A-box” high protein	Foster et al., FASEB J.
		affinity ACGT element	8:192-200 (1994)
		involved in bZIP
		protein binding
		specificity
XXXVI	AGCGGG	“BS1” found in Euca-	Plant J. 23:663-676
		lyptus gunnii Cinnamoyl	(2000)
		CoA Reductase (CCR)
		gene promoter; nuclear
		protein binding site;
		required for vascular
		expression
XXXVII	CCGTCC	Box A; One of three	Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
		putative cis-acting	USA 92:5905-5909
		elements of phenylala-	(1995)
		nine ammonia lyase
		(PAL) genes in parsley.
XXXVIII	TGTGGTTT	MYB recognition site	Plant Cell 15:63-78
		found in the promoters	(2003)
		of the dehydration
		responsive gene rd22
		and many other genes
		in Arabidopsis thaliana
XXXIX	AACCCA	SEF3 binding site	Plant Cell 1:623-631
			(1989)
XL	CAAGAGGATC/	Region necessary for	Plant Mol. Bid.
	CAAAAAGATC/	circadian expression	38:655-662 (1998)
	CAACCTAATC/	of tomato LHc gene
	CAAGAGCATC/
	CAAAATCATC/
	CAACTAAATC
XLI	GGATA	Core motif of MybSt1.	EMBO J. 13:5383-5392
		This motif is distinct	(1994)
		from the plant Myb
		binding domain described
		so far
XLII	TGCAGG	3′ intron-exon splice	Nucleic Acids Res.
		junctions; Plant intron	14:9549-9559 (1986)
		lower sequence
XLIII ACTTTA	NtBBF1 binding site in	Plant Cell 11:323-333
		Agrobacterium rhizogenes	(1999)
		rolB gene; Required for
		tissue specific expres-
		sion and auxin induction
XLIV	ATGGTA	“S1F box” conserved both	J Bid. Chem. 267:
		in spinach RPS1 and RPL21	23515-23519 (1992)
		genes encoding the
		plastid ribosomal protein
		S1 and L21. Negative
		element, may play a role
		in down regulating RPS1
		and RPL21 promoter activity
XLV	ATTTTTA/	“SEF4” binding site in Soya	Plant Cell 1:623-631
	ATTTTTG/	bean	(1989)
	GTTTTTA/
	GTTTTTG
XLVI	AACGTT	“T-box” high protein affinity	Foster et al., FASEB J.
		ACGT element involved in bZIP	8:192-200 (1994)
		protein binding specificity
XLVII	AATTCAAA/	ERE (ethylene responsive	Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
	ATTTCAAA	element) of tomato E4 and	USA 91:8925-8929
		carnation GST1 genes	(1994)
XLVIII	CACCTACC/	Plant MYB binding site.	EMBO J. 13:128-137
	CACCAAAC/	Consensus sequence related to	(1994), Plant Cell
	AACCTAAC	box in promoters of phenyl-	10:135-154 (1998)
		propanoid biosynthetic genes
		such as PAL, CHS CHI, DFR,
		CL etc
XLIX	CGGATA	“Rebeta” found in Lemna gibba	Plant Cell 8:31-41
		Lhcb21 gene promoter. Required	(1996)
		for phytochrome regulation
L	GATAA	“I-box” conserved sequence	Annu. Rev. Plant
		upstream of light regulated	Physiol. Plant Mol.
		genes;	Biol. 46:445-474
			(1995)
LI	TACTATT	One of SPBF binding site	Plant Mol. Biol.
			18:97-108 (1992)
LII	CCTCACCTACC Box L; One of three putative cis	Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
		acting elements (boxes P, A and	USA 92:5905-5909
		L) of phenylalanine ammonia	(1995)
		lyase (PAL) genes in parsley
LIII	CGAACAC	Core of “(CA)n element” in	Plant Mol. Biol.
		storage protein genes in	32:1019-1027 (1996)
		Brassica napus embryo and
		endosperm specific tran-
		scription of napin gene;
		activator and repressor
LIV	TACGTGTC	“ABRE motif A” found in the	Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
		promoter of the rice Osem	USA 96:15348-15353
		gene	(1999), Plant J. 7:913-
			925 (1995)
LV	TAACAAA	Central element of gibberellin	Plant Cell 7:1879-1891
		(GA) response complex (GARC)	(1995), FEBS Lett.
		in high-pI alpha-amylase gene	423:81-85 (1998)
		in barley; Similar to c-myb
		and -myb consensus binding site
LVI	AATCCAA	rbcS general consensus sequence	EMBO J. 9:1717-1726
			(1990)
LVII	GGTTAA	Critical for GT-1 binding to	EMBO J. 7:4035-4044
		box II of rbcS	(1988), J. Bio. Chem.
			271:32593-32598
			(1996)
LVIII	CCACGTGG	The cis-regulatory element	Plant Mol. Biol.
		CCACGTGG is involved in ABA	21:259-266 (1993)
		and water-stress responses
		of the maize gene rab28.
LIX	ATATTTATA	“SEFl (soybean embryo factor	Plant Cell 1:623-631
		1)” binding motif; Nuclear	(1989)
		factors interact with a soy-
		bean beta-conglycinin
		enhancer.
LX	AACAAAC	Core of AACA motifs found in	Plant J. 23:415-421
		rice glutelin genes, involved	(2000)
		in controlling the endosperm-
		specific expression
LXI	AACCAA	"REalpha" found in Lemna gibba	Plant Cell 8:31-41
		Lhcb2l gene promoter; Binding	(1996)
		site of proteins of whole-cell
		extracts
LXII	AGGTCA	“Q(quantitative)-element” in	Plant Mol. Biol.
		maize ZM13 gene promoter;	38:663-669 (1998)
		involved in expression
		enhancing activity
LXIII	AAAAATCT	CCA1 binding site; CCA1	Plant Cell 9:491-507
		protein (myb-related tran-	(1997)
		scription factor) interact
		with two imperfect repeats
		of AAMAATCT in Lhcbl*3 gene
		of Arabidopsis thaliana;
		related to regulation by
		phytochrome
LXIV	CTAACAC	Core of “(CA)n element” in	Plant Mol. Biol.
		storage protein genes in	32:1019-1027 (1996)
		Brassica napus ; promoter
		elements required for
		embryo and endosperm-
		specific transcription
LXV	TTTGACT	WB box found in the Parsley	EMBO J. 18:4689-4699;
		WRKY1 gene promoter; Trends Plant Sci.
		required for elicitor	5:199-206, 2002
		responsiveness; WRKY tran-
		scriptional factor plays
		an important role in the
		regulation of early defense-
		response genes
LXVI	CATGCATG	RY repeat motif; CATGCATG;	Nucleic Acids Res.
		quantitative seed expression;	16:371 (1988); Plant
		the conservative RY repeat	J. 2:233-239 (1992)
		CATGCATG within the legumin
		box is essential for tissue-
		specific expression of a
		legumin gene.
LXVII	TAACAGA	Gibberellin-responsive	Plant J. 34:636-645
		element (GARE) found in	(2003)
		the promoter region of a
		cysteine proteinase (REP-I)
		gene in rice

