Patent Application
20190345511
The present invention relates to polynucleotides and polypeptides associated with increased resistance of plants towards pathogenic fungi and/or Oomycetes, particularly to fungi inducing root rot and stalk rot in plants, and use thereof for controlling plant diseases associated with the fungal pathogens and for producing genetically engineered plants having increased resistance to the pathogenic fungi.
During all developmental stages, plants are exposed to an extremely wide range of biotic and abiotic stress conditions leading to plant diseases. In the production of crop plants, damages caused by biotic stresses, particularly by pathogenic agents, which may be further enhanced under conditions of abiotic stress, pose a major problem and significantly affect the crop yield and profitability.
Many plant diseases are caused by plant pathogenic fungi, and damages to both monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous crop plants are of billions of US$ loss in yield in the U.S. only. For example, stalk rot, caused by a complex of Fusarium spp. and other fungi is one of the most serious challenges in maize production. At present, the majority of both inbreed and hybrid maize lines are susceptible. Fusarium graminearum (Fg) and Fusarium verticillioides (Fv) are the two main causal agents of stalk rot caused by Fusarium spp. in maize, but more than 10 additional Fusarium spp. can cause stalk rot. Natural infection is initiated by a mixture of the local Fusarium spp., but typically during the progress of the disease one species predominates. Gibberella stalk rot (caused by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe) is more prevalent in maize grown in cool regions; while Fusarium stalk rot (caused by Fusarium verticillioides) is most common in dry, warm regions. Fusarium graminearum and other Fusarium species are also responsible for Fusarium head blight (FHB) of wheat, which is a major disease problem for wheat and barley production worldwide, and for various root rots in wide range of different hosts. Colletotrichum spp. infects many grain crops such as barley, wheat, sorghum and corn. C. graminicola is one of the other major pathogens causing mainly maize stalk rots and being capable of infecting many other parts of the corn plant. It has been suggested that C. graminicola behaves as a wilt fungus which efficiently colonizes and moves through the fiber cells that surround the vascular bundles and underlie the epidermal cells in the stalk rind. Movement through the mostly non-living fibers may allow the fungus to avoid host defenses, providing a base from which it can invade adjacent parenchyma cells.
Powdery mildews are fungal diseases caused by different species of fungi in the order Erysiphales that affect a wide range of plants including cereals, grasses, vegetables, ornamentals, weeds, shrubs, fruit trees, broad-leaved shade and forest trees.
Traditionally, plant diseases have been controlled by agronomic practices that include crop rotation, the use of agrochemicals, and conventional breeding techniques. The use of chemicals to control plant pathogens, while being effective, increases the production costs, and moreover, is opposed to by the public and government regulators due to the increased awareness to the harmful effects of such chemicals on the ecosystem and animal health.
Upon the plant recognition of an agent as a pathogen, an array of biochemical responses is activated by the plant. As of today it is acknowledged that the initial plant response involves induction of several local responses in the cells immediately surrounding the infection site. In the hypersensitive response, cells contacted by the pathogen, and often neighboring cells, rapidly collapse and dry in a necrotic fleck. Other responses include the deposition of callose, the physical thickening of cell walls by lignification, and the synthesis of various antibiotic small molecules and proteins. Genetic factors in both the host and the pathogen determine the specificity of these local responses, which can be very effective in limiting the spread of infection.
Resistance to Fusarium is a polygenic trait and can be seen as consisting of two major components: (1) resistance to initial penetration, and (2) resistance to the spreading of the pathogen in host tissue. Though there is no evidence of complete resistance to Fusarium stalk rot in maize, genetic variation for resistance exists within maize germplasm. Resistance to C. graminicola is also primarily quantitative, although a few sources of major gene resistance have been described.
The constantly growing volume of research regarding the mechanisms involved in plant resistance to pathogens and the genetic basis of such mechanism, together with advances in biotechnology have presented new opportunities for protecting plants against pathogen infection through genetic engineering.
Many genes have been identified to participate in the plant defense mechanisms. For example, Sanghyun S et al. (2008. J Exp Bot. 2008:59(9):2371-8) showed that transgenic wheat expressing a barley class II chitinase exhibited enhanced resistance against F. graminearum in greenhouse and field conditions. Zhu X et al. (2012. Funct Integr Genomics. 12(3):481-488) described that overexpression of wheat lipid transfer protein gene TaLTP5 increases resistances to Cochliobolus sativus and Fusarium graminearum in transgenic wheat. Perochon A et al. (2015. Plant Physiol 169(4):2895-2906) reported the functional characterization of an orphan gene (Triticum aestivum Fusarium Resistance Orphan Gene [TaFROG]) as a component of resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB). Zuo D Y et al. (2016. Phytopatol. 106(6):614-623) showed that a deoxynivalenol-activated methionyl-tRNA synthetase gene from wheat encodes a nuclear localized protein and protects plants against Fusarium pathogens infection and mycotoxins. Dowd P F and Johnson E T (2016. J Plant Res. 129(1):13-20) showed that the maize peroxidase Px5, the pericarp expression of which has been shown to be associated with resistance to Aspergillus flavus growth and to insects in a set of inbred plant lines has a highly conserved sequence which enhances fungal and insect resistance.
Many defense response genes are induced in wheat and other plants during F. graminearum infection and may play a role in reducing FHB. These response genes were thus investigated in an attempt to produce resistant wheat lines. Mackintosh C A et al. (2007. Plant Cell Rep 26(4):479-488) examined overexpression of the defense response genes alpha-1-purothionin, thaumatin-like protein 1 (tlp-1), and beta-1,3-glucanase in wheat, and reported that all the genes reduced at least part of the disease symptoms. A beta-1,3-glucanase transgenic line had enhanced resistance, showing lower FHB severity, deoxynivalenol (DON) mycotoxin concentration, and percent of visually scabby kernels (VSK) compared to a control plant. Sasaki K et al. (2016. J Biotechnol 228:3-7) also showed that overexpression of TAD1 (Triticum aestivum defensin 1), a protein induced during cold acclimation in winter wheat and encoding a plant defensin with antimicrobial activity, increased resistance against Fusarium graminearum in the transformed wheat plants.
Various additional genetic manipulation of gene expression for improving resistance to pathogenic fungi has also been reported. For example, Brewer H C et al. (2014. BMC Plant Biol 14(1):317) showed that mutations in the Arabidopsis homoserine kinase gene DMR1 confer enhanced resistance to F. culmorum and F. graminearum. Tundo S et al. (2016. Mol Plant Microbe Interact 29(8):629-639) produced transgenic plants with a combination of gene encoding proteins involved in inhibiting the activity of cell wall-degrading enzymes (CWDEs) secreted by pathogens to breach the plant cell-wall barrier. They showed that pyramiding polygalacturonase (PG) inhibiting protein (PGIP2) and TAXI-III, a xylanase inhibitor that controls the activity of xylanases, enhanced resistance against Fusarium graminearum, while pyramiding PGIP2 and pectin methyl esterase inhibitor (PMEI) did not reach the same effect. Li X et al. (2015. Mol Plant Microbe Interact 28(11):1237-1246) demonstrated that transgenic wheat expressing a barley UDP-glucosyltransferase detoxifies deoxynivalenol and provides high levels of resistance to Fusarium graminearum.
Among others, International Application Publication Nos. WO 2006/091219 and WO 2006/091219 disclose methods for protecting plants from plant pathogenic fungi by enhancing fungal pathogen resistance in a plant using the nucleotide sequences disclosed therein. Further disclosed therein are methods comprising introducing into a plant an expression cassette comprising a promoter operably linked to a nucleotide sequence that encodes an antifungal polypeptide as well as transformed plants, plant cells, seeds, and microorganisms comprising a nucleotide sequence that encodes an antifungal polypeptide or variant or fragment thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,359,615 discloses plants which overexpress a p33 kD or BURP protein, or an ortholog thereof, and exhibit an increased pre-formed resistance to pathogens, particularly fungal pathogens.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,485,994 discloses methods and compositions for control of pathogenic fungal or Oomycetous infection. Particularly, the patent discloses an antifungal or an anti-Oomycetous composition comprising bacteria of the genus Collimonas and bacteria of the genus Bacillus, together exhibiting a synergistic antifungal or a synergistic anti-Oomycetous effect, and methods of use thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,732,354 discloses new gene that is able to provide plants with resistance against pathogens, particularly Verticillium, Ralstonia or Fusarium. The gene is typical for Brassicaceae, but may confer resistance to other plants. Further provided are host cells with a nucleotide construct encoding the protein and methods for enhancing the pathogen resistance of plants.
However, as of today, there is an unmet need for further developed methods and compositions for protecting plants from fungal pathogen.
The present invention provides isolated polynucleotides, constructs comprising same and isolated polypeptides useful in conferring and/or enhancing resistance of a plant towards pathogenic fungi and/or Oomycetes. The present invention further provides genetically altered plants and plant cells with enhanced resistance to pathogenic fungi and/or Oomycetes as well as method for producing and selecting same.
According to one aspect, the present invention provides a method for enhancing the resistance of a plant or a part thereof to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete, comprising modulating the expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide at least 80% identical to a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-939 within at least one cell of the plant or part thereof, thereby enhancing the resistance of said plant or part thereof to the at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete compared to the resistance of a control plant. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the method comprises modulating the expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide having the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-964. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the at least one polypeptide is encoded by a polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence at least 80% identical to a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:55-527. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to other embodiments, the at least one polypeptide is encoded by a polynucleotide comprising the nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:55-564. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, enhancing the resistance of the plant or part thereof to the pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete comprises enhancing the expression and/or activity of the at least one polypeptide compared to its expression and/or activity in the control plant.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, the polypeptide the expression and/or activity of which is to be enhanced comprises an amino acid sequence at least 80% identical to a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, and 651-654. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to alternative exemplary embodiments, the polypeptide the expression and/or activity of which is to be enhanced comprises an amino acid sequence elected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, 651-654, 942, and 943. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
Enhancing the polypeptide expression can be affected at the genomic and/or the transcript and/or translation level using a variety of methods that induce the transcription and/or translation of the polypeptide.
According to certain embodiments, enhancing the expression and/or activity of the polypeptide comprises expressing an exogenous polynucleotide encoding said at least one polypeptide within the at least one cell of the plant or the part thereof.
According to certain embodiments, enhancing the expression and/or activity of the polypeptide comprises transforming at least one cell of the plant or part thereof with an exogenous polynucleotide encoding the polypeptide, thereby producing a transgenic plant over-expressing said polypeptide.
Any method as is known in the art for introducing an exogenous polynucleotide into a plant cell can be used according to the teachings of the present invention. According to some embodiments, the exogenous polynucleotide is transformed into the plant cell using a suitable vector.
According to certain embodiments, the exogenous polynucleotide encodes an endogenous polypeptide of the at least one cell. According to other embodiments, the exogenous polynucleotide encodes a polypeptide heterologous to the at least one plant cell.
According to certain embodiments, genome editing is employed to edit the genome of the at least one cell as to express a heterologous polypeptide of the invention.
According to certain embodiments, the polynucleotide the expression of which is to be enhanced comprises a nucleic acid sequence at least 80% identical to a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, and 183. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to other embodiments, the polynucleotide the expression of which is to be enhanced comprises the nucleic acid sequence set forth in one any one of SEQ ID NOs:57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, 183, 530, 531, 535, and 536. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, enhancing the expression and/or activity of the polypeptide comprises modulating the expression of an endogenous polynucleotide encoding said polypeptide within the at least one cell of the plant or part thereof.
Modulating, according to certain embodiments enhancing, the expression of the endogenous polynucleotide can be affected at the genomic and/or the transcript level using a variety of methods that induce the transcription and/or translation of the polypeptide.
According to certain embodiments, enhancing the expression and/or activity of the endogenous polypeptide comprises subjecting the at least one cell of the plant or part thereof to genome editing using artificially engineered nucleases as is known in the art.
According to certain embodiments, isolated nucleic acids which serve as promoter or enhancer elements may be introduced in an appropriate position as to enhance transcription of the endogenous polynucleotide. According to some embodiments, the regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of, but not limited to, a promoter and an enhancer.
According to other embodiments, at least one mutation may be inserted within the endogenous polynucleotide as long as the mutation results in enhanced expression of the encoded polypeptide. Any method for mutagenesis as is known in the art can be used according to the teachings of the present invention including chemical mutagenesis, radio-mutagenesis and site directed mutagenesis, for example using genome editing techniques.
According to certain embodiments, enhancing the resistance of the plant to the pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete comprises reducing the expression and/or activity of the at least one polypeptide compared to its expression and/or activity in the control plant. According to certain exemplary embodiments, the polypeptide the expression of which is to be reduced comprises an amino acid sequence at least 80% identical to an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:590, 603 and 619. According to certain exemplary embodiments, the polypeptide the expression of which is to be reduced comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:590, 603 and 619.
According to certain embodiments, enhancing the resistance of the plant to the pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete comprises reducing the expression of at least one polynucleotide compared to its expression and/or activity in the control plant. According to certain exemplary embodiments, the polynucleotide having reduced expression comprises a nucleic acid sequence at least 80% identical to a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:74, 87, 103, 139, 152, and 167. According to certain exemplary embodiments, the polynucleotide having reduced expression comprises a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:74, 87, 103, 139, 152, and 167.
Any method as is known in the art for reducing the expression and/or activity of a plant endogenous protein and the polynucleotide encoding same can be used according to the teachings of the resent invention.
According to certain embodiments, reducing the expression and/or activity of the polypeptide comprises down-regulating the expression of the endogenous polynucleotide encoding said polypeptide within the at least one cell of the plant or part thereof.
According to certain embodiments, reducing the expression and/or activity of the polypeptide comprises modulating the endogenous polynucleotide as to encode a non-functional polypeptide.
According to certain embodiments, expression of the polynucleotide is affected at the genomic and/or the transcript level using a variety of molecules that interfere with transcription and/or translation (e.g., antisense, siRNA, Ribozyme, or DNAzyme) of the polynucleotide. Inserting a mutation into the polynucleotide, including deletions, insertions, site specific mutations, mutations mediated by artificially engineered nucleases (including zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription-activator like effector nucleases (TALENs) and CRISPR/Cas system) can be also used, as long as the mutations result in down-regulation of the gene expression or in the production of non-functional protein.
Alternatively, expression can be inhibited at the protein level using, e.g., antagonists, enzymes that cleave the polypeptide, and the like.
According to some embodiments, the control plant is a plant not manipulated to have modulated expression and/or activity of the polypeptide. According to some embodiments, the control plant is of the same species. According to some embodiments, the control plant comprises the same genetic background.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a method for producing a population of plants each having an enhanced resistance to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete, comprising the steps of:
thereby producing a population of genetically engineered plants having enhanced resistance to said at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete.
According to certain embodiments, the method comprises modulating the expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide having the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:571-964. According to certain embodiments, the method comprises modulating the expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide having the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:571-977. According to other embodiments, the method comprises modulating the expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide having the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:965-977. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
The expression and/or activity of the at least polypeptide can be enhanced or reduced as described hereinabove.
According to certain embodiments, the method comprises modulating the expression of at least one polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence at least 80% identical to a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:55-527. According to some embodiments, the method comprises modulating the expression of at least one polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:55-564. According to some embodiments, the method comprises modulating the expression of at least one polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:528-564. According to some embodiments, the method comprises modulating the expression of at least one polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:565-570. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
The expression of the at least polypeptide and/or polynucleotide encoding same can be enhanced or reduced as described hereinabove.
According to certain embodiments, enhancing the expression comprises transforming the at least one cell of the plant or part thereof with a polynucleotide encoding at least one polypeptide at least 80% identical to a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, and 651-654. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention. According to certain embodiments, enhancing the expression comprises transforming the at least one cell of the plant or part thereof with a polynucleotide encoding at least one polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, 651-654, 942, and 943. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to additional aspect, the present invention provides a method for selecting a plant having an enhanced resistance to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete, comprising the steps of:
According to certain embodiments, the method comprises providing a plurality of plants each having a modulated expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide having the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:571-977. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention. According to other embodiments, the method comprises providing a plurality of plants each having a modulated expression and/or activity of a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 965-977. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the modulated expression and/or activity is selected from enhanced expression and/or activity and reduced expression and/or activity. Modulating the expression can be performed by any method as is known in the art and as described hereinabove.
According to certain embodiments, the method comprises providing a plurality of plant each having modulated expression of at least one polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence at least 80% identical to a polynucleotide having the nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:55-527. According to some embodiments, the at least one polynucleotide comprises a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:55-564. According to some embodiments, the at least one polynucleotide comprises a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:528-564. According to some embodiments, the at least one polynucleotide comprises a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:565-570. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the control plant is a plant not manipulated to have modulated expression and/or activity of the polypeptide. According to some embodiments, the control plant is of the same species. According to some embodiments, the control plant comprises the same genetic background.
According to certain embodiments, the pre-determined resistance score value is obtained by a method comprising the steps of inoculating a plurality of corresponding plants susceptible to the at least one pathogenic fungus or Oomycete; scoring the infection degree; and setting an average resistance score value.
Modulating (enhancing or reducing) the expression and/or activity of the polypeptide can be achieved as described hereinabove and by any other method as is known in the art.
According to certain embodiments, the plant part is selected from the group consisting of seeds, roots, shoots, leaves, flowers and the like. Each possibility represents separate embodiment of the present invention. According to certain exemplary embodiments, the plant part is a root. Tissue cultures comprising cells derived from the plant having a modulated expression and/or activity of a polypeptide of the invention are also encompassed within the scope of the present invention.
According to additional aspect, the present invention provides a genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to at least one fungus and/or Oomycete compared to a non-engineered control plant, the genetically engineered plant comprising at least one cell having modified expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide at least 80% identical to a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-939 compared to the polypeptide expression and/or activity in the non-engineered control plant. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell having modified expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide having the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-964. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention. According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell having modified expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide having the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:940-964. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell having modified expression of at least one polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence at least 80% identical to a polynucleotide having the nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:55-527. According to some embodiments, the at least one polynucleotide comprises a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:55-564. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, the genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus and/or Oomycete comprises at least one cell having enhanced expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide at least 80% identical to an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, and 651-654. According to some embodiments, the polypeptide having enhanced expression comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, 651-654, 942, and 943. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, the genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus and/or Oomycete comprises at least one cell having enhanced expression of at least one polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide at least 80% identical to a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, and 651-654. According to some embodiments, the genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus and/or Oomycete comprises at least one cell having enhanced expression of at least one polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, 651-654, 942, and 943.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell transformed with an exogenous polynucleotide encoding the at least one polypeptide having an amino acid sequence as set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, 651-654, 942, and 943 thereby having an enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus and/or Oomycete.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell edited to over-express a polynucleotide encoding the at least one polypeptide having an amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NOs:573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, 651-654, 942, and 943, thereby having an enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus and/or Oomycete comprises at least one cell with enhanced expression of at least polynucleotide having a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, 183, 530, 531, 535, and 536. According to certain exemplary embodiments, the polynucleotide expression in the genetically engineered plant is enhanced in comparison to the polynucleotide expression in a control plant.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus and/or Oomycete comprises at least one cell with reduced expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:590, 603 and 619. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises a polynucleotide encoding a modified form of the at least one polypeptide, wherein the modified form has reduced or no activity compared to the unmodified form, thereby having an enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant having reduced expression and/or activity of the at least one polypeptide comprises at least one cell having reduced expression of a polynucleotide having a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:74, 87, 103, 139, 152, and 167. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to additional aspect, the present invention provides an isolated polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence at least 80% identical to an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, and 651-654, wherein the polypeptide, when expressed in a plant, is capable of enhancing the resistance of the plant to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete.
According to certain embodiments, the polynucleotide encodes a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, 651-654, 942, and 943.
According to certain embodiments, the polynucleotide comprises a nucleic acid sequence at least 80% identical to a nucleic acids sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, and 183. According to other embodiments, the polynucleotide comprises the nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, 183, 530, 531, 535, and 536.
According to yet another aspect, the present invention provides an isolated polynucleotide, a fragment or a mutant thereof, the polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence at least 80% identical to a nucleic acids sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, and 183, wherein said polynucleotide, when expressed in a plant, is capable of enhancing the resistance of the plant to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete. According to certain embodiments, the polynucleotide comprises the nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one if SEQ ID NOs:57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, 183, 530, 531, 535, and 536.
According to additional aspect, the present invention provides a nucleic acid construct comprising a polynucleotide according to some embodiments of the present invention, further comprising at least one regulatory element for directing the expression of the polynucleotide within a plant cell. According to certain embodiment, the regulatory element is a promoter. The promoter can be endogenous or heterologous to the plant comprising the nucleic acid construct.
The polypeptides and polynucleotides disclosed herein may be used to confer resistance to a wide variety of fungal and Oomycetous pathogens that cause commercial damage to crop and ornamental plants.
According to certain embodiments, the fungal or Oomycetous pathogens can be one or more fungi or Oomycetes from a class selected from the group consisting of Plasmodiophoromycetes, Chytridiomycetes, Zygomycetes, Ascomycetes, Basidiomycetes, Deuteromycetes, and Sordariomycetes. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to some embodiments, the fungal pathogens can be one or more fungi from a genus selected from the group consisting of Fusarium, Colletotrichum, Geotrichum, Aspergillus, Alternaria, Athelia, Botryosphaeria, Botrytis, Cryphonectria, Choanephora, Cercospora, Magnaporthe Monilinia, Mycosphaerella, Melampsora, Puccinia, Phakopsora, Rhizoctonia, Septoria, Uromyces, Ustilago and Verticillium.
According to some embodiments, the Oomycetous pathogen can be from the class Oomycetes (synonym Peronosporomycetes). In some embodiments, said Oomycetous infection comprises infection by an Oomycete from a genus selected from the group consisting of Blumeria, Macrophomina, Oidium, Pythium, and Phytophthora. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention. According to some embodiments, the fungal or Oomycetous pathogen is selected from the group consisting of Botrytis cinerea Mycosphaerella graminicola, Mycosphaerella fijiensis, Septoria lycopersici, Magnaporthe oryza, Rhizoctonia solani, Ustilago maydis, Sclerotium rolfsii, and Blumeria graminis.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, the fungus of the genus Fusarium is selected from the group consisting of Fusarium verticilloides and Fusarium graminearum. According to additional exemplary embodiments, the F. verticilloides is F. verticillioides strain A-00149-FGSC 7600. According to further exemplary embodiments, the F. graminearum is F. graminearum strain CBS 110260.
According to other exemplary embodiments, the fungus of the genus Colletotrichum is Colletotrichum graminicola.