EXAMPLE 3

Determination of Promoter Activity by Transient Expression in Zinnia Plant Cells

The promoter activity of the polynucleotide sequences of the present invention in Zinnia plant cells was determined as follows, according to the methods described by Fukuda and Komamine, Plant Physiol. 65:57-60, 1980. Promoter sequences were cloned upstream of a reporter gene sequence, either the GUS (beta-D-glucuronidase gene from Escherichia coli) gene or the EGFP (modified green fluorescent protein) gene.

Isolation and Culture of Zinnia elegans Mesophyll Cells in Tracheary Element (TE) Inducing (FKH) and Non-Inducing (FK) Medium

The primary pair of leaves from Zinnia seedlings was harvested from 120 plants. Leaves were sterilized in 500 ml of 0.175% sodium hypochlorite solution for 15 minutes. Leaves were then rinsed three times in 500 ml of sterile water. Using 20-25 leaves in 50 ml of grinding buffer at a time, leaves were ground using a homogenizer at 8,000 rpm for 30 seconds. Cells were filtered through a 40 μm nylon mesh before pelleting by centrifuging at 200×g for 2 minutes at 20° C. The pellet was washed once more using an equal volume of grinding buffer. The pellet was re-suspended in 30 ml of FK medium or 30 ml of FKH medium, respectively. The cells were then cultured in the dark in 6-well plates, on a rotary shaker, set at 120 rpm and 23° C.

Isolation of Zinnia elegans Protoplasts from Leaves or Mesophyll Cells Cultured Overnight to Three Days in FK Medium and FKH Medium

Sterile Zinnia elegans primary leaves (6-8 in number) were cut in slivers of 1 mm and placed in 15 ml of cell wall digesting enzyme mix (1% Cellulase Onozuka R-10 and 0.2% pectolyase Y23 in Protoplast isolation buffer). Mesophyll cells cultured in FK medium (40 ml) or FKH medium (40 ml) were pelleted by centrifuging at 200×g for 2 minutes at 20° C. Each pellet was re-suspended in 20 ml of sterile Protoplast isolation buffer containing 200 mg Cellulase Onozuka R-10 and 40 mg Pectolyase Y23. The protoplasts were isolated by incubating the cell suspensions in CellStar culture plates for 2-4 hours on a rotary shaker set at ˜70 rpm at 23° C. for an hour, then without shaking. Protoplasts were pelleted by centrifuging the contents of the plates at 200×g for 2 minutes. Each of the pellets was re-suspended in 20 ml of 24% sucrose solution.

Transfection of Zinnia elegans Protoplasts

Zinnia protoplasts in 24% sucrose solution were overlaid with 1 ml of W5 solution (154 mM MgCl₂, 125 mM CaCl₂, 5 mM KCl, 5 mM glucose, pH 5.8-6) and centrifuged at 70×g for 10 minutes at 20° C. with brakes off. Floating protoplasts were harvested and resuspended in 10 ml of W5 solution. Protoplasts were pelleted by centrifuging at 70×g for 10 minutes at 20° C. Protoplasts were resuspended in MaMg medium (density=˜5×10⁶ protoplasts/ml) and aliquoted into individual 15 ml tubes (200 μl: 1.5×10⁶ protoplasts). Then 8 μg DNA (of each construct) and 50 μg Salmon Testes DNA was added to the protoplast suspension, mixed, and incubated for 5 minutes at 20° C. PEG solution (200 μl at 40%) was added to each aliquot of protoplasts, mixed and incubated for 20 minutes at 20° C. Following this, 5 ml of K3/0.4M sucrose (Bilang et al., Plant Molecular Biology Manual A1:1-16, 1994) was added to each aliquot of leaf-derived transfected protoplasts or transfected protoplasts from mesophyll cells cultured in FK medium, and mixed. Similarly, 5 ml of K3/0.4M sucrose+0.1 ppm NAA+0.2 ppm BA was added to each aliquot of transfected protoplasts from mesophyll cells cultured in FKH medium and mixed. The transfected protoplast suspensions were incubated overnight at 23° C. in the dark.

Harvesting of Transfected Zinnia elegans Protoplasts and Reporter Gene Analysis

Transfected Zinnia protoplast suspensions prepared as described above were individually harvested by adding 9.5 ml of W5 solution, mixing the contents of each tube, and centrifuging at 70×g for 10 minutes at 20° C. For analysis of GUS expression, the protoplast suspensions were transferred into sterile microtubes and pelleted by centrifugation at 2,000 rpm for 2 min at 20° C. The protoplast pellet was assayed for GUS reporter gene expression as described by Jefferson, Plant Mol. Biol. Rep. 5:387-405 (1987). GUS (MUG, 4-methyl-umbelliferyl-glucuronide) assays were performed using a Wallac (Turku, Finland) Victor² 1420 Multilabel Counter. Umbelliferone was detected using a 355 nm excitation filter and a 460 nm emission filter for 1 second.

For fluorescent protein (FP) reporter gene expression, the protoplast pellet was resuspended in 250 μl of W5 solution. The cell suspension was then transferred to a flow cytometer for injection and analysis. An argon laser at a wavelength of 488 nm was used to excite fluorescent proteins. Emission from EGFP was measured at 489 nm and RedFP (DsRed Express) at 579 nm.

EXAMPLE 4

Determination of Promoter Activity by Transient Expression in Lolium multiflorum Cells

The promoter activity of the polynucleotide sequences of the present invention in Lolium multiflorum cells was determined as follows

Isolation of Protoplasts from Lolium multiflorum

The leaves of 10-day old Lolium multiflorum seedlings were harvested, leaves cut into 5 mm strips and transferred to Petri dishes, 2 g per dish. To each dish, 20 ml of enzyme solution (0.6 M mannitol, 10 mM MES pH 5.7, 1 mMCaCl₂, 5 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 0.1% BSA, 2% Cellulase, 0.4% Pectinase) was added, sealed with parafilm and incubated in the dark on a rotary shaker overnight.

The protoplasts were released from digested ryegrass by shaking on rotary shaker at 80 rpm for 5 minutes. The protoplast solution was then filtered through a 40 uM strainer into 50 ml tubes. The supernatant was centrifuged at 70×g, 20° C. for 2 minutes to pellet the protoplasts before discarding the supernatant. The protoplasts were washed twice in 40 ml of wash solution (0.6 M mannitol, 4 mM MES, 20 mM KCl pH 5.7) and resuspended in 25 μl of wash solution. The protoplast solution was diluted with MaMg medium to a final concentration of 1×10⁶ protoplasts per 100 μl.

Transfection of Protoplasts from Lolium multiflorum

A 200 μl aliquot of protoplasts was added to 8 μg DNA (of each construct) and 50 μg Salmon Sperm carrier DNA, mixed and incubated for 5 minutes at 20° C. 300 μl of a 50% PEG solution was then added to the protoplast sample and incubated at 22° C. for 20 minutes. W5 solution was then added to 15 ml before mixing and centrifugation at 100×g for 10 minutes, 22° C. The protoplast pellet was resuspended in 3 ml of K3 solution (1× Murashige and Skoog salt and vitamins, 0.55 mM myo-inositol, 1.66 mM xylose, 29.6 μM Thiamin-HCl, 8.12 μM Nicotinic acid, 4.86 μM Pyridoxin-HCl, 0.4 mM sucrose, pH 5.6) and left for 16 hours, 23° C., in the dark. W5 solution was then added to 15 ml, the protoplasts pelleted by centrifugation at 100×g, 10 min, 22° C., and the protoplasts re-suspended in 250 μl of W5 solution ready for flow analysis. The cell suspension was transferred to a flow cytometer for injection and analysis. An argon laser at a wavelength of 488 nm was used to excite fluorescent proteins. Emission from EGFP was measured at 489 nm and RedFP (DsRed Express) at 579 nm.