The polynucleotides and polypeptides of the present invention can be used to confer resistance to any plant type. According to certain embodiments, the plant is a cereal plant. According to some embodiments, the cereal plant is selected from the group consisting of wheat, barley, sorghum, maize, rice, oat, and rye. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention. According to other embodiments, the plant is a field-crop plant. According to some embodiments, the field crop plant is selected from the group consisting of tomato, potato, sweet potato, cassava, beets, ginger, horseradish, radish, ginseng, turnip, any root or tuber crop, pepper, eggplant, ground cherry, tomatillo, okra, other fruiting vegetables, cucumber cantaloupe, melon, muskmelon, squash, watermelon and other cucurbit plants.
Further embodiments and the full scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention discloses means and methods for conferring and/or enhancing the resistance of a plant to pathogenic fungi and/or Oomycetes. Particularly, the present invention provides isolated polypeptides conferring or enhancing plant resistance to pathogenic fungi and/or Oomycetes, isolated polynucleotides encoding same, nucleic acid constructs comprising the polynucleotides and plant cells transformed with same and methods for producing and selecting plants having increased resistance to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete and plant with enhanced resistance to the at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete.
The present invention is based in part on bioinformatics tools that have been used to identify polynucleotides associated with resistance or reduced sensitivity of plants to at least one pathogenic fungus or pathogenic Oomycete. Cereal plants, including maize (Zea), Sorghum, wheat (Triticum) and barley (Hordeum) were used as representative genera to identify genes overexpressed or downregulated in plants showing increased resistance to fungal/Oomycetes infection, and genes comprising the nucleic acids sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:55-120, 528-532, and 565, encoding polypeptides having the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:577-636, 940-942, and 966-977 were identified. Homologous genes and encoded proteins were also identified in wider genera of plant, as described in details and presented in Table 2 hereinbelow. Polynucleotides according to some embodiments of the present invention were cloned into binary vectors (Example 5, Table 13), and further transformed into plants of the species Brachypodium distachyon (Example 6 hereinbelow) to further validate the effect of the genes on the resistance of the transformed plants towards the fungi/Oomycetes.
The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, “including”, “having” and their conjugates mean “including but not limited to”.
The term “consisting of” means “including and limited to”.
The term “consisting essentially of” means that the composition, method or structure may include additional ingredients, steps and/or parts, but only if the additional ingredients, steps and/or parts do not materially alter the basic and novel characteristics of the claimed composition, method or structure.
As used herein, the singular form “a”, “an” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, the term “a compound” or “at least one compound” may include a plurality of compounds, including mixtures thereof.
Throughout this application, various embodiments of this invention may be presented in a range format. It should be understood that the description in range format is merely for convenience and brevity and should not be construed as an inflexible limitation on the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the description of a range should be considered to have specifically disclosed all the possible sub ranges as well as individual numerical values within that range. For example, description of a range such as from 1 to 6 should be considered to have specifically disclosed sub ranges such as from 1 to 3, from 1 to 4, from 1 to 5, from 2 to 4, from 2 to 6, from 3 to 6 etc., as well as individual numbers within that range, for example, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. This applies regardless of the breadth of the range.
Whenever a numerical range is indicated herein, it is meant to include any cited numeral (fractional or integral) within the indicated range. The phrases “ranging/ranges between” a first indicate number and a second indicate number and “ranging/ranges from” a first indicate number “to” a second indicate number are used herein interchangeably and are meant to include the first and second indicated numbers and all the fractional and integral numerals therebetween.
As used herein the term “method” refers to manners, means, techniques and procedures for accomplishing a given task including, but not limited to, those manners, means, techniques and procedures either known to, or readily developed from known manners, means, techniques and procedures by practitioners of the agricultural, chemical, pharmacological, biological, biochemical and medical arts.
When reference is made to particular sequence listings, such reference is to be understood to also encompass sequences that substantially correspond to its complementary sequence as including minor sequence variations, resulting from, e.g., sequencing errors, cloning errors, or other alterations resulting in base substitution, base deletion or base addition, provided that the frequency of such variations is less than 1 in 50 nucleotides, alternatively, less than 1 in 100 nucleotides, alternatively, less than 1 in 200 nucleotides, alternatively, less than 1 in 500 nucleotides, alternatively, less than 1 in 1000 nucleotides, alternatively, less than 1 in 5,000 nucleotides, alternatively, less than 1 in 10,000 nucleotides.
As used herein, the phrase “exogenous polynucleotide” refers to a heterologous nucleic acid sequence which is not naturally expressed within the plant (e.g., a nucleic acid sequence from a different species) or to an endogenous nucleic acid of which overexpression in the plant is desired. The exogenous polynucleotide may be introduced into the plant in a stable or transient manner, so as to produce a ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecule and/or a polypeptide molecule.
The term “endogenous” as used herein refers to a polynucleotide or polypeptide which is naturally present and/or naturally expressed within a plant or a cell thereof.
The term “heterologous” as used herein refers to polynucleotide or polypeptide which is not naturally present and/or naturally expressed within a plant or a cell thereof.
The terms “modulating”, “modifying” and “altering” with reference to the expression or activity of a polynucleotide, gene, polypeptide or a protein within a cell or a plurality of cells, particularly plant cell(s), are used herein interchangeably and refer to changing their level of within the cell, particularly plant cell. The change can be an increase or a decrease; and it can be measured as compared to any one of the polynucleotide, gene, polypeptide or and protein level within the same cell(s) before modulation and as compared to the level in a control plant or an average level from a plurality of control plants in which the expression was not modified by man.
According to certain embodiments, the control plant is a wild type plant not manipulated to have modulated expression and/or activity of the polypeptide. According to some embodiments, the control plant is of the same species. According to some embodiments, the control plant comprises the same genetic background.
According to certain embodiments, the examined plant and the control plant are grown under the same growing conditions.
As used herein, the term “resistance” with regard to plants pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete refers to a plant that is resistant to infection by a fungal or Oomycetous pathogen or resistant to the symptoms of fungal or Oomycetous pathogen infection. For example, a plant resistant to a fungal or Oomycetous pathogen can exhibit a lack of infection, or reduced symptoms of infection, when challenged with a pathogen. As another example, a plant resistant to a fungal or Oomycetous pathogen can be infected by the fungal or Oomycetous pathogen and yet exhibit a reduced number or degree of symptoms of said infection. As yet another example, a plant resistant to a fungal or Oomycetous pathogen can be infected by the pathogen and exhibit one or more symptoms of infection by the pathogen and yet exhibit a reduction in an effect of the infection or symptom thereof. For instance, a plant resistant to a fungal or Oomycetous pathogen can be infected by the pathogen, and exhibit one or more symptoms selected from the group consisting of leaf wilt, leaf or vascular discoloration (e.g., yellowing), spike bleaching etc., and yet exhibit a reduction in yield loss in comparison to a plant that is not resistant to the fungal or Oomycetous pathogen.
Accordingly, “confer resistance to a pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete” or “enhanced resistance to a pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete” refer to a phenotype in which a plant has greater health, growth, multiplication, fertility, vigor, strength (e.g., lodging resistance), yield, or less severe symptoms associated with infection of the pathogenic fungus or Oomycete during or after a fungal or Oomycete infection than an organism that does not have enhanced resistance to the pathogen. Where a plant is tested for resistance, a control plant is used to assess the degree of the plant resistance. According to certain embodiments of the present invention, the control plant is a plant not manipulated to have modified expression of at least one polypeptide of the present invention. The control plant is typically, but not necessarily of the same species as the examined plant. According to some embodiments the control plant is of the same specifies and has the same genetic background as the examined plant. The enhancement can be an increase of 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.75%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9%, 10%, 12%, 15%, 17%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, or more in health, growth, multiplication, fertility, vigor, strength (e.g., lodging resistance), or yield, as compared to a control plant. The enhancement can be a decrease of 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.75%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9%, 10%, 12%, 15%, 17%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or 100% in the symptoms associated with the pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete as compared to the control plant. According to certain exemplary embodiments, the examined plant and the control plant are grown under the same conditions.
According to certain embodiments of the invention, enhancing the resistance of a plant to a pathogenic fungus comprises enhancing the expression and/or activity of a polypeptide of the invention within at least one cell of the plant. As used herein, the expression of a polynucleotide or polypeptide of the invention is “enhanced” or “up-regulated” if the level of the polynucleotide or polypeptide is enhanced by at least 50%, i.e. the polynucleotide or polypeptide level is at least 1.5 fold higher compared to its level in a control plant or compared to a predetermined threshold level. According to some embodiments, the level of the polynucleotide or polypeptide is enhanced by at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, 200%, 300% and more.
According to certain embodiments, the pre-determined resistance score value is obtained by inoculating a population of corresponding plants susceptible to the at least one pathogenic fungus, scoring the infection degree and setting an average resistance score value.
According to certain embodiments of the invention, enhancing the resistance of a plant to a pathogenic fungus comprises reducing the expression and/or activity of a polypeptide of the invention within at least one cell of the plant. As used herein, the expression of a polynucleotide or polypeptide of the invention is “reduced”, “inhibited”, “down regulated” or “knocked out” or “knocked down” if the level of the polynucleotide or polypeptide is reduced by at least 30% compared to its level in a control plant or compared to a predetermined threshold level. According to certain embodiments, the level of the polynucleotide or polypeptide is reduced by at least 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% and more. According to some embodiments, the term “reduced expression” refers to 100% inhibition or “knockout” of a polynucleotide function and/or expression.
As used herein the term “polynucleotide” refers to a single or double stranded nucleic acid sequence which is isolated and provided in the form of an RNA sequence, a complementary polynucleotide sequence (cDNA), a genomic polynucleotide sequence and/or a composite polynucleotide sequences (e.g., a combination of the above).
As used herein the phrase “complementary polynucleotide sequence” refers to a sequence, which results from reverse transcription of messenger RNA using a reverse transcriptase or any other RNA dependent DNA polymerase. Such a sequence can be subsequently amplified in vivo or in vitro using a DNA dependent DNA polymerase.
The term “isolated” refers to at least partially separated from the natural environment e.g., from a plant cell.
As used herein the phrase “genomic polynucleotide sequence” refers to a sequence derived (isolated) from a chromosome and thus it represents a contiguous portion of a chromosome.
As used herein the phrase “composite polynucleotide sequence” refers to a sequence, which is at least partially complementary and at least partially genomic. A composite sequence can include some exonal sequences required to encode the polypeptide of the present invention, as well as some intronic sequences interposing therebetween. The intronic sequences can be of any source, including of other genes, and typically will include conserved splicing signal sequences. Such intronic sequences may further include cis acting expression regulatory elements.
It should be noted that the nucleic acid sequence of a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide which is provided in the sequence listing as a single strand refers to the sense direction which is equivalent to the mRNA transcribed from the polynucleotide.
When reference is made to particular sequence listings, such reference is to be understood to also encompass sequences that substantially correspond to its complementary sequence as including minor sequence variations, resulting from, e.g., sequencing errors, cloning errors, or other alterations resulting in base substitution, base deletion or base addition, provided that the frequency of such variations is less than 1 in 50 nucleotides, alternatively, less than 1 in 100 nucleotides, alternatively, less than 1 in 200 nucleotides, alternatively, less than 1 in 500 nucleotides, alternatively, less than 1 in 1000 nucleotides, alternatively, less than 1 in 5,000 nucleotides, alternatively, less than 1 in 10,000 nucleotides.
As used herein, the phrase “exogenous polynucleotide” refers to a heterologous nucleic acid sequence which is not naturally expressed within the plant (e.g., a nucleic acid sequence from a different species) or to an endogenous nucleic acid of which overexpression in the plant is desired. The exogenous polynucleotide may be introduced into the plant in a stable or transient manner, so as to produce a ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecule and/or a polypeptide molecule.
The term “endogenous” as used herein refers to a polynucleotide or polypeptide which is naturally present and/or naturally expressed within a plant or a cell thereof.
The term “heterologous” as used herein refers to polynucleotide or polypeptide which is not naturally present and/or naturally expressed within a plant or a cell thereof.
According to one aspect, the present invention provides a method for enhancing the resistance of a plant or a part thereof to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete, comprising modulating the expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide at least about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous to, or identical to a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-939 within at least one cell of the plant or part thereof, thereby enhancing the resistance of said plant or part thereof to the at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycetes compared to the resistance of a control plant. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a method for enhancing the resistance of a plant or a part thereof to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete, comprising modulating the expression of at least one polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide at least about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous to, or identical to a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-939 within at least one cell of the plant or part thereof, thereby enhancing the resistance of said plant or part thereof to the at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete compared to the resistance of a corresponding control plant. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the polypeptide is 80%-99% homologous to any one of the polypeptides set forth in SEQ ID NOs:571-939. According to other embodiments, the polypeptide is 85%-95% homologous to any one of the polypeptides set forth in SEQ ID NOs:571-939. According to other embodiments, the polypeptide is 90%-99% homologous to any one of the polypeptides set forth in SEQ ID NOs:571-939. According to certain embodiments, the polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-964. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention. According to certain embodiments, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-964. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to yet additional aspect, the present invention provides a method for enhancing the resistance of a plant or a part thereof to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete, comprising modulating the expression of at least one polynucleotide at least about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous to, or identical to a polynucleotide having an nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:55-527 within at least one cell of the plant or part thereof, thereby enhancing the resistance of said plant or part thereof to the at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycetes compared to the resistance of a control plant. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the polynucleotide is 80%-99% homologous to any one of the polynucleotides set forth in SEQ ID NOs:55-527. According to other embodiments, the polynucleotide is 85%-95% homologous to any one of the polynucleotides set forth in SEQ ID NOs:55-527. According to other embodiments, the polynucleotide is 90%-99% homologous to any one of the polynucleotides set forth in SEQ ID NOs:55-527.
According to certain embodiments, the polynucleotide comprises a nucleic acids sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:55-564. According to other embodiments, the exogenous polynucleotide consists of a nucleic acids sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:55-564. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a method for producing a population of plants each having an enhanced resistance to at least one pathogenic fungus or Oomycete, comprising the steps of:
thereby producing a population of genetically engineered plants having enhanced resistance to said at least one pathogenic fungus.
According to certain embodiments, the method comprises modulating the expression and/or activity of a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:571-977. According to other embodiments, the method comprise enhancing the expression and/or activity of a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:965-977. According to yet additional embodiments, the method comprises enhancing the expression and/or activity of a polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:571-977.
According to additional aspect, the present invention provides a method for selecting a plant having an enhanced resistance to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete, comprising the steps of:
According to certain embodiments, the method comprises providing a plurality of plants each comprising at least one cell with modulated expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide having the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:571-977. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention. According to other embodiments, the method comprises providing a plurality of plants each having modulated expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide having the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:965-977. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
The plurality of plants having modulated expression and/or activity of the polypeptide may include plants having at least one cell with enhanced expression and/or activity of the polypeptide, plants having at least one cell with reduced expression and/or activity of the polypeptide or a combination thereof. Enhancing or reducing the expression and/or activity of the polypeptide can be performed as is known in the Art and as described hereinbelow.
Methods of enhancing the expression and/or activity of the polypeptide within the plant cell are known in the art.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a method for conferring and/or enhancing the resistance of a grafted plant to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete, the method comprising providing a scion and a rootstock, wherein the rootstock exhibits enhanced resistance to the at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete, said rootstock comprises at least one cell with a modulated expression of a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide at least about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous, or identical to the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-939 compared to the scion and grafting said scion onto said rootstock, thereby producing a grafted plant having an enhanced resistance to said at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a method for conferring and/or enhancing the resistance of a grafted plant to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete, the method comprising providing a scion and a rootstock, the scion having an enhances resistance to the at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete, said scion comprises at least one cell with modulated expression of at least one polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous, or identical to the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-939 compared to the rootstock, and grafting said scion onto said rootstock, thereby producing a grafted plant having an enhanced resistance to the at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete.
According to certain embodiments, the polypeptide expressed in the scion or in the rootstock comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-964.
According to certain embodiments, the scion or rootstock having enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus and/or Oomycete comprises at least one cell with enhanced expression and/or activity of the at least one polypeptide or the nucleotide encoding same. According to other embodiments, the scion or rootstock having enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus and/or Oomycete comprises at least one cell with reduced expression and/or activity of the at least one polypeptide or the nucleotide encoding same.
According to certain embodiments, the rootstock or the scion having enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus and/or Oomycete over-expresses a polynucleotide about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous, or identical to a nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, and 183. According to some embodiments, the polynucleotide over-expressed in the rootstock or the scion comprises nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, 183, 530, 531, 535, and 536.
According to some embodiments, the at least one polynucleotide is constitutively expressed in the transgenic rootstock. According to some embodiments, the at least one polynucleotide is expressed in the transgenic rootstock in a tissue specific or inducible manner According to some embodiments, the expression of the at least one polynucleotide is induced by biotic stress, particularly by fungi infection.
According to certain embodiments, the rootstock or the scion having enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus and/or Oomycete exhibit reduced expression of a polynucleotide about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous, or identical to a nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:74, 87, 103, 139, 152, and 167. According to some embodiments, the polynucleotide the expression of which is reduced in the rootstock or the scion comprises nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 74, 87, 103, 139, 152, and 167.
According to additional aspect, the present invention provides a method of growing a crop plant having enhanced resistance to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete comprising the steps of:
According to certain embodiments, the encoded polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:571-964. According to some embodiments, the encoded polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:571-964. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the polynucleotide comprises a nucleic acid sequence at least about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous to, or identical to a nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:55-527. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the polynucleotide comprises the nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:55-564. According to some embodiments, the polynucleotide consists of the nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:55-564. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the modulated expression of the least one polynucleotide comprises up-regulation of said polynucleotide expression. According to certain embodiments, the modulated expression of the at least one polynucleotide comprises down-regulation of said polynucleotide expression.
According to yet additional aspect, the present invention provides a method of producing seeds of a crop comprising the steps of:
According to certain embodiments, the encoded polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:571-964. According to some embodiments, the encoded polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:571-964. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the modulated expression of the least one polynucleotide comprises up-regulation of said polynucleotide expression. According to certain embodiments, the modulated expression of the least one polynucleotide comprises down-regulation of said polynucleotide expression.
According to some embodiments, the parent plant is transformed with at least one polynucleotide comprising the nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, 183, 530, 531, 535, and 536. According to some embodiments, the polynucleotide consists of the nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 70, 136, 57, 59-62, 69, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, 183, 530, 531, 535, and 536.
According to certain embodiments, the seeds produced by the method of the invention comprise at least one cell having modulated expression of the polynucleotide. According to some embodiments, plants grown from the produced seed have enhanced resistance to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete.
The present invention encompasses polynucleotides identified to be associated with resistance to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete polypeptides encoded by same and homologs thereto.
According to certain embodiments, the exogenous polynucleotides employed in the methods of the present invention encode a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence at least about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous to, or identical to an amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:577-636, 940-942, and 966-977.
According to certain embodiments, the exogenous polynucleotides employed in the methods of the present invention comprise a nucleic acid sequence at least about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous to, or identical to a nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:55-120, 528-532, and 565.
Homologous sequences include both orthologous and paralogous sequences. The term “paralogous” relates to gene-duplications within the genome of a species leading to paralogous genes. The term “orthologous” relates to homologous genes in different organisms due to ancestral relationship. Thus, orthologs are evolutionary counterparts derived from a single ancestral gene in the last common ancestor of given two species (Koonin E V and Galperin M Y 2003. Sequence—Evolution—Function: Computational Approaches in Comparative Genomics. Boston: Kluwer Academic; Chapter 2, Evolutionary Concept in Genetics and Genomics) and therefore have great likelihood of having the same function.
One option to identify orthologues in monocot or in dicot plant species is by performing a reciprocal blast search. This may be done by a first blast involving blasting the sequence-of-interest against any sequence database, such as the publicly available NCBI database which may be found at: ncbi.nlm nih.gov. If orthologues in rice were sought, the sequence-of-interest would be blasted against, for example, the 28,469 full-length cDNA clones from Oryza sativa Nipponbare available at NCBI. The blast results may be filtered. The full-length sequences of either the filtered results or the non-filtered results are then blasted back (second blast) against the sequences of the organism from which the sequence-of-interest is derived. The results of the first and second blasts are then compared. An ortholog is identified when the sequence resulting in the highest score (best hit) in the first blast identifies in the second blast the query sequence (the original sequence-of-interest) as the best hit. Using the same rational a paralog (homolog to a gene in the same organism) is found. In case of large sequence families, the ClustalW program may be used (ebi.ac.uk/Tools/clustalw2/index.html), followed by a neighbor-joining tree (Wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighbor-joining) which helps visualizing the clustering.
Homology (e.g., percent homology, sequence identity+sequence similarity) can be determined using any homology comparison software computing a pairwise sequence alignment.
As used herein, “sequence identity” or “identity” in the context of two nucleic acid or polypeptide sequences includes reference to the residues in the two sequences which are the same when aligned. When percentage of sequence identity is used in reference to proteins it is recognized that residue positions which are not identical often differ by conservative amino acid substitutions, where amino acid residues are substituted for other amino acid residues with similar chemical properties (e.g. charge or hydrophobicity) and therefore do not change the functional properties of the molecule. Where sequences differ in conservative substitutions, the percent sequence identity may be adjusted upwards to correct for the conservative nature of the substitution. Sequences which differ by such conservative substitutions are considered to have “sequence similarity” or “similarity”. Means for making this adjustment are well-known to those of skill in the art. Typically this involves scoring a conservative substitution as a partial rather than a full mismatch, thereby increasing the percentage sequence identity. Thus, for example, where an identical amino acid is given a score of 1 and a non-conservative substitution is given a score of zero, a conservative substitution is given a score between zero and 1. The scoring of conservative substitutions is calculated, e.g., according to the algorithm of Henikoff S and Henikoff J G. (Amino acid substitution matrices from protein blocks. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1992, 89(22): 10915-9).
Identity (e.g., percent homology) can be determined using any homology comparison software, including for example, the BlastN software of the National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI) such as by using default parameters.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the identity is a global identity, i.e., an identity over the entire amino acid or nucleic acid sequences of the invention and not over portions thereof.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the term “homology” or “homologous” refers to identity of two or more nucleic acid sequences; or identity of two or more amino acid sequences; or the identity of an amino acid sequence to one or more nucleic acid sequence.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the homology is a global homology, i.e., a homology over the entire amino acid or nucleic acid sequences of the invention and not over portions thereof.
The degree of homology or identity between two or more sequences can be determined using various known sequence comparison tools. Following is a non-limiting description of such tools which can be used along with some embodiments of the invention.
Pairwise global alignment was defined by S. B. Needleman and C. D. Wunsch, “A general method applicable to the search of similarities in the amino acid sequence of two proteins” Journal of Molecular Biology, 1970, pages 443-53, volume 48).