EXAMPLE 5

Determination of Promoter Activity and Specificity by Expression Analysis in Whole Plants

The promoter activity of the polynucleotide sequences of the present invention in whole plants was determined as follows.

To test the function of grass promoters in plants, Arabidopsis thaliana was transformed with constructs containing the reporter gene for β-D-glucuronidase (GUS) operably linked to the grass promoter in the pART9 vector described above. Constructs lacking a promoter were used as a negative control. The constructs were introduced into Arabidopsis via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens Transformation

Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain GV3101 was transformed with these constructs using electroporation as follows. Electrocompetent A. tumefaciens cells were prepared according to the method of Walkerpeach and Velten, Plant Mol. Biol. Man. B1:1-19, 1994. Construct DNA (4 ng) was added to 40 μl competent A. tumefaciens GV3101 cells and electroporation was carried out using a BTX Electro Cell Manipulator 600 at the following settings: Mode: T 2.5 kV Resistance high voltage (HV), Set Capacitance: C (not used in HV mode), Set Resistance: R R5 (129 Ohm), Set charging voltage: S 1.44 kV, Desired field strength: 14.4 kV/cm and Desired pulse strength: t 5.0 msec. 400 μl YEP liquid media (20 g/l yeast, 20 g/l peptone and 10 g/l sodium chloride) was added to the cuvette and left to recover for one hour at room temperature. Transformed bacteria in YEP medium were spread out on solid YEP medium containing 50 mg/l kanamycin and 50 mg/l rifampicin and incubated at 29° C. for two days to allow colony growth.

Confirmation of Transformation of Constructs into A. tumefaciens

To confirm that the constructs were transformed into A. tumefaciens, DNA from the A. tumefaciens colonies from the YEP plates was isolated using standard protocols and amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primers designed to the promoter sequence. PCR reactions were set up following standard protocols and 30 PCR cycles were done with extension temperature of 72° C.

Transformation of A. thaliana with Transformed A. tumefaciens

The optical density of the A. tumefaciens bacterial culture was adjusted to 0.7 with infiltration medium (5% sucrose, 0.05% Silwett L-77 surfactant). A. thaliana cv. Columbia plants (6 punnets per construct and 10-12 plants per punnet) were pruned by removing secondary bolts. Pruned A. thaliana plants in punnets were dipped into infiltration solution and moved back and forth for 5 seconds. Punnets were put on their side to allow excess infiltration medium to drain, covered with a top tray and wrapped in plastic wrap to maintain humidity. Plants were placed in a growth room at ambient conditions for 24 hours. After this period, the top tray and plastic wrap were removed and plants were set upright until siliques formed.

Seeds were harvested and sterilized with a 5% sodium hypochlorite solution to destroy any residual A. tumefaciens bacteria and fungal contamination. Under sterile conditions, 100 μl seeds from the transformed A. thaliana plants were placed into an Eppendorf tube. One ml sterile water was added and the seeds left to imbibe the water for no longer than an hour. The water was removed by centrifugation, 1 ml 70% ethanol added to the seeds and gently mixed. This step was not allowed to last longer than one minute. The ethanol was removed by centrifugation. 1 ml 5% sodium hypochlorite solution was added to the seeds and gently mixed for up to 5 min. The sodium hypochlorite solution was removed by centrifugation and the seeds washed with sterile water for 1 min. The washing step was repeated three more times with centrifugation. Seeds were finally resuspended in sterile water. 500 μl of seeds in solution were pipetted onto half-strength Murashige and Skoog medium (MS; Gibco BRL) agar plates containing 50 mg/l kanamycin and 250 mg/l timentin, and spread evenly with a flamed wire-loop. The Petri dishes were placed in a refrigerator for 3 days to allow the seeds to stratify. Thereafter the plates were placed in the growth room and grown under lights at 22° C. with a 14 hour photoperiod until germination. Putative transformed seedlings were selected as those growing on the antibiotic-containing medium, with large, healthy-looking dark green leaves and a strong root system. These transgenic plants were removed and placed into soil culture at 22° C. with a 12 hour photoperiod.

Staining of Plant Tissues

Tissue was taken from the flower, leaf, stem and root of A. thaliana transformed with the constructs and stained histochemically to determine the expression of the GUS gene under control of the grass promoters. The GUS staining protocol is described by Campisi et al., Plant J. 17:699-707, 1999.