For example, when starting from a polypeptide sequence and comparing to other polypeptide sequences, the EMBOSS-6.0.1 Needleman-Wunsch algorithm (available from emboss(dot)sourceforge(dot)net/apps/cvs/emboss/apps/needle(dot)html) can be used to find the optimum alignment (including gaps) of two sequences along their entire length—a “Global alignment”. Default parameters for Needleman-Wunsch algorithm (EMBOSS-6.0.1) include: gapopen=10; gapextend=0.5; datafile=EBLOSUM62; brief=YES.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the parameters used with the EMBOSS-6.0.1 tool (for protein-protein comparison) include: gapopen=8; gapextend=2; datafile=EBLOSUM62; brief=YES.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the threshold used to determine homology using the EMBOSS-6.0.1 Needleman-Wunsch algorithm is 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 8%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 9%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 100%.
When starting from a polypeptide sequence and comparing to polynucleotide sequences, the OneModel FramePlus algorithm [Halperin, E., Faigler, S. and Gill-More, R. (1999)—FramePlus: aligning DNA to protein sequences. Bioinformatics, 15, 867-873) (available from biocceleration(dot)com/Products(dot)html] can be used with following default parameters: model=frame+_p2n.model mode=local.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the parameters used with the OneModel FramePlus algorithm are model=frame+_p2n.model, mode=qglobal.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the threshold used to determine homology using the OneModel FramePlus algorithm is 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 8%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 9%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 100%.
When starting with a polynucleotide sequence and comparing to other polynucleotide sequences the EMBOSS-6.0.1 Needleman-Wunsch algorithm (available from emboss(dot)sourceforge(dot)net/apps/cvs/emboss/apps/needle(dot)html) can be used with the following default parameters: (EMBOSS-6.0.1) gapopen=10; gapextend=0.5; datafile=EDNAFULL; brief=YES.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the parameters used with the EMBOSS-6.0.1 Needleman-Wunsch algorithm are gapopen=10; gapextend=0.2; datafile=EDNAFULL; brief=YES.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the threshold used to determine homology using the EMBOSS-6.0.1 Needleman-Wunsch algorithm for comparison of polynucleotides with polynucleotides is 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 8%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 9%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 100%.
According to some embodiment, determination of the degree of homology further requires employing the Smith-Waterman algorithm (for protein-protein comparison or nucleotide-nucleotide comparison).
Default parameters for GenCore 6.0 Smith-Waterman algorithm include: model=sw.model.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the threshold used to determine homology using the Smith-Waterman algorithm is 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 8%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 9%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 100%.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the global homology is performed on sequences which are pre-selected by local homology to the polypeptide or polynucleotide of interest (e.g., 60% identity over 60% of the sequence length), prior to performing the global homology to the polypeptide or polynucleotide of interest (e.g., 80% global homology on the entire sequence). For example, homologous sequences are selected using the BLAST software with the Blastp and tBlastn algorithms as filters for the first stage, and the needle (EMBOSS package) or Frame+ algorithm alignment for the second stage. Local identity (Blast alignments) is defined with a very permissive cutoff—60% Identity on a span of 60% of the sequences lengths because it is used only as a filter for the global alignment stage. In this specific embodiment (when the local identity is used), the default filtering of the Blast package is not utilized (by setting the parameter “-F F”).
In the second stage, homologs are defined based on a global identity of at least 80% to the core gene polypeptide sequence.
According to some embodiments of the invention, two distinct forms for finding the optimal global alignment for protein or nucleotide sequences are used:
EMBOSS-6.0.1 Needleman-Wunsch algorithm with the following modified parameters: gapopen=8 gapextend=2. The rest of the parameters are unchanged from the default options listed here:
Standard (Mandatory) Qualifiers:
[-asequence] sequence Sequence filename and optional format, or reference (input USA)
[-bsequence] seqall Sequence(s) filename and optional format, or reference (input USA)
-gapopen float [10.0 for any sequence]. The gap open penalty is the score taken away when a gap is created. The best value depends on the choice of comparison matrix. The default value assumes you are using the EBLOSUM62 matrix for protein sequences, and the EDNAFULL matrix for nucleotide sequences. (Floating point number from 1.0 to 100.0)
-gapextend float [0.5 for any sequence]. The gap extension, penalty is added to the standard gap penalty for each base or residue in the gap. This is how long gaps are penalized. Usually you will expect a few long gaps rather than many short gaps, so the gap extension penalty should be lower than the gap penalty. An exception is where one or both sequences are single reads with possible sequencing errors in which case you would expect many single base gaps. You can get this result by setting the gap open penalty to zero (or very low) and using the gap extension penalty to control gap scoring. (Floating point number from 0.0 to 10.0)
[-outfile] align [*.needle] Output alignment file name
Additional (Optional) Qualifiers:
-datafile matrixf [EBLOSUM62 for protein, EDNAFULL for DNA]. This is the scoring matrix file used when comparing sequences. By default it is the file ‘EBLOSUM62’ (for proteins) or the file ‘EDNAFULL’ (for nucleic sequences). These files are found in the ‘data’ directory of the EMBOSS installation.
Advanced (Unprompted) Qualifiers:
Associated Qualifiers:
General Qualifiers:
GenCore 6.0 OneModel application utilizing the Frame+ algorithm with the following parameters: model=frame+_p2n.model mode=qglobal -q=protein.sequence -db=nucleotide. sequence. The rest of the parameters are unchanged from the default options:
Usage:
om -model=<model_fname> [-q=]query [-db=]database [options]
-model=<model_fname> Specifies the model that you want to run. All models supplied by Compugen are located in the directory $CGNROOT/models/.
Valid Command Line Parameters:
-dev=<dev_name> Selects the device to be used by the application.
Valid devices are:
bic—Bioccelerator (valid for SW, XSW, FRAME_N2P, and FRAME_P2N models).
xlg—BioXL/G (valid for all models except XSW).
xlp—BioXL/P (valid for SW, FRAME+_N2P, and
FRAME_P2N models).
xlh—BioXL/H (valid for SW, FRAME+_N2P, and
FRAME_P2N models).
soft—Software device (for all models).
-q=<query> Defines the query set. The query can be a sequence file or a database reference. You can specify a query by its name or by accession number. The format is detected automatically. However, you may specify a format using the -qfmt parameter. If you do not specify a query, the program prompts for one. If the query set is a database reference, an output file is produced for each sequence in the query.
-db=<database name> Chooses the database set. The database set can be a sequence file or a database reference. The database format is detected automatically.
However, you may specify a format using -dfmt parameter.
-qacc Add this parameter to the command line if you specify query using accession numbers.
-dacc Add this parameter to the command line if you specify a database using accession numbers.
-dfmt/-qfmt=<format_type> Chooses the database/query format type. Possible formats are:
fasta—fasta with seq type auto-detected.
fastap—fasta protein seq.
fastan—fasta nucleic seq.
gcg—gcg format, type is auto-detected.
gcg9seq—gcg9 format, type is auto-detected.
gcg9seqp—gcg9 format protein seq.
gcg9seqn—gcg9 format nucleic seq.
nbrf—nbrf seq, type is auto-detected.
nbrfp—nbrf protein seq.
nbrfn—nbrf nucleic seq.
embl—embl and swissprot format.
genbank—genbank format (nucleic).
blast—blast format.
nbrf_gcg—nbrf-gcg seq, type is auto-detected.
nbrf_gcgp—nbrf-gcg protein seq.
nbrf_gcgn—nbrf-gcg nucleic seq.
raw—raw ascii sequence, type is auto-detected.
rawp—raw ascii protein sequence.
rawn—raw ascii nucleic sequence.
pir—pir codata format, type is auto-detected.
profile—gcg profile (valid only for -qfmt
in SW, XSW, FRAME_P2N, and FRAME+_P2N).
-out=<out_fname> The name of the output file.
-suffix=<name> The output file name suffix.
-gapop=<n> Gap open penalty. This parameter is not valid for FRAME+. For FrameSearch the default is 12.0. For other searches the default is 10.0.
-gapext=<n> Gap extend penalty. This parameter is not valid for FRAME+. For FrameSearch the default is 4.0. For other models: the default for protein searches is 0.05, and the default for nucleic searches is 1.0.
-qgapop=<n> The penalty for opening a gap in the query sequence. The default is 10.0. Valid for XSW.
-qgapext=<n> The penalty for extending a gap in the query sequence. The default is 0.05. Valid for XSW.
-start=<n> The position in the query sequence to begin the search.
-end=<n> The position in the query sequence to stop the search.
-qtrans Performs a translated search, relevant for a nucleic query against a protein database. The nucleic query is translated to six reading frames and a result is given for each frame.
Valid for SW and XSW.
-dtrans Performs a translated search, relevant for a protein query against a DNA database. Each database entry is translated to six reading frames and a result is given for each frame.
Valid for SW and XSW.
Note: “-qtrans” and “-dtrans” options are mutually exclusive.
-matrix=<matrix_file> Specifies the comparison matrix to be used in the search.
The matrix must be in the BLAST format. If the matrix file is not located in $CGNROOT/tables/matrix, specify the full path as the value of the -matrix parameter.
-trans=<transtab_name> Translation table. The default location for the table is $CGNROOT/tables/trans.
-onestrand Restricts the search to just the top strand of the query/database nucleic sequence.
-list=<n> The maximum size of the output hit list. The default is 50.
-docalign=<n> The number of documentation lines preceding each alignment.
The default is 10.
-thr_score=<score_name> The score that places limits on the display of results. Scores that are smaller than -thr_min value or larger than -thr_max value are not shown. Valid options are: quality.
zscore.
escore.
-thr_max=<n> The score upper threshold. Results that are larger than -thr_max value are not shown.
-thr_min=<n> The score lower threshold. Results that are lower than -thr_min value are not shown.
-align=<n> The number of alignments reported in the output file.
-noalign Do not display alignment.
Note: “-align” and “-noalign” parameters are mutually exclusive.
-outfmt=<format_name> Specifies the output format type. The default format is PFS. Possible values are:
PFS—PFS text format
FASTA—FASTA text format
BLAST—BLAST text format
-nonorm Do not perform score normalization.
-norm=<norm_name> Specifies the normalization method. Valid options are:
log—logarithm normalization.
std—standard normalization.
stat—Pearson statistical method.
Note: “-nonorm” and “-norm” parameters cannot be used together.
Note: Parameters -xgapop, -xgapext, -fgapop, -fgapext, -ygapop, -ygapext, -delop, and -delext apply only to FRAME+.
-xgapop=<n> The penalty for opening a gap when inserting a codon (triplet).
The default is 12.0.
-xgapext=<n> The penalty for extending a gap when inserting a codon (triplet). The default is 4.0.
-ygapop=<n> The penalty for opening a gap when deleting an amino acid. The default is 12.0.
-ygapext=<n> The penalty for extending a gap when deleting an amino acid.
The default is 4.0.
-fgapop=<n> The penalty for opening a gap when inserting a DNA base. The default is 6.0.
-fgapext=<n> The penalty for extending a gap when inserting a DNA base. The default is 7.0.
-delop=<n> The penalty for opening a gap when deleting a DNA base. The default is 6.0.
-delext=<n> The penalty for extending a gap when deleting a DNA base. The default is 7.0.
-silent No screen output is produced.
-host=<host_name> The name of the host on which the server runs. By default, the application uses the host specified in the file $CGNROOT/cgnhosts.
-wait Do not go to the background when the device is busy. This option is not relevant for the Parseq or Soft pseudo device.
-batch Run the job in the background. When this option is specified, the file “$CGNROOT/defaults/batch.defaults” is used for choosing the batch command. If this file does not exist, the command “at now” is used to run the job.
Note: “-batch” and “-wait” parameters are mutually exclusive.
-version Prints the software version number.
-help Displays this help message. To get more specific help type:
According to some embodiments the homology is a local homology or a local identity.
Local alignments tools include, but are not limited to the BlastP, BlastN, BlastX or TBLASTN software of the National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI), FASTA, and the Smith-Waterman algorithm.
A tblastn search allows the comparison between a protein sequence to the six-frame translations of a nucleotide database. It can be a very productive way of finding homologous protein coding regions in unannotated nucleotide sequences such as expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and draft genome records (HTG), located in the BLAST databases est and htgs, respectively.
Default parameters for blastp include: Max target sequences: 100; Expected threshold: e-5; Word size: 3; Max matches in a query range: 0; Scoring parameters: Matrix—BLOSUM62; filters and masking: Filter—low complexity regions.
Local alignments tools, which can be used include, but are not limited to, the tBLASTX algorithm, which compares the six-frame conceptual translation products of a nucleotide query sequence (both strands) against a protein sequence database. Default parameters include: Max target sequences: 100; Expected threshold: 10; Word size: 3; Max matches in a query range: 0; Scoring parameters: Matrix—BLOSUM62; filters and masking: Filter—low complexity regions.
Modulating the expression and/or activity of the polypeptides of the present invention within a plant cell as to enhance the resistance of the plant to the pathogenic fungi and/or Oomycetes may include enhancing the expression and/or activity of polypeptides identified to positively contribute to the plant defense mechanism against the pathogenic fungi, or reducing the expression and/or activity of those polypeptides found to be associated with susceptibility to the fungus or Oomycete infection.
According to certain embodiments, enhancing the resistance of the plant or part thereof to the pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete comprises enhancing the expression and/or activity of the at least one polypeptide compared to its expression and/or activity in the control plant.
According to certain aspects, the present invention provides a method for enhancing the resistance of a plant or a part thereof to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete comprising expressing at least one exogenous polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide at least about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous to, or identical to a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, and 651-654 within at least one cell of the plant or part thereof, thereby enhancing the resistance of said plant or part thereof to the at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete compared to the resistance of a control plant. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention. According to certain embodiments, the method comprises expression at least one exogenous polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, 651-654, 942, and 943.
According to certain embodiments, enhancing the expression and/or activity of the polypeptide comprises introducing into at least one cell of the plant or part thereof an exogenous polynucleotide encoding said polypeptide, thereby producing a transgenic plant over-expressing said polypeptide compared to the control plant.
According to certain embodiments, the exogenous polynucleotide encodes a polypeptide endogenous to the at least one cell. According to other embodiments, the exogenous polynucleotide encodes a polypeptide heterologous to the at least one plant cell.
According to certain embodiments, the polynucleotide comprises a nucleic acid sequence at least about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous to, or identical to a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, and 183. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the polynucleotide is 80%-99% homologous to any one of the polynucleotides set forth in SEQ ID NOs: 57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, and 183. According to other embodiments, the polynucleotide is 85%-95% homologous to any one of the polynucleotides set forth in SEQ ID NOs: 57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, and 183. According to other embodiments, the polynucleotide is 90%-99% homologous to any one of the polynucleotides set forth in SEQ ID NOs: 57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, and 183
According to other embodiments, the polynucleotide comprises the nucleic acid sequence set for the one any one of SEQ ID NOs:57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, 183, 530, 531, 535, and 536. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention. According to additional embodiments, the polynucleotide consists of the nucleic acid sequence set for the one any one of SEQ ID NOs: 57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, 183, 530, 531, 535, and 536. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
Nucleic acid sequences encoding the polypeptides of the present invention may be optimized for expression. Examples of such sequence modifications include, but are not limited to, an altered G/C content to more closely approach that typically found in the plant species of interest, and the removal of codons atypically found in the plant species commonly referred to as codon optimization.
The phrase “codon optimization” refers to the selection of appropriate DNA nucleotides for use within a structural gene or fragment thereof that approaches codon usage within the plant of interest, and/or to a process of modifying a nucleic acid sequence for enhanced expression in the host cells of interest by replacing at least one codon (e.g., about or more than about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, or more codons) of the native sequence with codons that are more frequently or most frequently used in the genes of that host cell while maintaining the native amino acid sequence. Various species exhibit particular bias for certain codons of a particular amino acid. Codon bias (differences in codon usage between organisms) often correlates with the efficiency of translation of messenger RNA (mRNA), which is in turn believed to be dependent on, among other things, the properties of the codons being translated and the availability of particular transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules. The predominance of selected tRNAs in a cell is generally a reflection of the codons used most frequently in peptide synthesis. Accordingly, genes can be tailored for optimal gene expression in a given organism based on codon optimization. Therefore, an optimized gene or nucleic acid sequence refers to a gene in which the nucleotide sequence of a native or naturally occurring gene has been modified in order to utilize statistically-preferred or statistically-favored codons within the plant. The nucleotide sequence typically is examined at the DNA level and the coding region optimized for expression in the plant species determined using any suitable procedure. For example (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,214,862), the standard deviation of codon usage (SDCU), a measure of codon usage bias, may be calculated by first finding the squared proportional deviation of usage of each codon of the native gene relative to that of highly expressed plant genes, followed by a calculation of the average squared deviation. The formula used is:
wherein Xn refers to the frequency of usage of codon n in highly expressed plant genes, where Yn to the frequency of usage of codon n in the gene of interest and N refers to the total number of codons in the gene of interest. A Table of codon usage from highly expressed genes of dicotyledonous plants is compiled using the data of Murray et al. (1989, Nuc Acids Res. 17:477-498).
Alternative method of optimizing the nucleic acid sequence in accordance with the preferred codon usage for a particular plant cell type is based on the direct use, without performing any extra statistical calculations, of codon optimization Tables such as those provided on-line at the Codon Usage Database through the NIAS (National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences) DNA bank in Japan (www kazusa.or.jp/codon/). The Codon Usage Database contains codon usage tables for a number of different species, with each codon usage Table having been statistically determined based on the data present in Genbank.
By using the tables described above to determine the most preferred or most favored codons for each amino acid in a particular species (for example, rice), a naturally-occurring nucleotide sequence encoding a protein of interest can be codon optimized for that particular plant species. This is affected by replacing codons that may have a low statistical incidence in the particular species genome with corresponding codons, in regard to an amino acid, that are statistically more favored. However, one or more less-favored codons may be selected to delete existing restriction sites, to create new ones at potentially useful junctions (5′ and 3′ ends to add signal peptide or termination cassettes, internal sites that might be used to cut and splice segments together to produce a correct full-length sequence), or to eliminate nucleotide sequences that may negatively affect mRNA stability or expression.
The naturally-occurring encoding nucleotide sequence may already, in advance of any modification, contain a number of codons that correspond to a statistically-favored codon in a particular plant species. Therefore, codon optimization of the native nucleotide sequence may comprise determining which codons, within the native nucleotide sequence, are not statistically-favored with regards to a particular plant, and modifying these codons in accordance with a codon usage table of the particular plant to produce a codon optimized derivative. A modified nucleotide sequence may be fully or partially optimized for plant codon usage provided that the protein encoded by the modified nucleotide sequence is produced at a level higher than the protein encoded by the corresponding naturally occurring or native gene. Construction of synthetic genes by altering the codon usage is described in for example PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 93/07278.
According to additional aspect, the present invention provides an isolated polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide at least about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous, or identical to an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-939. According to certain embodiments, the present invention provides an isolated polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:571-964. According to additional embodiments, the present invention provides an isolated polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:571-964. According to certain embodiments, the present invention provides an isolated polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:940-964. According to certain embodiments, the present invention provides an isolated polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:940-964. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
The invention also encompasses fragments of the above described polypeptides and polypeptides having mutations, such as deletions, insertions or substitutions of one or more amino acids, either naturally occurring or man induced, either randomly or in a targeted fashion.
According to additional aspect, the present invention provides an isolated polynucleotide, a fragment or a mutant thereof, the polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acids sequence at least about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous, or identical to a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:55-527. According to certain embodiments, the present invention provides an isolated polynucleotide, a fragment or a mutant thereof, the polynucleotide comprising the nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:55-564. According to additional embodiments, the present invention provides an isolated polynucleotide, a fragment or a mutant thereof, the polynucleotide consisting of the nucleic acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOs:55-564.
The isolated polynucleotides and polypeptides of the present invention and the fragment thereof are associated with conferring and/or increasing the resistance of a plant to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the exogenous polynucleotide is a non-coding RNA.
As used herein the phrase ‘non-coding RNA” refers to an RNA molecule which does not encode an amino acid sequence (a polypeptide). Examples of such non-coding RNA molecules include, but are not limited to, an antisense RNA, a pre-miRNA (precursor of a microRNA), or a precursor of a Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA).
Thus, the invention encompasses nucleic acid sequences described hereinabove; fragments thereof, sequences hybridizable therewith, sequences homologous thereto, sequences encoding similar polypeptides with different codon usage, altered sequences characterized by mutations, such as deletion, insertion or substitution of one or more nucleotides, either naturally occurring or man induced, either randomly or in a targeted fashion.
According to additional aspect, the present invention provides a nucleic acid construct comprising the isolated polynucleotide of the invention, further comprising at least one regulatory element for directing transcription of the nucleic acid sequence in a host plant cell.
According to some embodiments of the invention, expressing the exogenous polynucleotide of the invention within a plant is effected by transforming one or more cells of the plant with the exogenous polynucleotide, followed by generating a mature plant from the transformed cells and cultivating the mature plant under conditions suitable for expressing the exogenous polynucleotide within the mature plant.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the transformation is effected by introducing to the plant cell a nucleic acid construct which includes the exogenous polynucleotide of some embodiments of the invention and at least one promoter for directing transcription of the exogenous polynucleotide in a host cell (a plant cell). Further details of suitable transformation approaches are provided hereinbelow.
As mentioned, the nucleic acid construct according to some embodiments of the invention comprises a promoter sequence and the isolated polynucleotide of some embodiments of the invention.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the isolated polynucleotide is operably linked to the promoter sequence.
A coding nucleic acid sequence is “operably linked” to a regulatory sequence (e.g., promoter) if the regulatory sequence is capable of exerting a regulatory effect on the coding sequence linked thereto.
As used herein, the term “promoter” refers to a region of DNA which lies upstream of the transcriptional initiation site of a gene to which RNA polymerase binds to initiate transcription of RNA. The promoter controls where (e.g., which portion of a plant) and/or when (e.g., at which stage or condition in the lifetime of an organism) the gene is expressed.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the promoter is heterologous to the isolated polynucleotide and/or to the host cell.
As used herein the phrase “heterologous promoter” refers to a promoter from a different species or from the same species but from a different gene locus as of the isolated polynucleotide sequence.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the isolated polynucleotide is heterologous to the plant cell (e.g., the polynucleotide is derived from a different plant species when compared to the plant cell, thus the isolated polynucleotide and the plant cell are not from the same plant species).
Any suitable promoter sequence can be used by the nucleic acid construct of the present invention. Preferably the promoter is selected from the group consisting of a constitutive promoter, a tissue-specific, or biotic-stress specific promoter, particularly promoters inducible by fungi infection.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the promoter is a plant promoter, which is suitable for expression of the exogenous polynucleotide in a plant cell.
Suitable promoters for expression in wheat include, but are not limited to, Wheat SPA promoter (SEQ ID NO:1; Albani et al, 1997. Plant Cell, 9:171-184); wheat LMW [SEQ ID NO:2 (longer LMW promoter) and SEQ ID NO:3 (LMW promoter)]; HMW glutenin-1 [SEQ ID NO:4; (Wheat HMW glutenin-1 longer promoter); and SEQ ID NO:5 (Wheat HMW glutenin-1 Promoter); Thomas and Flavell, 1990. The Plant Cell 2:1171-1180; Furtado et al., 2009. Plant Biotechnology Journal 7:240-253]; wheat alpha, beta and gamma gliadins [e.g., SEQ ID NO:6 (wheat alpha gliadin, B genome, promoter); SEQ ID NO:7 (wheat gamma gliadin promoter); Rafalski J A et al. 1984. EMBO 3:1409-1415], wheat TdPR60 [SEQ ID NO:8 (wheat TdPR60 longer promoter) or SEQ ID NO:9 (wheat TdPR60 promoter); Kovalchuk et al., 2009. Plant Mol Biol 71:81-98], maize Ub1 Promoter [cultivar Nongda 105 (SEQ ID NO:10); GenBank: DQ141598.1; Taylor et al., 1993. Plant Cell Rep 12: 491-495; and cultivar B73 (SEQ ID NO:11; Christensen, A H et al. 1992. Plant Mol. Biol. 18(4):675-689); rice actin 1 (SEQ ID NO:12; Mc Elroy et al. 1990, The Plant Cell (2):163-171 rice GOS2 [SEQ ID NO:13 (rice GOS2 longer promoter) and SEQ ID NO:14 (rice GOS2 Promoter); De Pater et al. 1992. Plant J. 2: 837-44], arabidopsis Pho1 [SEQ ID NO:15 (arabidopsis Pho1 Promoter); Hamburger et al., Plant Cell. 2002; 14: 889-902,], ExpansinB promoters, e.g., rice ExpB5 [SEQ ID NO:16 (rice ExpB5 longer promoter) and SEQ ID NO:17 (rice ExpB5 promoter)] and Barley ExpB1 [SEQ ID NO:18 (barley ExpB1 Promoter); Won et al. Mol Cells. 2010. 30:369-76], barley SS2 (sucrose synthase 2; SEQ ID NO:19; Guerin and Carbonero, 1997. Plant Physiology 114(1):55-62), and rice PG5a (SEQ ID NO:20; U.S. Pat. No. 7,700,835; Nakase et al., 1996. Plant Mol Biol. 32:621-30).
Suitable constitutive promoters include, for example, CaMV 35S promoter [SEQ ID NO:21 (CaMV 35S (pQXNc) Promoter); SEQ ID NO:22 (PJJ 35S from Brachypodium); SEQ ID NO:23 (CaMV 35S (OLD) Promoter; Odell et al., Nature 313:810-812, 1985)], Arabidopsis At6669 promoter [SEQ ID NO:24 (Arabidopsis At6669 (OLD) Promoter; see PCT Publication No. WO04081173 or the new At6669 promoter (SEQ ID NO:25 (Arabidopsis At6669 (NEW) Promoter)]; maize Ub1 Promoter [cultivar Nongda 105 (SEQ ID NO:10); and cultivar B73 (SEQ ID NO:11)]; rice actin 1 (SEQ ID NO:12); pEMU (Last et al., 1991. Theor. Appl. Genet. 81:581-588); CaMV 19S (Nilsson et al., 1997. Physiol. Plant 100:456-462); rice GOS2 [SEQ ID NO:13 (rice GOS2 longer Promoter) and SEQ ID NO: 14 (rice GOS2 Promoter); RBCS promoter (SEQ ID NO:26); Rice cyclophilin (Bucholz et al., 1994 Plant Mol Biol. 25(5):837-43); Maize H3 histone (Lepetit et al., 1992 Mol. Gen. Genet. 231: 276-285); Actin 2 (An et al., 1996. Plant J. 10(1); 107-121) and Synthetic Super MAS (Ni et at, 1995. The Plant Journal 7: 661-676). Other constitutive promoters include those in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,659,026; 5,608,149; 5,608,144; 5,604,121; 5,569,597: 5,466,785; 5,399,680; 5,268,463; and 5,608,142.
Suitable tissue-specific promoters include, but are not limited to, leaf-specific promoters [e.g., AT5G06690 (Thioredoxin), high expression, SEQ ID NO:27); AT5G61520 (AtSTP3, low expression, SEQ ID NO:28, described in Buttner et al., 2000. Plant, Cell and Environment 23:175-184); or the promoters described in Yamamoto et at, 1997. Plant J. 12:255-265; Kwon et al., 1994. Plant Physiol. 105:357-67; Yamamoto et al., 1994. Plant Cell Physiol. 35:773-778; Gotor et at, 1993. Plant J. 3:509-18; Orozco et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 1993. 23:1129-1138; and Matsuoka et al., 1993. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:9586-9590; as well as Arabidopsis STP3 (AT5G61520) promoter (Buttner et al., 2000. Plant, Cell and Environment 23:175-184]; seed-preferred promoters [e.g., Napin (originated from Brassica napus which is characterized by a seed specific promoter activity; Stuitje A. R. et. al. 2003. Plant Biotechnology Journal 1(4):301-309; SEQ ID NO:29 (Brassica napus NAPIN Promoter) from seed specific genes (Simon, et al., 1985. Plant Mol. Biol. 5:191; Scofield, et at, 1987. J. Biol. Chem. 262:12202; Baszczynski, et al., 1990. Plant Mol. Biol. 14:633), rice PG5a (SEQ ID NO:20; U.S. Pat. No. 7,700,835), early seed development Arabidopsis BAN (AT1G61720) (SEQ ID NO:30, US 2009/0031450), late seed development Arabidopsis ABI3 (AT3G24650) (SEQ ID NO:31 (Arabidopsis ABI3 (AT3G24650) longer Promoter) or SEQ ID NO:32 (Arabidopsis ABI3 (AT3G24650) Promoter)) (Ng et al., 2004. Plant Molecular Biology 54: 25-38), Brazil Nut albumin (Pearson' et at, 1992. Plant Mol. Biol. 18: 235-245), legumin (Ellis, et al. 1988. Plant Mol. Biol. 10: 203-214), Glutelin (rice) (Takaiwa et at, 1986. Mol. Gen. Genet. 208:15-22; Takaiwa et al., 1987. FIBS Letts. 221: 43-47), Zein (Matzke et al., 1990. Plant Mol Biol, (143):323-332), napA (Stalberg et al., 1996. Planta 199:515-519); Wheat SPA (SEQ ID NO:1); sunflower oleosin (Cummins et al., 1992. Plant Mol. Biol. 19: 873-876); endosperm specific promoters [e.g., wheat LMW (SEQ ID NO:2; Wheat LMW Longer Promoter), and SEQ ID NO:3 (Wheat LMW Promoter)] and HMW glutenin-1 [(SEQ ID NO:4 (Wheat HMW glutenin-1 longer Promoter); and SEQ ID NO:5 (Wheat HMW glutenin-1 Promoter); Colot et al., Mol Gen Genet 216:81-90, 1989; Olin et al., NAR 17:461-2, 1989), wheat alpha, beta and gamma gliadins (SEQ ID NO:6 (wheat alpha gliadin (B genome) promoter); SEQ ID NO:7 (wheat gamma gliadin promoter); Barley ltr1 promoter, barley B1, C, D hordein (Cho et al., Theor Appl Gen 98:1253-62, 1999; Muller et al., Plant J 4:343-55, 1993; Sorenson et al., Mol Gen Genet 250:750-60, 1996), Barley DOF (Mena et al., 1998. The Plant Journal 116(1):53-62), Biz2 (EP99106056.7), Barley SS2 (SEQ ID NO:19), wheat Tarp60 (Kovalchuk et al., 2009. Plant Mol Biol 71:81-98), barley D-hordein (D-Hor) and B-hordein (B-Hor) (Agnelo F et al., 2009. Plant Biotech J 793):240-253)], Synthetic promoter (Vicente-Carbajosa et at, 1998. Plant J. 13: 629-640), rice prolamin NRP33, rice -globulin Glb-1 (Wu et al., 1998. Plant Cell Physiology 39(8) 885-889), rice alpha-globulin REB/OHP-1 (Nakase et al. 1997. Plant Mol. Biol. 33: 513-S22), rice ADP-glucose PP (Russell et al., Trans Res 6:157-68, 1997), maize ESR gene family (Opsahl-Ferstad et al., Plant J 12:235-46, 1997), sorgum gamma-kafirin (DeRose et al., PMB 32:1029-35, 1996)], embryo specific promoters [e.g., rice OSH1 (Sato et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 93: 8117-8122, 1996), KNOX (Postma-Haarsma et al., 1999. Plant Mol. Biol. 39:257-71), rice oleosin (Wu et al., 1998. J. Biochem., 123:386], and flower-specific promoters [e.g., AtPRP4, chalene synthase (chsA) (Van der Meer et al., 1990. Plant Mol. Biol. 15, 95-109), LAT52 (Twell et al., 1989. Mol. Gen Genet 217:240-245), Arabidopsis apetala-3 (Tilly et al., 1998. Development 125:1647-57), Arabidopsis APETALA 1 (AT1G69120, AP1) (SEQ ID NO:33 (Arabidopsis (AT1G69120) APETALA 1)) (Hempel et at, 1997. Development 124:3845-3853)], and root promoters [e.g., the ROOTP promoter [SEQ ID NO:34]; rice ExpB5 [SEQ ID NO:17 (rice ExpB5 Promoter); or SEQ ID NO:16 (rice ExpB5 longer Promoter)] and barley ExpB1 promoters (SEQ ID NO:18) (Won et al. 2010. Mol. Cells 30: 369-376); Arabidopsis ATTPS-CIN (AT3G25820) promoter (SEQ ID NO:35; Chen et al., 2004. Plant Phys 135:1956-66); Arabidopsis Pho1 promoter (SEQ ID NO: 15), which is also slightly induced by stress].
The nucleic acid construct of some embodiments of the invention can further include an appropriate selectable marker and/or an origin of replication. According to some embodiments of the invention, the nucleic acid construct utilized is a shuttle vector, which can propagate both in E. coli (wherein the construct comprises an appropriate selectable marker and origin of replication) and be compatible with propagation in cells. The construct according to the present invention can be, for example, a plasmid, a bacmid, a phagemid, a cosmid, a phage, a virus or an artificial chromosome.
The nucleic acid construct of some embodiments of the invention can be utilized to stably or transiently transform plant cells. In stable transformation, the exogenous polynucleotide is integrated into the plant genome and as such it represents a stable and inherited trait. In transient transformation, the exogenous polynucleotide is expressed by the cell transformed but it is not integrated into the genome and as such it represents a transient trait.
There are various methods of introducing foreign genes into both monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants (Potrykus, I., Annu. Rev. Plant. Physiol. & Plant. Mol. Biol. 1991. 42:205-225; Shimamoto et al., 1989. Nature 338:274-276).
The principle methods of causing stable integration of exogenous DNA into plant genomic DNA include two main approaches:
(i) Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer: Klee et al., (1987) Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. 38:467-486; Klee and Rogers in Cell Culture and Somatic Cell Genetics of Plants, Vol. 6, Molecular Biology of Plant Nuclear Genes, eds. Schell, J., and Vasil, L. K., Academic Publishers, San Diego, Calif. (1989) p. 2-25; Gatenby, in Plant Biotechnology, eds. Kung, S. and Arntzen, C. J., Butterworth Publishers, Boston, Mass. (1989) p. 93-112.
(ii) Direct DNA uptake: Paszkowski et al., in Cell Culture and Somatic Cell
Genetics of Plants, Vol. 6, Molecular Biology of Plant Nuclear Genes eds. Schell, J., and Vasil, L. K., Academic Publishers, San Diego, Calif. (1989) p. 52-68; including methods for direct uptake of DNA into protoplasts, Toriyama, K. et al. (1988) Bio/Technology 6:1072-1074. DNA uptake induced by brief electric shock of plant cells: Zhang et al. Plant Cell Rep. (1988) 7:379-384. Fromm et al. Nature (1986) 319:791-793. DNA injection into plant cells or tissues by particle bombardment, Klein et al. Bio/Technology (1988) 6:559-563; McCabe et al. Bio/Technology (1988) 6:923-926; Sanford, Physiol. Plant. (1990) 79:206-209; by the use of micropipette systems: Neuhaus et al., Theor. Appl. Genet. (1987) 75:30-36; Neuhaus and Spangenberg, Physiol. Plant. (1990) 79:213-217; glass fibers or silicon carbide whisker transformation of cell cultures, embryos or callus tissue, U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,765 or by the direct incubation of DNA with germinating pollen, DeWet et al. in Experimental Manipulation of Ovule Tissue, eds. Chapman, G. P. and Mantell, S. H. and Daniels, W. Longman, London, (1985) p. 197-209; and Ohta, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1986) 83:715-719.
The Agrobacterium system includes the use of plasmid vectors that contain defined DNA segments that integrate into the plant genomic DNA. Methods of inoculation of the plant tissue vary depending upon the plant species and the Agrobacterium delivery system. A widely used approach is the leaf disc procedure which can be performed with any tissue explant that provides a good source for initiation of whole plant differentiation. See, e.g., Horsch et al. in Plant Molecular Biology Manual A5, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht (1988) p. 1-9. A supplementary approach employs the Agrobacterium delivery system in combination with vacuum infiltration. The Agrobacterium system is especially viable in the creation of transgenic dicotyledonous plants.
There are various methods of direct DNA transfer into plant cells. In electroporation, the protoplasts are briefly exposed to a strong electric field. In microinjection, the DNA is mechanically injected directly into the cells using very small micropipettes. In microparticle bombardment, the DNA is adsorbed on microprojectiles such as magnesium sulfate crystals or tungsten particles, and the microprojectiles are physically accelerated into cells or plant tissues.
Following stable transformation plant propagation is exercised. The most common method of plant propagation is by seed. Regeneration by seed propagation, however, has the deficiency that due to heterozygosity there is a lack of uniformity in the crop, since seeds are produced by plants according to the genetic variances governed by Mendelian rules. Basically, each seed is genetically different and each will grow with its own specific traits. Therefore, it is preferred that the transformed plant be produced such that the regenerated plant has the identical traits and characteristics of the parent transgenic plant. Therefore, it is preferred that the transformed plant be regenerated by micropropagation which provides a rapid, consistent reproduction of the transformed plants.
Micropropagation is a process of growing new generation plants from a single piece of tissue that has been excised from a selected parent plant or cultivar. This process permits the mass reproduction of plants having the preferred tissue expressing the fusion protein. The new generation plants which are produced are genetically identical to, and have all of the characteristics of, the original plant. Micropropagation allows mass production of quality plant material in a short period of time and offers a rapid multiplication of selected cultivars in the preservation of the characteristics of the original transgenic or transformed plant. The advantages of cloning plants are the speed of plant multiplication and the quality and uniformity of plants produced.
Micropropagation is a multi-stage procedure that requires alteration of culture medium or growth conditions between stages. Thus, the micropropagation process involves four basic stages: Stage one, initial tissue culturing; stage two, tissue culture multiplication; stage three, differentiation and plant formation; and stage four, greenhouse culturing and hardening. During stage one, initial tissue culturing, the tissue culture is established and certified contaminant-free. During stage two, the initial tissue culture is multiplied until a sufficient number of tissue samples are produced from the seedlings to meet production goals. During stage three, the tissue samples grown in stage two are divided and grown into individual plantlets. At stage four, the transformed plantlets are transferred to a greenhouse for hardening where the plants' tolerance to light is gradually increased so that it can be grown in the natural environment.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the transgenic plant is generated by transient transformation of leaf cells, meristematic cells or the whole plant.
Transient transformation can be effected by any of the direct DNA transfer methods described above or by viral infection using modified plant viruses.
Viruses that have been shown to be useful for the transformation of plant hosts include, for example, Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV), Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), brome mosaic virus (BMV) and Bean Common Mosaic Virus (BV or BCMV). Methods for transformation of plants using plant viruses are well known in the art; see, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,237; Gluzman, Y. et at, Communications in Molecular Biology: Viral Vectors, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, pp. 172-189 (1988); and Mortimer C et al., 2015. Current Opinion in Biotechnology 32:85-92). Pseudovirus particles for use in expressing foreign DNA in many hosts, including plants are described in WO 87/06261.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the virus used for transient transformations is avirulent and thus is incapable of causing severe symptoms such as reduced growth rate, mosaic, ring spots, leaf roll, yellowing, streaking, pox formation, tumor formation and pitting. A suitable avirulent virus may be a naturally occurring avirulent virus or an artificially attenuated virus. Virus attenuation may be effected by using methods well known in the art including, but not limited to, sub-lethal heating, chemical treatment or by directed mutagenesis techniques such as described, for example, by Kurihara and Watanabe (Molecular Plant Pathology 4:259-269, 2003), Gal-On et al., J Gener Viriol 73: 2183-87 (1992), Atreya et al. Viriology 191:106-11 (1992) and Huet et al. Viriology 75: 1407-14 (1994).
Suitable virus strains can be obtained from available sources such as, for example, the American Type culture Collection (ATCC) or by isolation from infected plants. Isolation of viruses from infected plant tissues can be effected by techniques well known in the art such as described, for example by Foster and Taylor, Eds. “Plant Virology Protocols: From Virus Isolation to Transgenic Resistance (Methods in Molecular Biology Vol 81 Humana Press, 1998). Briefly, tissues of an infected plant believed to contain a high concentration of a suitable virus, preferably young leaves and flower petals, are ground in a buffer solution (e.g., phosphate buffer solution) to produce a virus infected sap which can be used in subsequent inoculations.
Construction of plant RNA viruses for the introduction and expression of non-viral exogenous polynucleotide sequences in plants is demonstrated by the above references as well as by Dawson, W. O. et al., 1989. Virology 172:285-292; Takamatsu et al. 1987. EMBO J 6:307-311; French et al. 1986. Science 231:1294-1297; Takamatsu et al. 1990. FIBS Letters 269:73-76; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,931.
When the virus is a DNA virus, suitable modifications can be made to the virus itself. Alternatively, the virus can first be cloned into a bacterial plasmid for ease of constructing the desired viral vector with the foreign DNA. The virus can then be excised from the plasmid. If the virus is a DNA virus, a bacterial origin of replication can be attached to the viral DNA, which is then replicated by the bacteria. Transcription and translation of this DNA will produce the coat protein which will encapsidate the viral DNA. If the virus is an RNA virus, the virus is generally cloned as a cDNA and inserted into a plasmid. The plasmid is then used to make all of the constructions. The RNA virus is then produced by transcribing the viral sequence of the plasmid and translation of the viral genes to produce the coat protein(s) which encapsidate the viral RNA.
In one embodiment, a plant viral polynucleotide is provided in which the native coat protein coding sequence has been deleted from a viral polynucleotide, a non-native plant viral coat protein coding sequence and a non-native promoter, preferably the subgenomic promoter of the non-native coat protein coding sequence, capable of expression in the plant host, packaging of the recombinant plant viral polynucleotide, and ensuring a systemic infection of the host by the recombinant plant viral polynucleotide, has been inserted. Alternatively, the coat protein gene may be inactivated by insertion of the non-native polynucleotide sequence within it, such that a protein is produced. The recombinant plant viral polynucleotide may contain one or more additional non-native subgenomic promoters. Each non-native subgenomic promoter is capable of transcribing or expressing adjacent genes or polynucleotide sequences in the plant host and incapable of recombination with each other and with native subgenomic promoters. Non-native (foreign) polynucleotide sequences may be inserted adjacent the native plant viral subgenomic promoter or the native and a non-native plant viral subgenomic promoters if more than one polynucleotide sequence is included. The non-native polynucleotide sequences are transcribed or expressed in the host plant under control of the subgenomic promoter to produce the desired products.
In a second embodiment, a recombinant plant viral polynucleotide is provided as in the first embodiment except that the native coat protein coding sequence is placed adjacent one of the non-native coat protein subgenomic promoters instead of a non-native coat protein coding sequence.
In a third embodiment, a recombinant plant viral polynucleotide is provided in which the native coat protein gene is adjacent its subgenomic promoter and one or more non-native subgenomic promoters have been inserted into the viral polynucleotide. The inserted non-native subgenomic promoters are capable of transcribing or expressing adjacent genes in a plant host and are incapable of recombination with each other and with native subgenomic promoters. Non-native polynucleotide sequences may be inserted adjacent the non-native subgenomic plant viral promoters such that the sequences are transcribed or expressed in the host plant under control of the subgenomic promoters to produce the desired product.
In a fourth embodiment, a recombinant plant viral polynucleotide is provided as in the third embodiment except that the native coat protein coding sequence is replaced by a non-native coat protein coding sequence.
The viral vectors are encapsidated by the coat proteins encoded by the recombinant plant viral polynucleotide to produce a recombinant plant virus. The recombinant plant viral polynucleotide or recombinant plant virus is used to infect appropriate host plants. The recombinant plant viral polynucleotide is capable of replication in the host, systemic spread in the host, and transcription or expression of foreign gene(s) (exogenous polynucleotide) in the host to produce the desired protein.
Techniques for inoculation of viruses to plants may be found, for example, in Foster and Taylor, Eds. “Plant Virology Protocols: From Virus Isolation to Transgenic Resistance (Methods in Molecular Biology (Humana Pr), Vol 81)”, Humana Press, 1998; Maramorosh and Koprowski, Eds. “Methods in Virology” 7 vols, Academic Press, New York 1967-1984; Hill, S. A. “Methods in Plant Virology”, Blackwell, Oxford, 1984; Walkey, D. G. A. “Applied Plant Virology”, Wiley, New York, 1985; and Kado and Agrawa, eds. “Principles and Techniques in Plant Virology”, Van Nostrand-Reinhold, New York.
In addition to the above, the polynucleotide of the present invention can also be introduced into a chloroplast genome thereby enabling chloroplast expression.
A technique for introducing exogenous polynucleotide sequences to the genome of the chloroplasts is known. This technique involves the following procedures. First, plant cells are chemically treated so as to reduce the number of chloroplasts per cell to about one. Then, the exogenous polynucleotide is introduced via particle bombardment into the cells with the aim of introducing at least one exogenous polynucleotide molecule into the chloroplasts. The exogenous polynucleotides selected such that it is integratable into the chloroplast's genome via homologous recombination which is readily effected by enzymes inherent to the chloroplast. To this end, the exogenous polynucleotide includes, in addition to a gene of interest, at least one polynucleotide stretch which is derived from the chloroplast's genome. In addition, the exogenous polynucleotide includes a selectable marker, which serves by sequential selection procedures to ascertain that all or substantially all of the copies of the chloroplast genomes following such selection will include the exogenous polynucleotide. Further details relating to this technique are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,945,050; and 5,693,507 which are incorporated herein by reference. A polypeptide can thus be produced by the protein expression system of the chloroplast and become integrated into the chloroplast's inner membrane.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the transformed plant is homozygote to the transgene (i.e., the exogenous polynucleotide of some embodiments of the invention), and accordingly all seeds generated thereby include the transgene.