A. thaliana flower, leaf, stem and root tissues were immersed in staining solution (50 mM NaPO₄ pH 7.2; 0.5% Triton X-100; 1 mM X Glucuronide sodium salt (Gibco BRL)) for immunochemical staining. Vacuum was applied twice for 5 min to infiltrate the tissue with the staining solution. The tissue was left in the staining solution for 1 day (with agitation) at 37° C. for color development, and then destained in 70% ethanol for 24 hours at 37° C. (with agitation). The tissues were examined for blue GUS staining using a light microscope and photographed.

EXAMPLE 6

Constitutive Gene Promoters from Festuca arundinacea

F. arundinacea actin and tubulin cDNA sequences were identified using BLAST searches against homologous plant sequences. The most abundant actin and tubulin genes were identified by selecting the consensus sequence with the greatest number of EST members. Promoter polynucleotides were isolated using the GenomeWalker technique described above in Example 2 with primers designed to the 5′ UTR of the actin and tubulin cDNAs (Table 3; SEQ ID NO: 18 and 19). Three F. arundinacea actin promoter polynucleotides (SEQ ID NO: 1-3) and one tubulin promoter (SEQ ID NO: 4) were cloned and sequenced. The promoter polynucleotides were analyzed for cis motifs using a set of 340 specific motifs from the PLACE database (Higo et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 27: 297-300, 1999). Motifs were highlighted and numbered; the number and details of cis element identification is given in Table 2 above. The motifs identified in the actin promoter sequences (SEQ ID NO: 1-3) are shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and the motifs in the tubulin promoter sequence (SEQ ID NO: 4) are shown in FIG. 4.

The promoter sequences were cloned with the GUS reporter gene as described above in Example 3 and tested for activity in cell-based assays by transient transfection of FK cells. As shown in FIG. 18, the actin promoter of SEQ ID NO: 1 exhibited the greatest activity (highest expression levels) in this assay. The actin promoter (SEQ ID NO: 1) and the tubulin promoter (SEQ ID NO: 4) with GUS reporter were then transformed into Arabidopsis thaliana to test for tissue-specific expression, as described in Example 5. The presence of the correct promoter in transgenic plants was tested using the primers given in SEQ ID NO: 18 (actin promoter) and SEQ ID NO: 20 (tubulin promoter).

TABLE 3
Constitutive Actin and Tubulin promoters
	Promoter	SEQ ID NO: Gene	SEQ ID NO: Gene
SEQ ID NO:	fragment	Specific Primer 1	Specific Primer 2
1	Actin 1	18	19
2	Actin 2	18	19
3	Actin 3	18	19
4	Tubulin	20	21

EXAMPLE 7

Vascular Specific Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea Promoters

F. arundinacea 4-coumarate-CoA ligase 3 (4CL3), L. perenne caffeic acid O-methyltransferase (COMT3), L. perenne phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and F. arundinacea ferulate-5-hydroxylase (F5H) cDNA sequences were identified using BLAST searches against homologous plant sequences. Promoter polynucleotides were isolated using the GenomeWalker technique, described above, with gene specific primers designed to the 5′ UTR of these lignin gene cDNAs. The gene specific primer sequences are given in SEQ ID NO: 22 and 23 (4CL3 promoters), SEQ ID NO: 24 and 25 (COMT3), SEQ ID NO: 26 and 27 (F5H), and SEQ ID NO: 44 and 45 (PAL). Two 4CL3 promoter fragments, one COMT3 promoter fragment, one F5H promoter and two PAL fragments were isolated, cloned and sequenced. The determined sequences are given in SEQ ID NO: 5-8, 44 and 45, respectively. These polynucleotides were analyzed for cis motifs using the PLACE database (see Table 2) and the identified motifs are shown in FIGS. 5-8, 27 and 28, respectively.

TABLE 4
Vascular-specific Promoters
SEQ ID	Promoter	SEQ ID NO: Gene	SEQ ID NO: Gene
NO:	fragment	Specific Primer 1	Specific Primer 2
5	4CL3	22	23
6	4CL3	22	23
7	COMT3	24	25
8	F5H	26	27
44	PAL1	59	60
45	PAL2	59	60

The promoter sequences were cloned with the GUS reporter gene as described in Example 3 and tested for activity in cell-based assays by transient transfection of FK and FKH cells. FIG. 19 shows the activity of the 4CL3 (SEQ ID NO: 5, 6), COMT3 (SEQ ID NO: 7) and F5H (SEQ ID NO: 8) promoters. All promoters showed activity above the background negative control. The 4CL3 fragments had the highest activity, with SEQ ID NO: 5 showing highest activity in FKH cells, and SEQ ID NO: 6 showing highest activity in FK cells.

The promoter sequences were cloned with the EGFP reporter gene and tested for activity in the Lolium assay system described in Example 4. Three MYB transcription factors (MYB3, MYB17 and MYB19), that potentially play a role in lignin biosynthesis by the activation or repression of lignin biosynthesis genes, were previously isolated from Lolium perenne. When transformed into plant cells, the grass promoters disclosed herein will drive basal expression of EGFP protein. Binding of a transcription factor to the promoter, causing enhancement or repression of gene expression, can be measured by changes in the levels of EGFP (fluorescence).