Expressing a plurality of exogenous polynucleotides in a single host plant can be effected by co-introducing multiple nucleic acid constructs, each including a different exogenous polynucleotide, into a single plant cell. The transformed cell can then be regenerated into a mature plant using the methods described hereinabove.
Alternatively, expressing a plurality of exogenous polynucleotides in a single host plant can be effected by co-introducing into a single plant-cell a single nucleic-acid construct including a plurality of different exogenous polynucleotides. Such a construct can be designed with a single promoter sequence which can transcribe a polycistronic messenger RNA including all the different exogenous polynucleotide sequences. To enable co-translation of the different polypeptides encoded by the polycistronic messenger RNA, the polynucleotide sequences can be inter-linked via an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) sequence which facilitates translation of polynucleotide sequences positioned downstream of the IRES sequence. In this case, a transcribed polycistronic RNA molecule encoding the different polypeptides described above will be translated from both the capped 5′ end and the two internal IRES sequences of the polycistronic RNA molecule to thereby produce in the cell all different polypeptides. Alternatively, the construct can include several promoter sequences each linked to a different exogenous polynucleotide sequence.
The plant cell transformed with the construct including a plurality of different exogenous polynucleotides can be regenerated into a mature plant, using the methods described hereinabove.
Alternatively, expressing a plurality of exogenous polynucleotides in a single host plant can be effected by introducing different nucleic acid constructs, including different exogenous polynucleotides, into a plurality of plants. The regenerated transformed plants can then be cross-bred and resultant progeny selected for superior abiotic stress tolerance, water use efficiency, fertilizer use efficiency, early flowering, grain filling period, harvest index, plant height, growth, biomass, yield and/or vigor traits, using conventional plant breeding techniques.
According to certain embodiments, enhancing the resistance of the plant or part thereof to the pathogenic fungus comprises reducing the expression and/or activity of the at least one polypeptide compared to its expression and/or activity in the control plant.
According to certain aspects, the present provides a method for enhancing the resistance of a plant or a part thereof to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete comprising reducing the expression of at least one polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 590, 603 and 619.
According to certain aspects, the present provides a method for enhancing the resistance of a plant or a part thereof to at least one pathogenic fungus and/or Oomycete comprising reducing the expression of at least one polynucleotide having the nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:138, 152, and 167.
Any method as is known in the art for reducing the expression and/or activity of a plant endogenous protein and the polynucleotide encoding same can be used according to the teachings of the resent invention.
According to certain embodiment of the invention, reducing the expression and/or activity of a polypeptide of the invention within a plant cell comprising transforming the plant cell with a polynucleotide that inhibits the expression of said polypeptide. The polynucleotide may inhibit the transcription or translation of a polynucleotide encoding said polypeptide or can encode for an inhibitory polypeptide interfering with the translation or activity of said polypeptide.
According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a plant is transformed with a polynucleotide that inhibits the expression of a polypeptide of the invention. According to certain exemplary embodiments, the plant cell is transformed within a construct capable of expressing the inhibitory polynucleotide. The term “expression” as used herein refers to the biosynthesis of a gene product, including the transcription and/or translation of said gene product. For example, for the purposes of the present invention, a construct capable of expressing the inhibitory polynucleotide is capable of producing an RNA molecule that inhibits the transcription and/or translation of a polypeptide of the invention. The “expression” or “production” of a protein or polypeptide from a DNA molecule refers to the transcription and translation of the coding sequence to produce the protein or polypeptide, while the “expression” or “production” of a protein or polypeptide from an RNA molecule refers to the translation of the RNA coding sequence to produce the protein or polypeptide. Examples of polynucleotides that inhibit the expression of a CCT polypeptide are given below.
According to certain embodiments, inhibition of the expression of a polypeptide of the invention may be obtained by sense suppression or co-suppression. For co-suppression, a construct is designed to express an RNA molecule corresponding to all or part of a messenger RNA encoding the polypeptide in the “sense” orientation. Over-expression of the RNA molecule can result in reduced expression of the native gene. Accordingly, multiple plant lines transformed with the co-suppression constructs are screened to identify those that show the greatest inhibition of the polypeptide expression.
The polynucleotide used for co-suppression may correspond to all or part of the sequence encoding the polypeptide of the invention, all or part of the 5′ and/or 3′ untranslated region of said polypeptide transcript or all or part of both the coding sequence and the untranslated regions of a transcript encoding said polypeptide. In some embodiments where the polynucleotide comprises all or part of the coding region for said polypeptide, the construct is designed to eliminate the start codon of the polynucleotide so that no protein product will be translated.
Co-suppression may be used to inhibit the expression of plant genes to produce plants having undetectable protein levels for the proteins encoded by these genes. See, for example, Broin, et al., (2002) Plant Cell 14:1417-1432. Co-suppression may also be used to inhibit the expression of multiple proteins in the same plant. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,657. Methods for using co-suppression to inhibit the expression of endogenous genes in plants are described, for example, in Yu, et al., Phytochemistry (2003) 63:753-763 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,034,323, 5,283,184 and 5,942,657. The efficiency of co-suppression may be increased by including a poly-dT region in the expression cassette at a position 3′ to the sense sequence and 5′ of the polyadenylation signal. See for example, US Patent Application Publication Number 2002/0048814. Typically, such a nucleotide sequence has substantial sequence identity to the sequence of the transcript of the endogenous gene, optimally greater than about 65% sequence identity, more optimally greater than about 85% sequence identity, most optimally greater than about 95% sequence identity (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,283,184 and 5,034,323).
According to some embodiments, inhibition of the expression of a polypeptide of the invention may be obtained by antisense suppression. For antisense suppression, the construct is designed to express an RNA molecule complementary to all or part of a messenger RNA encoding the polypeptide. Over-expression of the antisense RNA molecule can result in reduced expression of the native gene. Accordingly, multiple plant lines transformed with the antisense RNA are screened to identify those that show the greatest inhibition of said polypeptide expression.
The polynucleotide for use in antisense suppression may correspond to all or part of the complement of the sequence encoding the polypeptide of the invention, all or part of the complement of the 5′ and/or 3′ untranslated region of its transcript or all or part of the complement of both the coding sequence and the untranslated regions of a transcript encoding said polypeptide. In addition, the antisense polynucleotide may be fully complementary (i.e., 100% identical to the complement of the target sequence) or partially complementary (i.e., less than 100% identical to the complement of the target sequence) to the target sequence. Antisense suppression may be used to inhibit the expression of multiple proteins in the same plant. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,657. Furthermore, portions of the antisense nucleotides may be used to disrupt the expression of the target gene. Generally, sequences of at least 50 nucleotides, 100 nucleotides, 200 nucleotides, 300, 400, 450, 500, 550 or greater may be used. Methods for using antisense suppression to inhibit the expression of endogenous genes in plants are described, for example, in Liu, et al., (2002) Plant Physiol. 129:1732-1743 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,759,829 and 5,942,657. Efficiency of antisense suppression may be increased by including a poly-dT region in the expression cassette at a position 3′ to the antisense sequence and 5′ of the polyadenylation signal (see, e.g. US Patent Application Publication Number 2002/0048814).
According to some embodiments, inhibition of the expression of a polypeptide of the invention may be obtained by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) interference. For dsRNA interference, a sense RNA molecule like that described above for co-suppression and an antisense RNA molecule that is fully or partially complementary to the sense RNA molecule are expressed in the same cell, resulting in inhibition of the expression of the corresponding endogenous messenger RNA.
Expression of the sense and antisense molecules can be accomplished by designing the DNA construct to comprise both a sense sequence and an antisense sequence. Alternatively, separate constructs may be used for the sense and antisense sequences. Multiple plant lines transformed with the dsRNA interference construct(s) are then screened to identify plant lines that show the greatest inhibition of the expression of the polypeptide. Methods for using dsRNA interference to inhibit the expression of endogenous plant genes are described in Waterhouse, et al., (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:13959-13964, Liu, et al., (2002) Plant Physiol. 129:1732-1743 and WO 1999/49029, WO 1999/53050, WO 1999/61631 and WO 2000/49035.
According to some embodiments, inhibition of the expression of a polypeptide of the invention may be obtained by hairpin RNA (hpRNA) interference or intron-containing hairpin RNA (ihpRNA) interference. These methods are highly efficient at inhibiting the expression of endogenous genes. See, Waterhouse and Helliwell, (2003) Nat. Rev. Genet. 4:29-38 and the references cited therein.
For hpRNA interference, the construct is designed to express an RNA molecule that hybridizes with itself to form a hairpin structure that comprises a single-stranded loop region and a base-paired stem. The base-paired stem region comprises a sense sequence corresponding to all or part of the endogenous messenger RNA encoding the gene whose expression is to be inhibited and an antisense sequence that is fully or partially complementary to the sense sequence. Thus, the base-paired stem region of the molecule generally determines the specificity of the RNA interference. hpRNA molecules are highly efficient at inhibiting the expression of endogenous genes, and the RNA interference they induce is inherited by subsequent generations of plants. See, for example, Chuang and Meyerowitz, (2000) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97:4985-4990; Stoutjesdijk, et al., (2002) Plant Physiol. 129:1723-1731 and Waterhouse and Helliwell, (2003) Nat. Rev. Genet. 4:29-38. Methods for using hpRNA interference to inhibit or silence the expression of genes are described, for example, in US Patent Application Publication Number 2003/0175965. A transient assay for the efficiency of hpRNA constructs to silence gene expression in vivo has been described by Panstruga, et al., (2003) Mol. Biol. Rep. 30:135-140.
For Intron-Containing Hairpin RNA (ihpRNA) interference, the interfering molecules have the same general structure as for hpRNA, but the RNA molecule additionally comprises an intron that is capable of being spliced in the cell in which the ihpRNA is expressed. The use of an intron minimizes the size of the loop in the hairpin RNA molecule following splicing, and this increases the efficiency of interference. See, for example, Smith, et al., (2000) Nature 407:319-320. In fact, Smith, et al., shows 100% suppression of endogenous gene expression using ihpRNA-mediated interference. Methods for using ihpRNA interference to inhibit the expression of endogenous plant genes are described, for example, in US Patent Application Publication Number 2003/0180945.
The expression cassette for hpRNA interference may also be designed such that the sense sequence and the antisense sequence do not correspond to an endogenous RNA. In this embodiment, the sense and antisense sequence flank a loop sequence that comprises a nucleotide sequence corresponding to all or part of the endogenous messenger RNA of the target gene. Thus, it is the loop region that determines the specificity of the RNA interference. See, for example, WO 2002/00904.
Amplicon expression cassettes comprise a plant virus-derived sequence that contains all or part of the target gene but generally not all of the genes of the native virus. The viral sequences present in the transcription product of the construct allow the transcription product to direct its own replication. The transcripts produced by the amplicon may be either sense or antisense relative to the target sequence (i.e., the messenger RNA for the polypeptide of the invention). Methods of using amplicons to inhibit the expression of endogenous plant genes are described, for example, in Angell and Baulcombe, (1997) EMBO J. 16:3675-3684, Angell and Baulcombe, (1999) Plant J. 20:357-362.
According to some embodiments, the polynucleotide expressed by the construct of the invention is catalytic RNA or has ribozyme activity specific for the messenger RNA of a polypeptide of the invention. Thus, the polynucleotide causes the degradation of the endogenous messenger RNA, resulting in reduced expression of said polypeptide. This method is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,071.
According to certain embodiments of the invention, inhibition of the expression of a polypeptide of the invention may be obtained by RNA interference by expression of a gene encoding a micro RNA (miRNA). miRNAs are regulatory agents consisting of about 22 ribonucleotides. miRNA are highly efficient at inhibiting the expression of endogenous genes. See, for example, Palatnikl J F et al., (2003) Nature 425:257-263.
For miRNA interference, the construct is designed to express an RNA molecule that is modeled on an endogenous miRNA gene. The miRNA gene encodes an RNA that forms a hairpin structure containing a 22-nucleotide sequence that is complementary to another endogenous gene (target sequence). For suppressing the expression of a polypeptide of the invention, the 22-nucleotide sequence is selected from the polypeptide transcript sequence and contains 22 nucleotides of said transcript sequence in sense orientation and 21 nucleotides of a corresponding antisense sequence that is complementary to the sense sequence. miRNA molecules are highly efficient at inhibiting the expression of endogenous genes and the RNA interference they induce is inherited by subsequent generations of plants.
According to certain additional or alternative embodiments, the inhibitory polynucleotide encodes a zinc finger protein that binds to a gene encoding a polypeptide of the invention, resulting in reduced expression of the gene. In particular embodiments, the zinc finger protein binds to a regulatory region of a polypeptide encoding gene. In other embodiments, the zinc finger protein binds to a messenger RNA encoding said polypeptide and prevents its translation. Methods of selecting sites for targeting by zinc finger proteins have been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,453,242 and methods for using zinc finger proteins to inhibit the expression of genes in plants are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,151,201.
According to certain additional or alternative embodiments, the polynucleotide encodes an antibody that binds to a polypeptide of the invention and reduces the activity of the polypeptide. In another embodiment, the binding of the antibody results in increased turnover of the antibody-polypeptide complex by cellular quality control mechanisms. The expression of antibodies in plant cells and the inhibition of molecular pathways by expression and binding of antibodies to proteins in plant cells are well known in the art. See, for example, Conrad and Sonnewald, (2003) Nature Biotech. 21:35-36.
According to some embodiments of the invention, up-regulation or down regulation of the expression and/or activity of the polypeptide of the invention is achieved by means of genome editing.
Genome editing is a reverse genetics method which uses artificially engineered nucleases to cut and create specific double-stranded breaks at a desired location(s) in the genome, which are then repaired by cellular endogenous processes such as, homology directed repair (HDR) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). NHEJ directly joins the DNA ends in a double-stranded break, while HDR utilizes a homologous sequence as a template for regenerating the missing DNA sequence at the break point. In order to introduce specific nucleotide modifications to the genomic DNA, a DNA repair template containing the desired sequence must be present during HDR. Genome editing cannot be performed using traditional restriction endonucleases since most restriction enzymes recognize a few base pairs on the DNA as their target and the probability is very high that the recognized base pair combination will be found in many locations across the genome resulting in multiple cuts not limited to a desired location. To overcome this challenge and create site-specific single- or double-stranded breaks, several distinct classes of nucleases have been discovered and bioengineered to date. These include the meganucleases, Zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription-activator like effector nucleases (TALENs) and CRISPR/Cas system.
Genome editing is a powerful tool to impact target traits by modifications of the target plant genome sequence. Such modifications can result in new or modified alleles or regulatory elements.
In addition, the traces of genome-edited techniques can be used for marker assisted selection (MAS) as is further described hereinunder. Target plants for the mutagenesis/genome editing methods according to the invention are any plants of interest including monocot or dicot plants.
Over-expression of a polypeptide by genome editing can be achieved by: (i) replacing an endogenous sequence encoding the polypeptide of interest or a regulatory sequence under which it is placed, and/or (ii) inserting a new gene encoding the polypeptide of interest in a targeted region of the genome, and/or (iii) introducing point mutations which result in up-regulation of the gene encoding the polypeptide of interest (e.g., by altering the regulatory sequences such as promoter, enhancers, 5′-UTR and/or 3′-UTR, or mutations in the coding sequence).
Down regulation of the expression of a polypeptide by gnome editing can be achieved by (i) replacing an endogenous sequence encoding a polypeptide negatively affecting a desired plant trait, according to some embodiments of the invention enhancing susceptibility of the plant to pathogenic fungi and/or Oomycete or replacing a regulatory sequence under which the endogenous sequence encoding the polypeptide is placed, and/or (ii) introducing point mutations which result in down-regulation of the gene encoding the polypeptide of interest (e.g., by altering the regulatory sequences such as promoter, enhancers, 5′-UTR and/or 3′-UTR, or mutations in the coding sequence).
Several systems have been reported to enable genome editing implementation. Examples detailed herein below:
Meganucleases—
Meganucleases are commonly grouped into four families: the LAGLIDADG family, the GIY-YIG family, the His-Cys box family and the HNH family. These families are characterized by structural motifs, which affect catalytic activity and recognition sequence. For instance, members of the LAGLIDADG family are characterized by having either one or two copies of the conserved LAGLIDADG motif. The four families of meganucleases are widely separated from one another with respect to conserved structural elements and, consequently, DNA recognition sequence specificity and catalytic activity. Meganucleases are found commonly in microbial species and have the unique property of having very long recognition sequences (>14 bp) thus making them naturally very specific for cutting at a desired location. This can be exploited to make site-specific double-stranded breaks directing modifications in regulatory elements or coding regions upon introduction of the desired sequence. One of skill in the art can use these naturally occurring meganucleases, however the number of such naturally occurring meganucleases is limited. To overcome this challenge, mutagenesis and high throughput screening methods have been used to create meganuclease variants that recognize unique sequences. For example, various meganucleases have been fused to create hybrid enzymes that recognize a new sequence. Alternatively, DNA interacting amino acids of the meganuclease can be altered to design sequence specific meganucleases (see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 8,021,867). Meganucleases can be designed using the methods described in e.g., Certo, M T et al., 2012. Nature Methods 9:073-975; U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,304,222; 8,021,867; 8,119,381; 8,124,369; 8,129,134; 8,133,697; 8,143,015; 8,143,016; 8,148,098; or 8,163,514. Alternatively, meganucleases with site specific cutting characteristics can be obtained using commercially available technologies e.g., Precision Biosciences' Directed Nuclease Editor™ genome editing technology.
ZFNs and TALENs—
Two distinct classes of engineered nucleases, zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), have both proven to be effective at producing targeted double-stranded breaks (Christian et al., 2010. Genetics 186:757-761; Kim et al., 1996. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 93:1156-1160; Li et al., 2011. Nucleic Acids Res 39:359-372; Mahfouz et al., 2011. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci; 108:2623-2628; Miller et al., 2010. Nat Biotechnol. 29:143-148).
Basically, ZFNs and TALENs restriction endonuclease technology utilizes a non-specific DNA cutting enzyme which is linked to a specific DNA binding domain (either a series of zinc finger domains or TALE repeats, respectively). Typically a restriction enzyme whose DNA recognition site and cleaving site are separate from each other is selected. The cleaving portion is separated and then linked to a DNA binding domain, thereby yielding an endonuclease with very high specificity for a desired sequence. An exemplary restriction enzyme with such properties is Fold. Additionally Fold has the advantage of requiring dimerization to have nuclease activity and this means the specificity increases dramatically as each nuclease partner recognizes a unique DNA sequence. To enhance this effect, Fokl nucleases have been engineered that can only function as heterodimers and have increased catalytic activity. The heterodimer functioning nucleases avoid the possibility of unwanted homodimer activity and thus increase specificity of the double-stranded break.
Thus, for example to target a specific site, ZFNs and TALENs are constructed as nuclease pairs, with each member of the pair designed to bind adjacent sequences at the targeted site. Upon transient expression in cells, the nucleases bind to their target sites and the Fold domains heterodimerize to create a double-stranded break. Repair of these double-stranded breaks through the nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway most often results in small deletions or small sequence insertions. Since each repair made by NHEJ is unique, the use of a single nuclease pair can produce an allelic series with a range of different deletions at the target site. The deletions typically range anywhere from a few base pairs to a few hundred base pairs in length, but larger deletions have successfully been generated in cell culture by using two pairs of nucleases simultaneously (Carlson et al., 2012. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci 109:17382-17387; Lee et al., 2010. Genome Res 20:81-89). In addition, when a fragment of DNA with homology to the targeted region is introduced in conjunction with the nuclease pair, the double-stranded break can be repaired via homology directed repair to generate specific modifications (Li et al., 2011, ibid; Miller et al., 2010, ibid; Urnov et at, 2005. Nature, 435:646-651).
Although the nuclease portions of both ZFNs and TALENs have similar properties, the difference between these engineered nucleases is in their DNA recognition peptide. ZFNs rely on Cys2-His2 zinc fingers and TALENs on TALEs Both of these DNA recognizing peptide domains have the characteristic that they are naturally found in combinations in their proteins. Cys2-His2 Zinc fingers typically found in repeats that are 3 bp apart and are found in diverse combinations in a variety of nucleic acid interacting proteins. TALEs on the other hand are found in repeats with a one-to-one recognition ratio between the amino acids and the recognized nucleotide pairs. Because both zinc fingers and TALEs happen in repeated patterns, different combinations can be tried to create a wide variety of sequence specificities. Approaches for making site-specific zinc finger endonucleases include, e.g., modular assembly (where Zinc fingers correlated with a triplet sequence are attached in a row to cover the required sequence), OPEN (low-stringency selection of peptide domains vs. triplet nucleotides followed by high-stringency selections of peptide combination vs. the final target in bacterial systems), and bacterial one-hybrid screening of zinc finger libraries, among others. ZFNs can also be designed and obtained commercially from e.g., Sangamo Biosciences™ (Richmond, Calif.).
Method for designing and obtaining TALENs are described in e.g. Reyon et al., 2012. Nature Biotechnology 30(5):460-5; Miller et al., 2011. Nat Biotechnol. 29:143-148; Cermak et al., 2011. Nucleic Acids Research 39 (12):e82 and Zhang et al., 2011 Nature Biotechnology 29 (2):149-53. A recently developed web-based program named Mojo Hand was introduced by Mayo Clinic for designing TAL and TALEN constructs for genome editing applications (can be accessed through www(dot)talendesign(dot)org). TALEN can also be designed and obtained commercially from e.g., Sangamo Biosciences™ (Richmond, Calif.).
The ZFN/TALEN system capability for precise targeting can be utilized for directing modifications in regulatory elements and/or coding regions upon introduction of the sequence of interest for trait improvement.
CRISPR/Cas9—
The CRISPR/Cas system for genome editing contains two distinct components: a gRNA (guide RNA) and an endonuclease e.g. Cas9.
The gRNA is typically a 20 nucleotide sequence encoding a combination of the target homologous sequence (crRNA) and the endogenous bacterial RNA that links the crRNA to the Cas9 nuclease (tracrRNA) in a single chimeric transcript. The gRNA/Cas9 complex is recruited to the target sequence by the base-pairing between the gRNA sequence and the complement genomic DNA. For successful binding of Cas9, the genomic target sequence must also contain the correct Protospacer Adjacent Motif (PAM) sequence immediately following the target sequence. The binding of the gRNA/Cas9 complex localizes the Cas9 to the genomic target sequence so that the Cas9 can cut both strands of the DNA causing a double-strand break. Just as with ZFNs and TALENs, the double-stranded brakes produced by CRISPR/Cas can undergo homologous recombination or NHEJ.
The Cas9 nuclease has two functional domains: RuvC and HNH, each cutting a different DNA strand. When both of these domains are active, the Cas9 causes double strand breaks in the genomic DNA.