The three grass MYB constructs were co-transfected into Lolium multiflorum protoplasts, with the individual lignin promoter::EGFP constructs, as described in Example 4. A vector containing Red Fluorescent protein (under the control of a pine ubiquitin promoter) was used as a co-transfection marker to determine transfection efficiency. The percentage of transfected protoplasts expressing EGFP (% Green) was used to determine EGFP levels and therefore transcription. Transfections without the MYB constructs were used as basal level controls. A % Green reading greater than this control indicated promoter activation and levels below this indicated promoter repression. The experiment was replicated.

FIG. 32 shows the level of EGFP being expressed in protoplasts transfected with the grass F5H promoter, with and without the MYB transcription factors. The level of EGFP increased when MYB3 was co-transfected into the protoplasts, indicating that MYB3 is a transcriptional activator of the F5H promoter. MYB17 had no effect upon transcription, and MYB19 repressed expression from the F5H promoter.

FIG. 33 shows the level of EGFP being expressed in protoplasts transfected with the grass 4CL3 promoter, with and without the MYB transcription factors. As with the F5H promoter, fluorescence increased when MYB3 was co-transfected into the protoplasts with 4CL3::EGFP, indicating that MYB3 is a transcriptional activator of the 4CL3 promoter. MYB17 had no effect upon transcription, and MYB19 repressed expression from the 4CL3 promoter.

The three grass MYB constructs were co-transfected into Zinnia elegans protoplasts with the individual lignin promoter::EGFP constructs, as described in Example 3. A vector containing Red Fluorescent protein (under the control of pine ubiquitin promoter) was used as a co-transfection marker to determine transfection efficiency. The transfections were analyzed similarly to the Lolium multiflorum protoplast transfections. The results from the Zinnia protoplasts mirror those seen in the Lolium protoplasts; MYB transcription factors are capable of activating or repressing the 4CL3 and F5H promoters.

EXAMPLE 8

Anthocyanin Gene and Tannin Gene Promoters from Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea

L. perenne Chalcone Synthase (CHS) and F. arundinacea Dihydroflavonal-4-reductase (DFR) cDNA sequences were identified using BLAST searches against homologous plant sequences. The most abundant chalcone synthase gene was identified by selecting the consensus sequence with the greatest number of EST members. Promoter polynucleotides were isolated using the GenomeWalker technique described above in Example 2, with gene specific primers designed to the 5′ UTR of these cDNAs, (Table 5; SEQ ID NO: 28, 29, 49 and 50). Promoter fragments of three different lengths were isolated for the CHS promoter and one fragment was isolated for the DFR promoter. The determined sequences are given in SEQ ID NO: 9-11 and 38, respectively. These polynucleotides were analyzed for the presence of cis motifs using the PLACE database (see Table 2) and the motifs identified are shown in FIGS. 9-11 and 21, respectively.

The promoter sequences were cloned with the GUS reporter gene as described in Example 3 and tested for activity in cell-based assays by transient transfection of FK cells. FIG. 20 shows the expression levels of the CHS promoters (SEQ ID NO: 9, 10 and 11). All three promoters had activity above the background control, with the longest promoter fragment (SEQ ID NO: 9) having the highest expression levels as measured by the level of GUS expression.

The CHS promoter of SEQ ID NO: 9, with GUS reporter, was then transformed into Arabidopsis thaliana to test for tissue-specific expression, as described in Example 5. Presence of the correct promoter in transgenic plants was tested using the primers described in Table 5.

TABLE 5
Tannin Promoters
		SEQ ID	SEQ ID
		NO: Gene	NO: Gene
SEQ ID NO:	Promoter fragment	Specific Primer 1	Specific Primer 2
9	Chalcone Synthase	28	29
10	Chalcone Synthase	28	29
11	Chalcone Synthase	28	29
38	Dihydroflavonal-4-	49	50
	reductase (DFR)

EXAMPLE 9

Floral Specific and Flowering Time Gene Promoters from Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea

L. perenne FT (Flowering Locus T) cDNA sequences were identified using BLAST searches against homologous plant sequences. Promoter polynucleotides were isolated using the GenomeWalker technique described in Example 2, with gene specific primers designed to the 5′ UTR of this cDNA (Table 6; SEQ ID NO: 30 and 31). A 443 bp promoter fragment was isolated. The determined sequence is given in SEQ ID NO: 12. This polynucleotide was analyzed for cis motifs using the PLACE database (see Table 2) and the motifs identified are shown in FIG. 12.