A significant advantage of CRISPR/Cas is that the high efficiency of this system coupled with the ability to easily create synthetic gRNAs enables multiple genes to be targeted simultaneously. In addition, the majority of cells carrying the mutation present biallelic mutations in the targeted genes.
However, apparent flexibility in the base-pairing interactions between the gRNA sequence and the genomic DNA target sequence allows imperfect matches to the target sequence to be cut by Cas9.
Modified versions of the Cas9 enzyme containing a single inactive catalytic domain, either RuvC- or HNH-, are called ‘nickases’. With only one active nuclease domain, the Cas9 nickase cuts only one strand of the target DNA, creating a single-strand break or ‘nick’. A single-strand break, or nick, is normally quickly repaired through the HDR pathway, using the intact complementary DNA strand as the template. However, two proximal, opposite strand nicks introduced by a Cas9 nickase are treated as a double-strand break, in what is often referred to as a ‘double nick’ CRISPR system. A double-nick can be repaired by either NHEJ or HDR depending on the desired effect on the gene target. Thus, if specificity and reduced off-target effects are crucial, using the Cas9 nickase to create a double-nick by designing two gRNAs with target sequences in close proximity and on opposite strands of the genomic DNA would decrease off-target effect as either gRNA alone will result in nicks that will not change the genomic DNA.
Modified versions of the Cas9 enzyme containing two inactive catalytic domains (dead Cas9, or dCas9) have no nuclease activity while still able to bind to DNA based on gRNA specificity. The dCas9 can be utilized as a platform for DNA transcriptional regulators to activate or repress gene expression by fusing the inactive enzyme to known regulatory domains. For example, the binding of dCas9 alone to a target sequence in genomic DNA can interfere with gene transcription.
There is a number of publically available tools available to help choose and/or design target sequences as well as lists of bioinformatically determined unique gRNAs for different genes in different species such as the Feng Zhang lab's Target Finder, the Michael Boutros lab's Target Finder (E-CRISP), the RGEN Tools: Cas-OFFinder, the CasFinder: Flexible algorithm for identifying specific Cas9 targets in genomes and the CRISPR Optimal Target Finder.
In order to use the CRISPR system, both gRNA and Cas9 should be expressed in a target cell. The insertion vector can contain both cassettes on a single plasmid or the cassettes are expressed from two separate plasmids. CRISPR plasmids are commercially available such as the px330 plasmid from Addgene.
Recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus (rAAV) Platform—
this genome-editing platform is based on rAAV vectors which enable insertion, deletion or substitution of
DNA sequences in the genomes of live mammalian cells. The rAAV genome is a single-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (ssDNA) molecule, either positive- or negative-sensed, which is about 4.7 kb long. These single-stranded DNA viral vectors have high transduction rates and have a unique property of stimulating endogenous homologous recombination in the absence of double-strand DNA breaks in the genome. One of skill in the art can design a rAAV vector to target a desired genomic locus and perform both gross and/or subtle endogenous gene alterations in a cell. rAAV genome editing has the advantage in that it targets a single allele and does not result in any off-target genomic alterations. rAAV genome editing technology is commercially available, for example, the rAAV GENESIS™ system from Horizon™ (Cambridge, UK).
Methods for qualifying efficacy and detecting sequence alteration are well known in the art and include, but not limited to, DNA sequencing, electrophoresis, an enzyme-based mismatch detection assay and a hybridization assay such as PCR, RT-PCR, RNase protection, in-situ hybridization, primer extension, Southern blot, Northern Blot and dot blot analysis. Sequence alterations in a specific gene can also be determined at the protein level using e.g. chromatography, electrophoretic methods, immunodetection assays such as ELISA and Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry.
In addition, one ordinarily skilled in the art can readily design a knock-in/knock-out construct including positive and/or negative selection markers for efficiently selecting transformed cells that underwent a homologous recombination event with the construct. Positive selection provides a means to enrich the population of clones that have taken up foreign DNA. Non-limiting examples of such positive markers include glutamine synthetase, dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), markers that confer antibiotic resistance, such as neomycin, hygromycin, puromycin, and blasticidin S resistance cassettes. Negative selection markers are necessary to select against random integrations and/or elimination of a marker sequence (e.g. positive marker). Non-limiting examples of such negative markers include the herpes simplex-thymidine kinase (HSV-TK) which converts ganciclovir (GCV) into a cytotoxic nucleoside analog, hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) and adenine phosphoribosytransferase (ARPT).
Hit and run” or “in-out”—involves a two-step recombination procedure. In the first step, an insertion-type vector containing a dual positive/negative selectable marker cassette is used to introduce the desired sequence alteration. The insertion vector contains a single continuous region of homology to the targeted locus and is modified to carry the mutation of interest. This targeting construct is linearized with a restriction enzyme at a one site within the region of homology, electroporated into the cells, and positive selection is performed to isolate homologous recombinants. These homologous recombinants contain a local duplication that is separated by intervening vector sequence, including the selection cassette. In the second step, targeted clones are subjected to negative selection to identify cells that have lost the selection cassette via intrachromosomal recombination between the duplicated sequences. The local recombination event removes the duplication and, depending on the site of recombination, the allele either retains the introduced mutation or reverts to wild type. The end result is the introduction of the desired modification without the retention of any exogenous sequences.
The “double-replacement” or “tag and exchange” strategy—involves a two-step selection procedure similar to the hit and run approach, but requires the use of two different targeting constructs. In the first step, a standard targeting vector with 3′ and 5′ homology arms is used to insert a dual positive/negative selectable cassette near the location where the mutation is to be introduced. After electroporation and positive selection, homologously targeted clones are identified. Next, a second targeting vector that contains a region of homology with the desired mutation is electroporated into targeted clones, and negative selection is applied to remove the selection cassette and introduce the mutation. The final allele contains the desired mutation while eliminating unwanted exogenous sequences.
Site-Specific Recombinases—
The Cre recombinase derived from the P1 bacteriophage and Flp recombinase derived from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are site-specific DNA recombinases each recognizing a unique 34 base pair DNA sequence (termed “Lox” and “FRT”, respectively) and sequences that are flanked with either Lox sites or FRT sites can be readily removed via site-specific recombination upon expression of Cre or Flp recombinase, respectively. For example, the Lox sequence is composed of an asymmetric eight base pair spacer region flanked by 13 base pair inverted repeats. Cre recombines the 34 base pair lox DNA sequence by binding to the 13 base pair inverted repeats and catalyzing strand cleavage and religation within the spacer region. The staggered DNA cuts made by Cre in the spacer region are separated by 6 base pairs to give an overlap region that acts as a homology sensor to ensure that only recombination sites having the same overlap region recombine. Basically, the site specific recombinase system offers means for the removal of selection cassettes after homologous recombination. This system also allows for the generation of conditional altered alleles that can be inactivated or activated in a temporal or tissue-specific manner. Of note, the Cre and Flp recombinases leave behind a Lox or FRT “scar” of 34 base pairs. The Lox or FRT sites that remain are typically left behind in an intron or 3′ UTR of the modified locus, and current evidence suggests that these sites usually do not interfere significantly with gene function. Thus, Cre/Lox and Flp/FRT recombination involves introduction of a targeting vector with 3′ and 5′ homology arms containing the mutation of interest, two Lox or FRT sequences and typically a selectable cassette placed between the two Lox or FRT sequences. Positive selection is applied and homologous recombinants that contain targeted mutation are identified. Transient expression of Cre or Flp in conjunction with negative selection results in the excision of the selection cassette and selects for cells where the cassette has been lost. The final targeted allele contains the Lox or FRT scar of exogenous sequences.
Transposases—
As used herein, the term “transposase” refers to an enzyme that binds to the ends of a transposon and catalyzes the movement of the transposon to another part of the genome.
As used herein the term “transposon” refers to a mobile genetic element comprising a nucleotide sequence which can move around to different positions within the genome of a single cell. In the process the transposon can cause mutations and/or change the amount of a DNA in the genome of the cell. A number of transposon systems that are able to also transpose in cells e.g. vertebrates have been isolated or designed, such as Sleeping Beauty [Izsvak and Ivics Molecular Therapy (2004) 9: 147-156], piggyBac [Wilson et al. Molecular Therapy (2007) 15: 139-145], Tol2 [Kawakami et al. PNAS (2000) 97 (21): 11403-11408] or Frog Prince [Miskey et al. Nucleic Acids Res. December 1, (2003) 31(23): 6873-6881]. Generally, DNA transposons translocate from one DNA site to another in a simple, cut-and-paste manner Each of these elements has their own advantages, for example, Sleeping Beauty is particularly useful in region-specific mutagenesis, whereas Tol2 has the highest tendency to integrate into expressed genes. Hyperactive systems are available for Sleeping Beauty and piggyBac. Most importantly, these transposons have distinct target site preferences, and can therefore introduce sequence alterations in overlapping, but distinct sets of genes. Therefore, to achieve the best possible coverage of genes, the use of more than one element is particularly preferred. The basic mechanism is shared between the different transposases, therefore the piggyBac (PB) is described as an example. PB is a 2.5 kb insect transposon originally isolated from the cabbage looper moth, Trichoplusia ni. The PB transposon consists of asymmetric terminal repeat sequences that flank a transposase, PBase. PBase recognizes the terminal repeats and induces transposition via a “cut-and-paste” based mechanism, and preferentially transposes into the host genome at the tetranucleotide sequence TTAA. Upon insertion, the TTAA target site is duplicated such that the PB transposon is flanked by this tetranucleotide sequence. When mobilized, PB typically excises itself precisely to reestablish a single TTAA site, thereby restoring the host sequence to its pretransposon state. After excision, PB can transpose into a new location or be permanently lost from the genome. Typically, the transposase system offers an alternative means for the removal of selection cassettes after homologous recombination quit similar to the use Cre/Lox or Flp/FRT. Thus, for example, the PB transposase system involves introduction of a targeting vector with 3′ and 5′ homology arms containing the mutation of interest, two PB terminal repeat sequences at the site of an endogenous TTAA sequence and a selection cassette placed between PB terminal repeat sequences. Positive selection is applied and homologous recombinants that contain targeted mutation are identified. Transient expression of PBase removes in conjunction with negative selection results in the excision of the selection cassette and selects for cells where the cassette has been lost. The final targeted allele contains the introduced mutation with no exogenous sequences.
For PB to be useful for the introduction of sequence alterations, there must be a native TTAA site in relatively close proximity to the location where a particular mutation is to be inserted.
Homology Directed Repair (HDR)
Homology Directed Repair (HDR) can be used to generate specific nucleotide changes (also known as gene “edits”) ranging from a single nucleotide change to large insertions. In order to utilize HDR for gene editing, a DNA “repair template” containing the desired sequence must be delivered into the cell type of interest with e.g. the guide RNA [gRNA(s)] and Cas9 or Cas9 nickase or other genome editing method (examples herein below). The repair template must contain the desired edit as well as additional homologous sequence immediately upstream and downstream of the target (termed left and right homology arms). The length and binding position of each homology arm is dependent on the size of the change being introduced. The repair template can be a single stranded oligonucleotide, double-stranded oligonucleotide, or double-stranded DNA plasmid depending on the specific application.
The HDR method was successfully used for targeting a specific modification in a coding sequence of a gene in plants [Budhagatapalli Nagaveni et al. (2015) “Targeted Modification of Gene Function Exploiting Homology-Directed Repair of TALEN-Mediated Double-Strand Breaks in Barley”. G3 (Bethesda). 5(9): 1857-1863). Thus, the gfp-specific transcription activator-like effector nucleases were used along with a repair template that, via HDR, facilitates conversion of gfp into yfp, which is associated with a single amino acid exchange in the gene product. The resulting yellow-fluorescent protein accumulation along with sequencing confirmed the success of the genomic editing.
Similarly, Zhao Yongping et al. 2016 (An alternative strategy for targeted gene replacement in plants using a dual-sgRNA/Cas9 design. Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 23890 (2016)) describe co-transformation of Arabidopsis plants with a combinatory dual-sgRNA/Cas9 vector that successfully deleted miRNA gene regions (MIR169a and MIR827a) and second construct that contains sites homologous to Arabidopsis TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (TFL1) for homology-directed repair (HDR) with regions corresponding to the two sgRNAs on the modified construct to provide both targeted deletion and donor repair for targeted gene replacement by HDR.
Specific considerations for Homology Directed Repair (HDR) utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 system are described herein: It should be noted that the repair template should not include a sequence that exhibits more than 90% identity to the gRNA designed to the genomic DNA or to the reverse complement sequence of the gRNA which is designed to the genomic sequence, otherwise the repair template becomes a suitable target for Cas9 cleavage. Additionally or alternatively, when using a short repair template (e.g., about 40-200 base pairs) the repair template should preferably lack the Protospacer Adjacent Motif (PAM) sequence. For example, the PAM could be mutated such that it is no longer present, but the coding region of the gene is not affected (i.e. a silent mutation).
Introduction of large double stranded DNA as repair template can be performed using plasmids, yet, the plasmid should be linearized before transfection.
Many bacteria and archea contain endogenous RNA-based adaptive immune systems that can degrade nucleic acids of invading phages and plasmids. These systems consist of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) genes that produce RNA components and CRISPR associated (Cas) genes that encode protein components. The CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs) contain short stretches of homology to specific viruses and plasmids and act as guides to direct Cas nucleases to degrade the complementary nucleic acids of the corresponding pathogen. Studies of the type II CRISPR/Cas system of Streptococcus pyogenes have shown that three components form an RNA/protein complex and together are sufficient for sequence-specific nuclease activity: the Cas9 nuclease, a crRNA containing 20 base pairs of homology to the target sequence, and a trans-activating crRNA (tracrRNA) (Jinek et al. Science (2012) 337: 816-821). It was further demonstrated that a synthetic chimeric guide RNA (gRNA) composed of a fusion between crRNA and tracrRNA could direct Cas9 to cleave DNA targets that are complementary to the crRNA in vitro. It was also demonstrated that transient expression of CRISPR-associated endonuclease (Cas9) in conjunction with synthetic gRNAs can be used to produce targeted double-stranded brakes in a variety of different species.
The CRISPR/Cas9 system is a remarkably flexible tool for genome manipulation. A unique feature of Cas9 is its ability to bind target DNA independently of its ability to cleave target DNA. Specifically, both RuvC- and HNH-nuclease domains can be rendered inactive by point mutations (D10A and H840A in SpCas9), resulting in a nuclease dead Cas9 (dCas9) molecule that cannot cleave target DNA. The dCas9 molecule retains the ability to bind to target DNA based on the gRNA targeting sequence. The dCas9 can be tagged with transcriptional activators, and targeting these dCas9 fusion proteins to the promoter region results in robust transcription activation of downstream target genes. The simplest dCas9-based activators consist of dCas9 fused directly to a single transcriptional activator. Importantly, unlike the genome modifications induced by Cas9 or Cas9 nickase, dCas9-mediated gene activation is reversible, since it does not permanently modify the genomic DNA.
Indeed, genome editing was successfully used to over-express a protein of interest in a plant by, for example, mutating a regulatory sequence, such as a promoter to overexpress the endogenous polynucleotide operably linked to the regulatory sequence. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20160102316 to Rubio Munoz, Vicente et at, describes plants with increased expression of an endogenous DDA1 plant nucleic acid sequence wherein the endogenous DDA1 promoter carries a mutation introduced by mutagenesis or genome editing which results in increased expression of the DDA1 gene, using for example, CRISPR. The method involves targeting of Cas9 to the specific genomic locus, in this case DDA1, via a 20 nucleotide guide sequence of the single-guide RNA. An online CRISPR Design Tool can identify suitable target sites (tools.genome-engineering.org; Ran et al. (2013) Nature Protocols, 8911:2281-2308).
The CRISPR-Cas system was used for altering (increasing or decreasing) gene expression in plants as described in U.S. Patent Application publication No. 20150067922 to Yang; Yinong et al. The engineered, non-naturally occurring gene editing system comprises two regulatory elements, wherein the first regulatory element (a) operable in a plant cell operably linked to at least one nucleotide sequence encoding a CRISPR-Cas system guide RNA (gRNA) that hybridizes with the target sequence in the plant, and a second regulatory element (b) operable in a plant cell operably linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding a Type-II CRISPR-associated nuclease, wherein components (a) and (b) are located on same or different vectors of the system, whereby the guide RNA targets the target sequence and the CRISPR-associated nuclease cleaves the DNA molecule, thus altering the expression of a gene product in a plant. It should be noted that the CRISPR-associated nuclease and the guide RNA do not naturally occur together.
In addition, as described above, point mutations which activate a gene-of-interest and/or which result in over-expression of a polypeptide-of-interest can be also introduced into plants by means of genome editing. Such mutation can be for example, deletions of repressor sequences which result in activation of the gene-of-interest; and/or mutations which insert nucleotides and result in activation of regulatory sequences such as promoters and/or enhancers.
According to additional aspect, the present invention provides a genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to at least one fungus and/or Oomycete compared to a non-engineered control plant, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell having modified expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide at least 80% identical to a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-939 compared to the polypeptide expression and/or activity in the non-engineered control plant. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell having modified expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide having the amino acid sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-964. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus and/or Oomycete comprises at least one cell with enhanced expression and/or activity of the at least one polypeptide.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell transformed with an exogenous polynucleotide encoding the at least one polypeptide, thereby having an enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus. The exogenous polynucleotide can be endogenous to the plant cell or heterologous to the plant cell.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell edited to express an exogenous polynucleotide encoding the at least one polypeptide, thereby having an enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell edited to over-express an endogenous polynucleotide encoding the at least one polypeptide, thereby having an enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus comprises at least one cell with enhanced expression of a polynucleotide encoding the at least one polypeptide. According to certain exemplary embodiments, the polynucleotide expression in the genetically engineered plant is enhanced in comparison to the polynucleotide expression in a control plant.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, the at least one polypeptide having enhanced expression and/or activity comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, 651-654, 942, and 943. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention. According to certain embodiments, the at least one polypeptide is encoded by a polynucleotide having a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, 183, 530, 531, 535, and 536.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus comprises at least one cell with reduced expression and/or activity of the at least one polypeptide. According to certain exemplary embodiments, the polypeptide expression and/or activity in the genetically engineered plant is reduced in comparison to the polypeptide expression and/or activity in a control plant.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant having reduced expression and/or activity of the at least one polypeptide comprises at least one cell having reduced expression of a polynucleotide encoding said at least one polypeptide, thereby having an enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises a polynucleotide encoding a modified form of the at least one polypeptide, wherein the modified form has reduced or no activity compared to the unmodified form, thereby having an enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, the polypeptide the expression of which is reduced comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:590, 603 and 619. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention. According to certain embodiments, the polypeptide is encoded by a polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 74, 87, 103, 139, 152, and 167. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to additional aspect, the present invention provides a genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to at least one fungus and/or Oomycete compared to a control plant, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell having modified expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide at least about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous, or identical to a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-939 compared to the polypeptide expression and/or activity in a control plant. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell having modified expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide having the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:571-964. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell having modified expression of a polynucleotide encoding the at least one polypeptide.
According to additional aspect, the present invention provides a genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to at least one fungus and/or Oomycete compared to a control plant, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell having modified expression of at least one polynucleotide at least about 80%, at least about 81%, at least about 82%, at least about 83%, at least about 84%, at least about 85%, at least about 86%, at least about 87%, at least about 88%, at least about 89%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, at least about 99% or more homologous, or identical to a polynucleotide having an nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:55-527 compared to the polynucleotide expression and/or activity in a control plant. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell having modified expression of at least one polynucleotide having the nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:55-564. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, modified expression/and or activity of the polypeptide or polynucleotide encoding same comprises enhanced expression and/or activity. According to certain embodiments, modified expression/and or activity of the polypeptide or polynucleotide encoding same comprises reduced expression and/or activity.
According to certain aspects, the present invention provide a genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to at least one fungus and/or Oomycete compared to a control plant, the genetically engineered plant comprises at least one cell having enhanced expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 573, 575-578, 585, 586, 589, 592-594, 600, 607, 609-611, 614, 629-632, 635, 641, 642, 645, 651-654, 942, and 943. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the at least one polypeptide is encoded by a polynucleotide having a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 57, 59-62, 69, 70, 73, 76-78, 84, 91, 93-95, 98, 113-116, 119, 123, 125-128, 135, 136, 138, 141-143, 149, 156, 158-160, 162, 177-180, 183, 530, 531, 535, and 536. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant having enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus and/or Oomycete comprises at least one cell with reduced expression and/or activity of at least one polypeptide. According to certain exemplary embodiments, the polypeptide expression and/or activity in the genetically engineered plant is reduced in comparison to the polypeptide expression and/or activity in a control plant.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant having reduced expression and/or activity of the at least one polypeptide comprises at least one cell having reduced expression of a polynucleotide encoding said at least one polypeptide, thereby having an enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus.
According to certain embodiments, the genetically engineered plant comprises a polynucleotide encoding a modified form of the at least one polypeptide, wherein the modified form has reduced or no activity compared to the unmodified form, thereby having an enhanced resistance to the at least one fungus.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, the polypeptide the expression of which is reduced comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:590, 603 and 619. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention. According to certain embodiments, the polypeptide is encoded by a polynucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence selected from nth e group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:74, 87, 103, 139, 152, and 167. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
Once expressed within the plant cell or the entire plant, the level of the polypeptide encoded by the exogenous polynucleotide can be determined by methods well known in the art such as, activity assays, Western blots using antibodies capable of specifically binding the polypeptide, Enzyme-Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA), radio-immuno-assays (RIA), immunohistochemistry, immunocytochemistry, immunofluorescence and the like.
Methods of determining the level in the plant of the RNA transcribed from the exogenous polynucleotide are well known in the art and include, for example, Northern blot analysis, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis (including quantitative, semi-quantitative or real-time RT-PCR) and RNA-in situ hybridization.
The sequence information and annotations uncovered by the present teachings can be harnessed in favor of classical breeding. Thus, sub-sequence data of those polynucleotides described above, can be used as markers for marker assisted selection (MAS), in which a marker is used for indirect selection of a genetic determinant or determinants of a trait of interest (e.g., biomass, growth rate, oil content, yield, abiotic stress tolerance, water use efficiency, nitrogen use efficiency and/or fertilizer use efficiency). Nucleic acid data of the present teachings (DNA or RNA sequence) may contain or be linked to polymorphic sites or genetic markers on the genome such as restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), microsatellites and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), DNA fingerprinting (DFP), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), expression level polymorphism, polymorphism of the encoded polypeptide and any other polymorphism at the DNA or RNA sequence.
Examples of marker assisted selections include, but are not limited to, selection for a morphological trait (e.g., a gene that affects form, coloration, male sterility or resistance such as the presence or absence of awn, leaf sheath coloration, height, grain color, aroma of rice); selection for a biochemical trait (e.g., a gene that encodes a protein that can be extracted and observed; for example, isozymes and storage proteins); selection for a biological trait (e.g., pathogen races or insect biotypes based on host pathogen or host parasite interaction can be used as a marker since the genetic constitution of an organism can affect its susceptibility to pathogens or parasites).