TABLE 6
Floral-specific and Flowering Time Promoters
		SEQ ID	SEQ ID
		NO: Gene	NO: Gene
SEQ ID NO:	Promoter fragment	Specific Primer 1	Specific Primer 2
12	Flowering	30	31
	Locus T (FT)

EXAMPLE 10

Antifreeze Protein Gene Promoters from Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea

Lolium perenne antifreeze protein cDNA sequences were identified and promoter polynucleotides were isolated using the GenomeWalker technique described in Example 2, with gene specific primers designed to the 5′ UTR of this cDNA (Table 7; SEQ ID NO: 32 and 33). Three promoter fragments from the AFP1 gene were isolated. The determined sequences are given in SEQ ID NO: 13-15. These polynucleotides were analyzed for cis motifs using the PLACE database (see Table 2) and the motifs identified are shown in FIGS. 13-15, respectively.

TABLE 7
Antifreeze Protein Promoters
SEQ ID		SEQ ID NO: Gene	SEQ ID NO: Gene
NO:	Promoter fragment	Specific Primer 1	Specific Primer 2
13	Antifreeze protein	32	33
14	Antifreeze protein	32	33
15	Antifreeze protein	32	33

EXAMPLE 11

Anthocyanin Gene and Tannin Gene Promoters from Arabidopsis thaliana

A number of dihydroflavonol-4-reductase-like (DFR) genes were identified from Arabidopsis thaliana; the protein homology is given in Table 1. Using the publicly available Arabidopsis thaliana genome sequence, primers were designed to amplify 1,500 nucleotides upstream of the coding region. Promoter fragments were amplified from Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Columbia total genomic DNA using standard PCR protocols and the specific primers described in Table 8 and given in SEQ ID NO: 34-37. The promoter fragments were cloned and sequenced to verify that the correct sequence fragment was isolated using the primers given in Table 8. The AtDFR1 (SEQ ID NO: 16) and AtDFR2 (SEQ ID NO: 17) promoters were analyzed for cis motifs using the PLACE database (see Table 2) and the motifs are shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, respectively.

The promoter fragments of SEQ ID NO: 16 and 17 were cloned into the binary plasmid pART27 containing the GUS reporter gene and transformed into Arabidopsis thaliana to test for tissue-specific expression, as described in Example 5. The expression profile in Arabidopsis of the AtDFR2 promoter (SEQ ID NO: 17) is given in Table 8.

TABLE 8
A. thaliana Anthocyanin and Tannin Promoters
				Expression
SEQ		SEQ ID NO:	SEQ ID NO:	Profile
ID	Promoter	Forward	Reverse	in Arabidopsis
NO:	fragment	Primer	Primer	thaliana
16	Dihydroflavonol-	34	35
	4-reductase-like
	(DFR)
17	Dihydroflavonol-	36	37	GUS expression
	4-reductase-like			in anthers in
	(DFR)			Arabidopsis
				thaliana.
				Wound induced
				expression in
				leaves.

EXAMPLE 12

Transcription Factor Gene Promoters from Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea

One MYB transcription factor gene (MYB21) cDNA sequence from L. perenne, two MADs BOX (MADs6 and MADs29) cDNAs from L. perenne and one F. arundinacea (MADs9) cDNA sequence were identified using BLAST searches against homologous plant sequences. Promoter polynucleotides were isolated using the GenomeWalker technique described in Example 2, with gene specific primers designed to the 5′ UTR of these cDNAs. The gene specific primer sequences are given in SEQ ID NO: 51 and 52 (MYB21), SEQ ID NO: 63 and 64 (MADs6), SEQ ID NO: 65 and 66 (MADs9) and SEQ ID NO: 61 and 62 (MADs29). One promoter fragment was isolated from each sequence, cloned and sequenced. The determined promoter sequences are given in SEQ ID NOS: 39, 47, 48 and 46, respectively. These polynucleotides were analyzed for cis motifs using the PLACE database (see Table 2) and the identified motifs are shown in FIGS. 22, 30, 31 and 29, respectively.

TABLE 9
Transcription Factor Gene Promoters
SEQ ID		SEQ ID NO: Gene	SEQ ID NO: Gene
NO:	Promoter fragment	Specific Primer 1	Specific Primer 2
39	MYB21	51	52
47	MADs6	63	64
48	MADs9	65	66
46	MADs29	61	62

EXAMPLE 13

Peroxidase Gene Promoters from Lolium Perenne

Two Lolium perenne peroxidase cDNA sequences were identified (PER1 and PER3) and promoter polynucleotides were isolated using the GenomeWalker technique described in Example 2, with gene specific primers designed to the 5′ UTR of these cDNAs (See Table 10; SEQ ID NO: 53 and 54 for PER1, SEQ ID NO: 55 and 56 for PER3). One promoter fragment for each peroxidase gene was isolated. The determined sequences are given in SEQ ID NO: 40 and 42. The length of the promoter sequence of PER1 was 468 bp. Primers were designed using this sequence to obtain promoter sequence further upstream (See Table 10; SEQ ID NO: 53 and 54). This new, extended fragment, termed PER1b is given in SEQ ID NO: 41. All of these polynucleotides were analyzed for cis motifs using the PLACE database (see Table 2) and the motifs identified are shown in FIGS. 23-25.

TABLE 10
Peroxidase Gene Promoters
SEQ ID		SEQ ID NO: Gene	SEQ ID NO: Gene
NO:	Promoter fragment	Specific Primer 1	Specific Primer 2
40	PER1	53	54
41	PER1b	53	54
42	PER3	55	56

EXAMPLE 14

Fructosyltransferase Gene Promoters from Lolium perenne

A sucrose-fructan 6-fructosyltransferase (6-SFT) cDNA from L. perenne sequence was identified using BLAST searches against homologous plant sequences. Promoter polynucleotides were isolated using the GenomeWalker technique described in Example 2, with gene specific primers designed to the 5′ UTR of this cDNA. The gene specific primer sequences are given in SEQ ID NO: 57 and 58. One promoter fragment of 629 bp was isolated, cloned and sequenced. The determined sequence is given in SEQ ID NO: 43. This polynucleotide was analyzed for cis motifs using the PLACE database (see Table 2) and the identified motifs are shown in FIG. 26.

TABLE 11
Sucrose-fructan 6 fructosyltransferase (SFT) Gene Promoters
SEQ ID		SEQ ID NO: Gene	SEQ ID NO: Gene
NO:	Promoter fragment	Specific Primer 1	Specific Primer 2
43	6-SFT	57	58

SEQ ID NO: 1-66 are set out in the attached Sequence Listing. The codes for nucleotide sequences used in the attached Sequence Listing, including the symbol “n,” conform to WIPO Standard ST.25 (1998), Appendix 2, Table 1.

All references cited herein, including patent references and non-patent publications, are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

While in the foregoing specification this invention has been described in relation to certain preferred embodiments, and many details have been set forth for purposes of illustration, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptible to additional embodiments and that certain of the details described herein may be varied

Claims

1. An isolated polynucleotide comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48.

2. An isolated polynucleotide comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) complements of the sequence recited in SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48; (b) reverse complements of the sequence recited in SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48; and (c) reverse sequences of the sequences recited in SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48.

3. An isolated polynucleotide comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) sequences having at least 75% identity to a sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48; (b) sequences having at least 90% identity to a sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48; and (c) sequences having at least 95% identity to a sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48, wherein the polynucleotide has substantially the same functional activity as a polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48.

4. An isolated polynucleotide comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) sequences that are 100-mers of a sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48; (b) sequences that are 40-mers of a sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48; and (c) sequences that are 20-mers of a sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48.

5. A genetic construct comprising a polynucleotide according to any one of claims 1-4.

6. A genetic construct comprising, in the 5′-3′ direction: (a) a promoter sequence, (b) a DNA sequence of interest; and (c) a gene termination sequence, wherein the promoter sequence comprises an isolated polynucleotide according to any one of claims 1-4.

7. The genetic construct of claim 6, wherein the DNA sequence of interest comprises an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of interest.

8. The genetic construct of claim 6, wherein the DNA sequence of interest comprises a non-coding region of a gene encoding a polypeptide of interest.

9. A transgenic cell comprising a genetic construct of any one of claims 6-8.

10. An organism comprising a transgenic cell according to claim 9.

11. A transgenic plant comprising a transgenic cell according to claim 9, or a part or propagule or progeny thereof, wherein the part, propagule or progency thereof comprises a genetic construct of any one of claims 6-8.

12. A method for modifying gene expression in a target organism comprising stably incorporating into the genome of the organism a genetic construct according to any one of claims 6-8.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the organism is a plant.

14. A method for producing a plant having modified gene expression comprising: (a) transforming a plant cell with a genetic construct to provide a transgenic cell, wherein the genetic construct comprises: (i) a promoter sequence comprising a polynucleotide of any one of claims 1-4; (ii) a DNA sequence of interest; and (iii) a gene termination sequence; and (b) cultivating the transgenic cell under conditions conducive to regeneration and mature plant growth.

15. A method for modifying a phenotype of a target organism, comprising stably incorporating into the genome of the target organism a genetic construct comprising: (a) a promoter sequence comprising a polynucleotide of any one of claims 1-4; (b) a DNA sequence of interest; and (c) a gene termination sequence.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the target organism is a plant.

17. A method for identifying a gene responsible for a desired function or phenotype, comprising: (a) transforming a plant cell with a genetic construct comprising a promoter sequence operably linked to a gene to be tested, the promoter sequence comprising a polynucleotide of any one of claims 1-4; (b) cultivating the plant cell under conditions conducive to regeneration and mature plant growth to provide a transgenic plant; and (c) comparing the phenotype of the transgenic plant with the phenotype of non-transformed plants.

18. An isolated polynucleotide comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 1-17 and 38-48 operably linked to a heterologous polynucleotide.

19. The polynucleotide of claim 18, wherein the heterologous polynucleotide comprises an open reading frame.