The polynucleotides and polypeptides described hereinabove can be used in a safe and cost effective manner in a wide range of economical plants, exemplary species of which are described hereinabove.
It will be appreciated that some genes involved in a plant defense mechanisms conferring resistance to a particular fungus species may also be involved in resistance to other species, regulated by the same or homologous genes. Of course, the overall defense mechanism is related, not identical, and therefore not all genes involved in resistance to one pathogen will confer resistance to other pathogens. Nonetheless, if a gene confers or enhances resistance to one of the pathogen species, it would be apparent to one skilled in the art to test for resistance to other pathogens, specifically to pathogen of the same genus or that cause similar symptoms.
According to certain embodiments, the fungus and/or Oomecete is selected from, but not limited to, Fusarium verticillioides; Fusarium graminearum; Collotetrichum graminicola; Fusarium avenaceum; Fusarium culmorum; Fusarium oxysporum; Fusarium roseum; Fusarium semitectum; Fusarium solani; Fusarium verticillioides; Fusarium verticillioides var. subglutinans; Acremonium strictum; Albugo candida; Albugo tragopogonis; Alternaria alternate; Alternaria brassicae; Alternaria helianthi; Alternaria zinnia; Aphanomyces euteiches; Ascochyta sorghina; Ascochyta tritici; Aspergillus flavus; Bipolaris maydis O; Bipolaris sorghicola; Bipolaris sorokiniana; Botrytis cinerea; Cephalosporium acremonium; Cephalosporium gramineum; Cephalosporium maydis; Cercospora kikuchii; Cercospora medicaginis; Cercospora sojina; Cercospora sorghi; Cladosporium herbarum; Clavibacter michiganense subsp. Nebraskense; Clavibacter michiganese subsp. Insidiosum; Claviceps purpurea; Claviceps sorghi; Cochliobolus heterostrophus; Colletotrichum dematium (Colletotichum truncatum); Colletotrichum trifolii; Colletotrichum sublineolum; Corn stunt spiroplasma; Corynespora cassiicola; Curvularia inaequalis; Curvularia lunata; Curvularia pallescens; Diaporthe phaseolorum var. caulivora; Diaporthe phaseolorum var. sojae (Phomopsis sojae); Diplodia macrospora; Erwinia carotovora; Erwinia carotovorum pv. Carotovora; Erwinia chrysanthemi pv. Zea; Erwinia stewartii; Erysiphe cichoracearum; Erysiphe graminis fsp. tritici; Exserohilum turcicum I, II & III; Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici; Gibberella zeae (Fusarium graminearum); Gloeocercospora sorghi; Glomerella glycines; Helminthosporium carbonum I, II & III (Cochliobolus carbonum); Helminthosporium pedicellatum; Helminthosporium sorghicola; Kabatiella maydis; Leptosphaeria maculans; Leptosphaerulina briosiana; Leptotrichila medicaginis; Macrophomina phaseolina; Microsphaera diffusa; Mycosphaerella brassicicola; Nigrospora oryzae; Penicillium oxalicum; Perconia circinata; Peronosclerospora maydis; Peronosclerospora philippinensis; Peronosclerospora sacchari; Peronosclerospora sorghi; Peronospora manshurica; Peronospora parasitica; Peronospora trifoliorum; Phakopsora pachyrhizi; Phialophora gregata; Phoma insidiosa; Phoma macdonaldii; Phoma medicaginis var. medicaginis; Phomopsis helianthi; Phyllachara sacchari; Phyllosticta maydis; Phyllosticta sojicola; Physoderma maydis; Physopella zeae; Phytophthora cryptogea; Phytophthora megasperma; Phytophthora megasperma fsp. Glycinea; Plasmopora halstedii; Pseudocercosporella heipotrichoides; Pseudomonas andropogonis; Pseudomonas avenae; Pseudomonas avenae (Pseudomonas alboprecipitans); Pseudomonas syringae p.v. atrofaciens; Pseudomonas syringae p.v. glycinea; Pseudomonas syringae p.v. syringae; Pseudopeziza medicaginis; Puccinia graminis fsp. tritici; Puccinia helianthi; Puccinia polysora; Puccinia purpurea; Puccinia recondita fsp. tritici; Puccinia sorghi; Puccinia striiformis; Pyrenophora tritici-repentis; Pythium aphanidermatum; Pythium arrhenomanes; Pythium debaryanum; Pythium gramicola; Pythium graminicola; Pythium irregular; Pythium splendens; Pythium ultimum; Ramulispora sorghi; Ramulispora sorghicola; Rhizoctonia cerealis; Rhizoctonia solani; Rhizopus arrhizus; Rhizopus oryzae; Rhizopus stolonifera; Sclerophthona macrospora; Sclerospora graminicola; Sclerotinia sclerotiorum; Sclerotinia trifoliorum; Sclerotium rolfsii; Septoria avenae; Septoria glycines; Septoria helianthi; Septoria nodorum; Septoria tritici; Exserohilum turcicum; Sphacelotheca cruenta; Sporisorium reilianum (Sphacelotheca reiliana); Sporisorium sorghi; Stagonospora meliloti; Stemphylium alfalfa; Stemphylium botryosum; Stemphylium herbarum; Stenocarpella maydi (Diplodia maydis); Tilletia indica; Tilletia laevis; Tilletia tritici; Trichoderma viride; Urocystis agropyri; Uromyces striatus; Ustilago maydis; Ustilago tritici; Verticillium albo-atrum; Verticillium dahlia; Xanthomonas campestris p.v. alfalfa; Xanthomonas campestris p.v. holcicola; Xanthomonas campestris p.v. phaseoli; and Xanthomonas campestris p.v. translucens. Each possibility represents a separate embodiment of the present invention.
Specific pathogenic fungi or Oomycetes are known to cause dramatic crop lose due to disease symptoms which negatively affect the quality of the crop. For example, Fusarium verticilloides and Fusarium graminearum cause rot in maize (specifically stalk rot), wheat, sweet paper, eggplants and and head blight is wheat. Fusarium oxysporum causes sudden death syndrome (SDS) in soybeans, yellow spots in sugar beet, Panama disease in Banana, and wilt in tomato, sweet pepper, eggplants, potatoes and various plant of the Cucurbitaceae family. Colletorichum spp. cause stalk rot in maize, anthracnose in sugar beet, tomato and sweet pepper. Botrytis cinerea causes gray mold in tomato, sweet pepper, eggplants and potato. Rust is caused by Puccinia spp. in maize, wheat and sunflower, by Uromyces spp. in sunflower and by Phakopsora in soybean. Phytopthora causes root rot in soybean, late blight in tomato and potato, blight in eggplant and blight fruit rot in sweet pepper. Mycosphaerella graminicola causes leaf blotch in wheat. Mycosphaerella fijiensis causes black leaf streak disease (BLSD; aka black Sigatoka leaf spot) in banana. Septoria lycopersici causes leaf spots in tomato. Verticillium spp. cause wilt disease in canola, sugar beet, tomato, sweet pepper, eggplant and potato. Magnaporthe oryza causes rice blast. Phytium spp. cause damping off disease in maize, soybean, tomato, sweet pepper, eggplant and potato and black vessels in sugar beet. Sclerotinia causes stem rot in soybean and white mold in tomato, sweet pepper, eggplant and potato. Rhizoctonia solani causes root crown rot in sugar beet, sheath blight in rice, and damping off disease in tomato, sweet pepper, eggplant and potato. Maize smut is caused by Ustilago maydis. Alternaria spp. cause leaf spots in sugar beet and sweet pepper, early blight in tomato and potato, and fruit rot in sweet pepper and eggplants. Cercospora causes leaf blight in soybean and leaf spots in sugar beet, sweet pepper, eggplants and potato. Macrophomina causes charcoal rot in maize, wheat, soybean, tomato and potato. Sclerotium rolfsii causes Southern blight in sweet pepper and eggplants. Oidium spp. cause powdery mildew in tomato, sweet pepper, eggplants and potato. Powdery mildew is also caused by Blumeria graminis.
Methods for identifying symptoms caused by various fungi and Oomycetes upon infection of specific plant species, and for measuring the degree of the plant susceptibility/resistance to the infection are well known to those skilled in the art.
The term “plant” as used herein encompasses a whole plant, a grafted plant, ancestor(s) and progeny of the plants and plant parts, including seeds, shoots, stems, roots (including tubers), rootstock, scion, and plant cells, tissues and organs. The plant or part thereof may be in any form including suspension cultures, embryos, meristematic regions, callus tissue, leaves, gametophytes, sporophytes, pollen, and microspores. Plants that are particularly useful in the methods of the invention include all plants which belong to the superfamily Viridiplantae, in particular monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants including a fodder or forage legume, ornamental plant, food crop, tree, or shrub selected from the list comprising Acacia spp., Acer spp., Actinidia spp., Aesculus spp., Agathis australis, Albizia amara, Alsophila tricolor, Andropogon spp., Arachis spp, Areca catechu, Astelia fragrans, Astragalus cicer, Baikiaea plurijuga, Betula spp., Brassica spp., Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Burkea africana, Butea frondosa, Cadaba farinosa, Calliandra spp, Camellia sinensis, Canna indica, Capsicum spp., Cassia spp., Centroema pubescens, Chacoomeles spp., Cinnamomum cassia, Coffea arabica, Colophospermum mopane, Coronillia varia, Cotoneaster serotina, Crataegus spp., Cucumis spp., Cupressus spp., Cyathea dealbata, Cydonia oblonga, Cryptomeria japonica, Cymbopogon spp., Cynthea dealbata, Cydonia oblonga, Dalbergia monetaria, Davallia divaricata, Desmodium spp., Dicksonia squarosa, Dibeteropogon amplectens, Dioclea spp, Dolichos spp., Dorycnium rectum, Echinochloa pyramidalis, Ehraffia spp., Eleusine coracana, Eragrestis spp., Erythrina spp., Eucalypfus spp., Euclea schimperi, Eulalia vi/losa, Pagopyrum spp., Feijoa sellowlana, Fragaria spp., Flemingia spp, Freycinetia banksli, Geranium thunbergii, GinAgo biloba, Glycine javanica, Gliricidia spp, Gossypium hirsuturn, Grevillea spp., Guibourtia coleosperma, Hedysarum spp., Hemaffhia altissima, Heteropogon contoffus, Hordeum vulgare, Hyparrhenia rufa, Hypericum erectum, Hypeffhelia dissolute, Indigo incamata, Iris spp., Leptarrhena pyrolifolia, Lespediza spp., Lettuca spp., Leucaena leucocephala, Loudetia simplex, Lotonus bainesli, Lotus spp., Macrotyloma axillare, Malus spp., Manihot esculenta, Medicago saliva, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Musa sapientum, Nicotianum spp., Onobrychis spp., Ornithopus spp., Oryza spp., Peltophorum africanum, Pennisetum spp., Persea gratissima, Petunia spp., Phaseolus spp., Phoenix canariensis, Phormium cookianum, Photinia spp., Picea glauca, Pinus spp., Pisum sativam, Podocarpus totara, Pogonarthria fleckii, Pogonaffhria squarrosa, Populus spp., Prosopis cineraria, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Pterolobium stellatum, Pyrus communis, Quercus spp., Rhaphiolepsis umbellata, Rhopalostylis sapida, Rhus natalensis, Ribes grossularia, Ribes spp., Robinia pseudoacacia, Rosa spp., Rubus spp., Salix spp., Schyzachyrium sanguineum, Sciadopitys vefficillata, Sequoia sempervirens, Sequoiadendron giganteum, Sorghum bicolor, Spinacia spp., Sporobolus fimbriatus, Stiburus alopecuroides, Stylosanthos humilis, Tadehagi spp, Taxodium distichum, Themeda triandra, Trifolium spp., Triticum spp., Tsuga heterophylla, Vaccinium spp., Vicia spp., Vitis vinifera, Watsonia pyramidata, Zantedeschia aethiopica, Zea mays, amaranth, artichoke, asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, canola, carrot, cauliflower, celery, collard greens, flax, kale, lentil, oilseed rape, okra, onion, potato, rice, soybean, straw, sugar beet, sugar cane, sunflower, tomato, squash tea, maize, wheat, barley, rye, oat, peanut, pea, lentil and alfalfa, cotton, rapeseed, canola, pepper, sunflower, tobacco, eggplant, eucalyptus, a tree, an ornamental plant, a perennial grass and a forage crop. Alternatively algae and other non-Viridiplantae can be used for the methods of the present invention.
According to some embodiments, the plant used according to the teachings of the present invention is a crop plant such as rice, maize, wheat, barley, peanut, potato, sesame, olive tree, palm oil, banana, soybean, sunflower, canola, sugarcane, alfalfa, millet, leguminosae (bean, pea), flax, lupinus, rapeseed, tobacco, poplar and cotton.
According to some embodiment, the plant used according to the teachings of the present invention is a field crop plant selected from the group consisting of tomato, potato, sweet potato, cassava, beets, ginger, horseradish, radish, ginseng, turnip, any root or tuber crop, pepper, eggplant, ground cherry, tomatillo, okra, other fruiting vegetables, cucumber cantaloupe, melon, muskmelon, squash, watermelon and other cucurbit plants.
According to some embodiments of the invention the plant is a dicotyledonous plant.
According to some embodiments of the invention the plant is a monocotyledonous plant.
According to some embodiments the present invention provides a plant cell expressing the exogenous polynucleotide of some embodiments of the invention, the nucleic acid construct comprising the exogenous polynucleotide of some embodiments of the invention and/or the polypeptide of some embodiments of the invention.
It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination or as suitable in any other described embodiment of the invention. Certain features described in the context of various embodiments are not to be considered essential features of those embodiments, unless the embodiment is inoperative without those elements.
The following examples are presented in order to more fully illustrate some embodiments of the invention. They should, in no way be construed, however, as limiting the broad scope of the invention. One skilled in the art can readily devise many variations and modifications of the principles disclosed herein without departing from the scope of the invention.
The inventors of the present invention have identified polynucleotides related to resistant to fungal infection, particularly to infection by Fusarium verticilloides, Fusarium graminearum or Colletotrichum graminicola. Expression of the polynucleotide in plants can increase the plant resistance to fungal infection.
The nucleotide sequence datasets used for the polynucleotide identification were originated from publicly available databases as well as from Applicant proprietary sequencing data obtained using the Solexa technology (form e.g. wheat, maize and sorghum). Sequence data from 200 different plant species was introduced into a single, comprehensive database. The information used to build the datasets included gene expression levels, protein annotation, enzymatic activity and involvement in biosynthetic pathways.
Major databases used included:
Arabidopsis genome [TAIR genome version 6 (arabidopsis.org/)];
Rice genome [IRGSP build 4.0 (rgp.dna.affrc.go.jp/IRGSP/)];
Poplar [Populus trichocarpa release 1.1 from JGI (assembly release v1.0) (genome.jgi-psf.org/)];
Brachypodium [JGI 4× assembly, brachpodium.org)];
Soybean [DOE-JGI SCP, version Glyma0 (phytozome.net/)];
Grape [French-Italian Public Consortium for Grapevine Genome Characterization grapevine genome (genoscope.cns.fr/)];
Castorbean [TIGR/J Craig Venter Institute 4× assembly [msc.jcvi.org/r communis];
Sorghum [DOE-JGI SCP, version Sbi1 [phytozome.net/)]; and
Maize “B73” [DOE-JGI SCP, version AGPv2 [phytozome.net/)];
Databases of Expressed EST and mRNA Sequences:
GenBank ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/dbEST;
RefSeq (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/RefSeq/);
TAIR (arabidopsis.org/);
Uniprot [uniprotorg/];
AraCyc [arabidopsis.org/biocyc/index.jsp];
ENZYME [expasy.org/enzyme/];
Microarray datasets were downloaded from: GEO (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/); TAIR (arabidopsis.org/); and Applicant proprietary microarray data as described in PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 2008/122980.
QTL and SNPs information was retrieved from Gramene [gramene.org/qtl/]; and Panzea [panzea.org/index.html].
Database assembly was performed to build a wide, rich, reliable annotated and easy to analyze database. The assembly comprised data retrieved from publicly available genomic sequences, mRNA sequences, ESTs DNA sequences and QTL data, as well as information regarding gene expression, protein annotation, and involvement in biosynthesis pathway, all in various plant types. The assembly further comprised data retrieved from Applicant proprietary databases produced from various plant types including genomic sequences, mRNA sequences, expression, proteomic and metabolomic data, QTL (quantitative trait loci) and GWAS (genome-wide association studies) data.
Database assembly is comprised of a toolbox of gene refining, structuring and annotation as well as analysis tools enabling to construct a tailored database for each gene discovery project. Gene refining and structuring tools enable to reliably detect splice variants and antisense transcripts, and understand various potential phenotypic outcomes of a single gene. The capabilities of the “LEADS” platform of Compugen LTD. for analyzing human genome have been confirmed and accepted by the scientific community [see e.g., “Widespread Antisense Transcription”, Yelin, et al. (2003) Nature Biotechnology 21, 379-85; “Splicing of Alu Sequences”, Lev-Maor, et al. (2003) Science 300 (5623), 1288-91; “Computational analysis of alternative splicing using EST tissue information”, Xie H et al. Genomics 2002], and have been proven most efficient in plant genomics as well.
For gene clustering and assembly of organisms with available genome sequence data (Arabidopsis, rice, castorbean, grape, Brachypodium, poplar, soybean, sorghum) the genomic LEADS version (GANG) was employed. This tool allows most accurate clustering of ESTs and mRNA sequences on genome, and predicts gene structure as well as alternative splicing events and antisense transcription.
For organisms with no available full genome sequence data, “expressed LEADS” clustering software was applied.
Predicted genes and proteins were annotated as follows: BLAST™ search [blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi] against all plant UniProt [uniprot.org/] sequence was performed. Open reading frames (ORFs) of each putative transcript were analyzed and longest ORF with highest number of homologues was selected as a predicted protein of the transcript. The predicted proteins were analyzed by InterPro [ebi.ac.uk/interpro/].
BLAST™ against proteins from AraCyc and ENZYME databases was used to map the predicted transcripts to AraCyc pathways.
Predicted proteins from different species were compared using BLAST™ algorithm [ncbi.nlm nih.gov/Blast.cgi] to validate the accuracy of the predicted protein sequence, and for efficient detection of orthologs.
Several data sources were exploited for gene expression profiling, namely microarray data and digital expression profile (see below). Genes were analyzed for expression patterns in different plant species and varieties. The analysis was based on differential expression under uninfected and infected conditions, wherein the infection was induced by different pathogens and the gene expression was measured in different plant organs and at different time points along the disease development. Publicly available microarray datasets were downloaded from TAIR and NCBI GEO sites, renormalized, and integrated into the database. Expression profiling is one of the most important resource data for identifying genes related to disease resistance.
A digital expression profile summary was compiled for each gene cluster according to all keywords included in the sequence records comprising the cluster. Digital expression, also known as electronic Northern Blot, is a tool that displays virtual expression profile based on the expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences forming the gene cluster. The tool provides the expression profile of a cluster in terms of plant anatomy (e.g., the tissue/organ in which the gene is expressed), developmental stage (the developmental stages at which a gene can be found) and profile of treatment (provides the physiological conditions under which a gene is expressed such as drought, cold, pathogen infection, etc). Given a random distribution of ESTs in the different clusters, the digital expression provides a probability value that describes the probability of a cluster having a total of N ESTs to contain X ESTs from a certain collection of libraries. For the probability calculations, the following is taken into consideration: a) the number of ESTs in the cluster, b) the number of ESTs of the implicated and related libraries, c) the overall number of ESTs available representing the species. Thereby clusters with low probability values are highly enriched with ESTs from the group of libraries of interest indicating a specialized expression.
Recently, the accuracy of this system was demonstrated by Portnoy et al., 2009 (Analysis of The Melon Fruit Transcriptome Based on 454 Pyrosequencing, in: Plant & Animal Genomes XVII Conference, San Diego, Calif.). Transcriptomeic analysis, based on relative EST abundance in data was performed by 454 pyrosequencing of cDNA representing mRNA of the melon fruit. Fourteen double strand cDNA samples obtained from two genotypes, two fruit tissues (flesh and rind) and four developmental stages were sequenced. GS FLX pyrosequencing (Roche/454 Life Sciences) of non-normalized and purified cDNA samples yielded 1,150,657 expressed sequence tags, that assembled into 67,477 unigenes (32,357 singletons and 35,120 contigs). Analysis of the data obtained against the Cucurbit Genomics Database [icugi.org/] confirmed the accuracy of the sequencing and assembly. Expression patterns of selected genes fitted well their qRT-PCR data.
The genes listed in Table 1 below were identified as candidates to have a major impact on plant resistance to at least one of Fusarium verticilloides, Fusarium graminearum and Colletotrichum graminicola when expression thereof is increased in plants. The identified gene name, the plant from which it derived, and the amino acid and nucleic acid sequences of each gene are summarized in Table 1, herein below.
Zea mays
Hordeum vulgare
Hordeum vulgare
Hordeum vulgare
Hordeum vulgare
Hordeum vulgare
Hordeum vulgare
Hordeum vulgare
Hordeum vulgare
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Hordeum vulgare
Zea mays
The concepts of orthology and paralogy have recently been applied to functional characterizations and classifications on the scale of whole-genome comparisons. Orthologs and paralogs constitute two major types of homologs: The first evolved from a common ancestor by specialization, and the latter are related by duplication events. It is assumed that paralogs arising from ancient duplication events are likely to have diverged in function while true orthologs are more likely to retain identical function over evolutionary time.
To further investigate and identify putative orthologs of the genes identified to affect plant resistance to Fusarium verticilloides, Fusarium graminearum or Colletotrichum graminicola, all sequences were aligned using the BLAST™ (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool). Sequences sufficiently similar were tentatively grouped. These putative orthologs were further organized under a Phylogram—a branching diagram (tree) assumed to be a representation of the evolutionary relationships among the biological taxa. Putative ortholog groups were analyzed as to their agreement with the phylogram and in cases of disagreements these ortholog groups were broken accordingly.
Expression data were analyzed and the EST libraries were classified using a fixed vocabulary of custom terms such as developmental stages (e.g., genes showing similar expression profile through development with up-regulation at specific stage, such as at seed germination, time points during seedling growth and at maturity) and/or plant organ (e.g., genes showing similar expression profile across their organs with up-regulation at specific organs such as roots and stems). The annotations from all the ESTs clustered to a gene were analyzed statistically by comparing their frequency in the cluster versus their abundance in the database, allowing the construction of a numeric and graphic expression profile of that gene, which is termed “digital expression”. The rationale of using these two complementary methods with methods of phenotypic association studies of QTLs, SNPs and phenotype expression correlation is based on the assumption that true orthologs are likely to retain identical function over evolutionary time. These methods provide different sets of indications on function similarities between two homologous genes, including similarities in the sequence level—identical amino acids in the protein domains and similarity in expression profiles.
The search and identification of homologous genes involves the screening of sequence information available, for example, in public databases such as the DNA Database of Japan (DDBJ), GenBank, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory Nucleic Acid Sequence Database (EMBL) or versions thereof or the MIPS database. A number of different search algorithms have been developed, including but not limited to the suite of programs referred to as BLAST™ programs There are five implementations of BLAST™, three designed for nucleotide sequence queries (BLASTN, BLASTX, and TBLASTX) and two designed for protein sequence queries (BLASTP and TBLASTN) (Altschul, S. F et al., (1990) “Basic local alignment search tool.” J. Mol. Biol. 215:403-410). Such methods involve alignment and comparison of sequences. The BLAST™ algorithm calculates percent sequence identity and performs a statistical analysis of the similarity between the two sequences. The software for performing BLAST™ analysis is publicly available through the National Centre for Biotechnology Information. Other such software or algorithms are GAP, BESTFIT, FASTA and TFASTA. GAP uses the algorithm of Needleman and Wunsch (J. Mol. Biol. 48: 443-453, 1970) to find the alignment of two complete sequences that maximizes the number of matches and minimizes the number of gaps.
The homologous genes may belong to the same gene family. The analysis of a gene family may be carried out using sequence similarity analysis. To perform this analysis one may use standard programs for multiple alignments e.g. Clustal W. A neighbor-joining tree of the proteins homologous to the proteins encoded by the genes identified in this invention may be used to provide an overview of structural and ancestral relationships. Sequence identity may be calculated using an alignment program as described above. It is expected that plants other that those examined in the present invention will carry a similar functional gene (ortholog) or a family of similar genes and those genes will provide the same preferred phenotype as the genes presented here. Advantageously, these family members may be useful in the methods of the invention. Example of other plants are included here but not limited to, barley (Hordeum vulgare), Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), maize (Zea mays), cotton (Gossypium), Oilseed rape (Brassica napus), Rice (Oryza sativa), Sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum), Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), Soybean (Glycine max), Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), and Wheat (Triticum aestivum).
The above-mentioned analyses for sequence homology can be carried out on a full-length sequence, but may also be based on a comparison of certain regions such as conserved domains. The identification of such domains would also be well within the realm of the person skilled in the art and would involve, for example, a computer readable format of the nucleic acids of the present invention, the use of alignment software programs and the use of publicly available information on protein domains, conserved motifs and boxes. This information is available in the PRODOM (biochem.ucl.ac.uk/bsm/dbbrowser/protocol/prodomqry.html), PIR (pir.Georgetown.edu/) or Pfam (sanger.ac.uk/Software/Pfam/) databases. Sequence analysis programs designed for motif searching may be used for identification of fragments, regions and conserved domains as mentioned above. Preferred computer programs include, but are not limited to, MEME, SIGNALSCAN, and GENESCAN.
A person skilled in the art may use the homologous sequences provided herein to find similar sequences in other species and other organisms. Homologues of a protein encompass, peptides, oligopeptides, polypeptides, proteins and enzymes having amino acid substitutions, deletions and/or insertions relative to the unmodified protein in question and having similar biological and functional activity as the unmodified protein from which they are derived. To produce such homologues, amino acids of the protein may be replaced by other amino acids having similar properties (conservative changes, such as similar hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, antigenicity, propensity to form or break α-helical structures or β-sheet structures). Conservative substitution Tables are well known in the art (see for example Creighton T E (1984) Proteins. W.H. Freeman and Company). Homologues of a nucleic acid encompass nucleic acids having nucleotide substitutions, deletions and/or insertions relative to the unmodified nucleic acid in question and having similar biological and functional activity as the unmodified nucleic acid from which they are derived.
Polynucleotides and polypeptides with significant homology to the identified genes described in Table 1 (Example 1) were identified from the databases using BLAST™ software with the Blastp and tBlastn algorithms as filters for the first stage, and the needle (EMBOSS package) or Frame+ algorithm alignment for the second stage. Local identity (BLAST™ alignments) was defined with a very permissive cutoff—60% Identity on a span of 60% of the sequences lengths because it is used only as a filter for the global alignment stage. The default filtering of the BLAST™ package was not utilized (by setting the parameter “-F F”).
In the second stage, homologs were defined based on a global identity of at least 80% to the core gene polypeptide sequence. Two distinct forms for finding the optimal global alignment for protein or nucleotide sequences were used in this application:
1. Between two proteins (following the BLASTP filter):
EMBOSS-6.0.1 Needleman-Wunsch algorithm with the following modified parameters: gapopen=8 gapextend=2. The rest of the parameters were unchanged from the default options described hereinabove.
2. Between a protein sequence and a nucleotide sequence (following the TBLASTN filter):
GenCore 6.0 OneModel application utilizing the Frame+ algorithm with the following parameters: model=frame+_p2n.model mode=qglobal -q=protein.sequence -db=nucleotide.sequence. The rest of the parameters are unchanged from the default options described hereinabove.
The query polypeptide sequences were the sequences listed in Table 1 (Example 1). The subject sequences are protein sequences identified in the database based on greater than 80% global identity to the predicted translated sequences of the query nucleotide sequences or to the polypeptide sequences. Homology was calculated as % of identity over the aligned sequences. The identified orthologous and homologous sequences having at least 80% global sequence identity to said sequences are provided in Table 2, below. These homologous genes are expected to increase plant resistance to fungal infection caused by the mentioned pathogens.
The output of the functional genomics approach described herein is a set of genes highly predicted to improve resistance of a plant to fungal infection by Fusarium verticilloides, Fusarium graminearum or Colletotrichum graminicola when expressed, particularly overexpressed, in said plant. Although each gene is predicted to have its own impact, modifying the mode of expression of more than one gene is expected to provide an additive or synergistic effect on the plant resistance Altering the expression of each gene described herein alone or of a set of genes together increases the overall plant resistance, hence expects to increase agricultural productivity.
The association of gene expression with fungal infection was examined in sorghum (Sorghum), maize (Zea mays), wheat (Triticum spp), and Barley (Hordeum vulgare).
The following pathogenic fungi were used: Fusarium verticillioides (hereinafter F. verticillioides or Fv). A GFP transformant of F. verticillioides strain A-00149-FGSC 7600 (Oren et al., 2003, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69:1695) was used throughout the data generation and validation experiments; Fusarium graminearum (hereinafter F. graminearum or Fv); and Colletotrichum graminicola (the asexual reproductive form of Glomerella graminicola, hereinafter C. graminicola or Cg).
The following modes of infection were used:
Direct root fungal infection: this method was used for F. verticillioides (Fv) and Fusarium graminearum (Fg). Sterilized seeds from tolerant and sensitive lines of the examined plant were germinated on water agar supplemented with Ampicillin (100 μg/ml) and inoculated with a fungal spore suspension (106/ml) four days after germination. Control plants were mock inoculated with sterile water.
Soil infection: This method was used with F. verticillioides (Fv). Sterilized seeds from tolerant and sensitive lines of the examined plant were planted in infected soil (5 g Fv coated barley seeds/liter soil). Control plants were planted in soil inoculated with uninfected sterilized barley seeds.
Direct inoculum injection into plant stalk: This method was used with F. verticillioides (Fv) and with the fungus Colletotrichum graminicola (hereinafter C. graminicola or Cg). Sterilized seeds from sensitive and resistant lines of the examined plant were planted in soil and inoculated by injecting 100 μl of Fv/Cg spore suspension (106/ml) into the plant stalk 40 days after planting. Control plants were mock inoculated.
RNA extraction was performed using TRIzol Reagent from Invitrogen (invitrogen.com/content.cfm?pageid=469). Approximately 30-50 mg of sample tissue was taken for the analysis. The weighed tissues were ground using pestle and mortar in liquid nitrogen and resuspended in 500 μl of TRIzol Reagent. To the homogenized lysate, 100 μl of chloroform were added followed by precipitation using isopropanol and two washes with 75% ethanol. The RNA was eluted in 30 μl of RNase-free water. RNA samples were cleaned up using Qiagen's RNeasy minikit clean-up protocol as per the manufacturer's protocol (QIAGEN Inc, CA USA).
RNA was extracted from tissues of the infected and mock plants obtained from each treatment as follows:
Direct root infection—Root and basal stem tissues from plants growing under normal or fungal infection conditions were sampled at 6, 24 and 72 hours post infection (hpi) and RNA was extracted as described hereinbelow.
Soil Infection—Root and stem tissues were sampled at 7 and 15 days post infection (dpi) and RNA was extracted as described hereinbelow.
Stalk Injection—Pith and cortex stem tissues were sampled 2 cm above the injection site at 3 and 7 days post infection (dpi) and RNA was extracted as described hereinbelow.
Identification and Validation of Gene Associated with Fungal Infection
In order to study the association of gene expression in the examined plant species and plant lines with fungal infection, the present inventors utilized available micro-arrays as described in details hereinbelow for each plant species examined. To define correlations between the levels of RNA expression and fungal resistance, parameters related to plant response to fungal infection were analyzed under normal and infected conditions. From plant identified as encompassing variance in the resistance or susceptibility spectrum, hybrids were selected for further association analysis between fungal infection and gene expression after the plants were challenged with F. verticillioides, F. graminearum or C. graminicola as described hereinabove.
Fungal infection was phenotypes depending on the mode of infection, as follows:
Plants infected via the direct root infection were phenotyped (24 and 72 hpi) for fungal recovery from root and stem tissues by culturing sterilized explants on PDA for 4-5 days and validating the presence of the Fv-GFP strain. For plants infected with Fg, development of necrosis on the roots was monitored along 7 days.
Plants infected via soil inoculation were phenotyped at 7 and 15 dpi for fungal recovery from root and stem tissues by culturing sterilized explants on PDA for 4-5 days. At 85 dpi plants were phenotyped by splitting the stalk and measuring the necrotic stem area.
Plants infected via direct stalk injection were phenotyped at 20 dpi by splitting the stalk and measuring the necrotic stem area and the number infected nodes.
RNA was extracted as described hereinabove.
The association of gene expression in Sorghum lines with fungal infection was investigated utilizing a 65K sorghum oligonucleotide micro-array, produced by Agilent Technologies [chem.agilent.com/Scripts/PDS.asp?lPage=50879]. The array oligonucleotide represents about 65,000 sorghum genes and transcripts. To define correlations between the levels of RNA expression and fungal resistance, parameters related to responses to fungal infection were analyzed in 30 different Sorghum hybrids under normal and infected conditions as described hereinabove. Among them, 6 hybrids encompassing variance in the resistance spectrum to F. verticillioides (designated as “tolerant” and “sensitive”, Table 3) were selected for RNA differential expression analysis after challenge with F. verticillioides or F. graminearum as described hereinabove.
The association of gene expression in Maize lines with fungal infection was investigated utilizing a Maize oligonucleotide micro-array, produced by Agilent Technologies [chem.agilent.com/Scripts/PDS.asp?lPage=50879]. The array oligonucleotide represents about 60K Maize genes and transcripts designed based on data from Public databases (Example 1). To define correlations between the levels of RNA expression and fungal resistance, parameters related to responses to fungal infection were analyzed in 30 different Maize hybrids under normal and infected conditions as described hereinabove. Among them, 6 hybrids encompassing variance in the resistance spectrum to F. verticillioides or C. graminicola (designated as “tolerant” and “sensitive”, Table 4 and Table 5, respectively) were selected for RNA expression analysis after challenge with F. verticillioides, F. graminearum or C. graminicola.
The association study of wheat lines to fungal infection, the present inventors utilizing a wheat oligonucleotide micro-array, produced by Agilent Technologies [chem.agilent.com/Scripts/PDS.asp?lPage=50879]. The array oligonucleotide represents about 50,000 wheat genes and transcripts.
In order to define correlations between the levels of RNA expression with fungal resistance related parameters, responses to fungal infection of 30 different wheat varieties were analyzed under normal and infected conditions as described hereinabove. Among them, 6 hybrids encompassing variance in the resistance spectrum to F. verticillioides (designated as “tolerant” and “sensitive”, Table 6) were selected for RNA expression analysis after challenge with F. verticillioides, F. graminearum.
The analysis was preformed via proprietary differential expression algorithm.
The default query parameters used were: >2 fold change, p value<0.01, FDR <0.5. (FDR=false discovery rate). Stringency varied due to specific experimental context.
The following queries were performed across species (aggregated through the use of proprietary ortholog determination), germplasm, organs, types of pathogens treated, and time post infection:
No type of query is necessary nor sufficient but overall enrichment of positive indications is considered to identify genes significantly qualifying the above criteria.
The genes identified using the above differential expression analyses and the indications found per gene are described hereinbelow:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Brachypodium—The Brachypodium ortholog gene was upregulated following spikes inoculation with Fg (96 hpi).
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Expression based indications for Fusarium or Colletotrichum resistance:
Tables 7-10 summarize the identity of core genes identified in sorghum, maize, wheat and barley (respectively) and their orthologs, based on the transcriptoms and differential expression analyses described hereinabove. “x” denotes expression of the gene associated with the indicated fungi at the indicated plant part. The orthologs are identified by the SEQ ID NO. of the encoded protein.
Table 7 hereinbelow presents core genes revealed in Sorghum and related orthologs in Maize and Barley in different organs of the plants after challenge with F. verticilloides, F. graminearum or C. graminicola. Cells marked by “x” denote genes associated with Fusarium verticilloides (Fv) or Fusarium graminearum (Fg) infection revealed in stem or root of Sorghum. Numbers within cells are SEQ ID NOs. of proteins encoded by orthologs of the genes revealed in Sorghum identified in maize and barley.
Sorghum
Table 8 hereinbelow presents core genes revealed in Maize and related orthologs in Sorghum and Wheat in different organs of the plants after challenge with F. verticilloides, F. graminearum or C. graminicola. Cells marked by “x” denote genes associated with Fusarium verticilloides (Fv), Fusarium graminearum (Fg) or Colletotrichum graminicola (Cg) infection revealed in stem, inflorescence or root of Maize. Numbers within cells are SEQ ID NOs. of proteins encoded by orthologs of the genes revealed in Maize identified in Sorghum and Wheat.
Sorghum
Table 9 hereinbelow presents core genes revealed in Wheat and related orthologs in Maize and Barley in different organs of the plants after challenge with F. verticilloides, F. graminearum or C. graminicola. Cells marked by “x” denote genes associated with Fusarium verticilloides (Fv) or Fusarium graminearum (Fg) infection revealed in stem, inflorescence or root of Wheat. Numbers within cells are SEQ ID NOs. of proteins encoded by orthologs of the genes revealed in Wheat identified in maize and barley.
Table 10 hereinbelow presents core genes revealed in Barley and related orthologs in wheat in different organs of the plants after challenge with F. verticilloides or F. graminearum. Cells marked by “x” denote genes associated with Fusarium graminearum (Fg) infection revealed in inflorescence of Barley. Numbers within cells are SEQ ID NOs. of proteins encoded by orthologs of the genes revealed in Barley identified in Wheat.
A polypeptide domain refers to a set of conserved amino acids located at specific positions along an alignment of sequences of evolutionarily related proteins. While amino acids at other positions can vary between homologues, amino acids that are highly conserved, and particularly amino acids that are highly conserved at specific positions indicate amino acids that are likely essential in the structure, stability or function of a protein. Identified by their high degree of conservation in aligned sequences of a family of protein homologues, they can be used as identifiers to determine if any polypeptide in question belongs to a previously identified polypeptide family
The Integrated Resource of Protein Families, Domains and Sites (InterPro) database is an integrated interface for the commonly used signature databases for text- and sequence-based searches. The InterPro database combines these databases, which use different methodologies and varying degrees of biological information about well-characterized proteins to derive protein signatures. Collaborating databases include SWISS-PROT, PROSITE, TrEMBL, PRINTS, ProDom and Pfam, Smart and TIGRFAMs. Pfam is a large collection of multiple sequence alignments and hidden Markov models covering many common protein domains and families Pfam is hosted at the Sanger Institute server in the United Kingdom.
Interpro is hosted at the European Bioinformatics Institute in the United Kingdom. InterProScan is the software package that allows sequences (protein and nucleic) to be scanned against InterPro's signatures. Signatures are predictive models, provided by several different databases that make up the InterPro consortium.
InterProScan 5.11-51.0 was used to analyze the polypeptides of the present invention (core and homologues/orthologs) for common domains (Mitchell A et al., 2015. Nucleic Acids Research 43(Database issue):D213-221; doi: 10.1093/nar/gku1243). Briefly, InterProScan is based on scanning methods native to the InterPro member databases. It is distributed with pre-configured method cut-offs recommended by the member database experts and which are believed to report relevant matches. All cut-offs are defined in configuration files of the InterProScan programs. Matches obtained with the fixed cut-off are subject to the following filtering:
Pfam filtering: Each Pfam family is represented by two hidden Markov models (HMMs)—ls and fs (full-length and fragment). An HMM model has bit score cut-offs (for each domain match and the total model match) and these are defined in the Gathering threshold (GA) lines of the Pfam database. Initial results are obtained with quite a high common cut-off and then the matches of the signature with a lower score than the family specific cut-offs are dropped.
If both the fs and ls model for a particular Pfam hits the same region of a sequence, the AM field in the Pfam database is used to determine which model should be chosen—globalfirst(LS); localfirst(FS) or byscore (whichever has the highest e-value).
Another type of filtering has been implemented since release 4.1. It is based on Clan filtering and nested domains. Further information on Clan filtering can be found in the Pfam website (http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Pfam) for more information on Clan filtering.
TIGRFAMs filtering: Each TIGRFAM HMM model has its own cut-off scores for each domain match and the total model match. These bit score cut-offs are defined in the “trusted cut-offs” (TC) lines of the database. Initial results are obtained with quite a high common cut-off and then the matches (of the signature or some of its domains) with a lower score compared to the family specific cut-offs are dropped.
PRINTS filtering: All matches with p-value more than a pre-set minimum value for the signature, are dropped.
SMART filtering: The publicly distributed version of InterProScan has a common e-value cut-off corresponding to the reference database size. A more sophisticated scoring model is used on the SMART web server and in the production of pre-calculated InterPro match data.
Exact scoring thresholds for domain assignments are proprietary data. The InterProMatches data production procedure uses these additional smart.thresholds data. It is to be noted that the given cut-offs are e-values (i.e. the number of expected random hits) and therefore are valid only in the context of reference database size and smart.desc data files to filter out results obtained with higher cut-off.
It implements the following logic: If the whole sequence E-value of a found match is worse than the ‘cut_low’, the match is dropped. If the domain E-value of a found match is worse than the ‘repeat’ cut-off (where defined) the match is dropped. If a signature is a repeat, the number of significant matches of that signature to a sequence must be greater than the value of ‘repeats’ in order for all matches to be accepted as true (T).
If the signature is part of a family (‘family_cut’ is defined), if the domain E-value is worse than the domain cut off (‘cutoff’), the match is dropped. If the signature has “siblings” (because it has a family_cut defined), and they overlap, the preferred sibling is chosen as the true match according to information in the overlaps file.
PROSITE patterns CONFIRMation: ScanRegExp is able to verify PROSITE matches using corresponding statistically-significant CONFIRM patterns. The default status of the PROSITE matches is unknown (?) and the true positive (T) status is assigned if the corresponding CONFIRM patterns match as well. The CONFIRM patterns were generated based on the true positive SWISS-PROT PROSITE matches using eMOTIF software with a stringency of 10e-9 P-value.
PANTHER filtering: Panther has pre- and post-processing steps. The pre-processing step is intended to speed up the HMM-based searching of the sequence and involves blasting the HMM sequences with the query protein sequence in order to find the most similar models above a given e-value. The resulting HMM hits are then used in the HMM-based search.
Panther consists of families and sub-families. When a sequence is found to match a family in the blast run, the sub-families are also scored using HMMER tool (that is, unless there is only 1 sub-family, in which case, the family alone is scored against).
Any matches that score below the e-value cut-off are discarded. Any remaining matches are searched to find the HMM with the best score and e-value and the best hit is then reported (including any sub-family hit).
GENE3D filtering: Gene3D also employs post-processing of results by using a program called DomainFinder. This program takes the output from searching the Gene3D HMMs against the query sequence and extracts all hits that are more than 10 residues long and have an e-value better than 0.001. If hits overlap at all, the match with the better e-value is chosen.
The polypeptides of the invention the expression of which confers and/or enhances the resistance of a plant to at least one fungal pathogen can be characterized by specific amino acid domains According to certain embodiments, particular domains are conserved within a family of polypeptides as described in Table 11 hereinbelow. Without wishing to be bound by specific theory or mechanism of action, the conserved domain may indicate common functionally of the polypeptides comprising same. The domains are presented by an identifier (number). Table 12 provides the details of each domain.
To validate the role of genes identified hereinabove in increasing resistance to fungal infection selected genes were over-expressed in plants, as follows.
Cloning Strategy
Selected genes from those presented in Examples 1-4 hereinabove were cloned into binary vectors for the generation of transgenic plants. For cloning, the full-length open reading frames (ORFs) were identified. EST clusters and in some cases mRNA sequences were analyzed to identify the entire open reading frame by comparing the results of several translation algorithms to known proteins from other plant species.
In order to clone the full-length cDNAs, reverse transcription (RT) followed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR; RT-PCR) was performed on total RNA extracted from roots or shoots challenged by the relevant pathogen. Total RNA extraction, production of cDNA and PCR amplification was performed using standard protocols described elsewhere (Sambrook J., E. F. Fritsch, and T. Maniatis. 1989. Molecular Cloning. A Laboratory Manual, 2nd Ed. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York) which are well known to those skilled in the art. PCR products were purified using PCR purification kit (Qiagen).
Typically, 2 sets of primers were prepared for the amplification of each gene, via nested PCR (if required). Both sets of primers were used for amplification on a cDNA. In case no product was obtained, a nested PCR reaction was performed. Nested PCR was performed by amplification of the gene using external primers and then using the produced PCR product as a template for a second PCR reaction, where the internal set of primers was used. Alternatively, one or two of the internal primers were used for gene amplification, both in the first and the second PCR reactions (meaning only 2-3 primers are designed for a gene). To facilitate further cloning of the cDNAs, an 8-12 base pairs (bp) extension was added to the 5′ of each internal primer. The primer extension includes an endonuclease restriction site. The restriction sites were selected using two parameters: (a) the restriction site does not exist in the cDNA sequence; and (b) the restriction sites in the forward and reverse primers were designed such that the digested cDNA was inserted in the sense direction into the binary vector utilized for transformation.
PCR products were digested with the restriction endonucleases (New England BioLabs Inc.) according to the sites designed in the primers. Each digested/undigested PCR product was inserted into a high copy vector pUC19 (New England BioLabs Inc.), or into plasmids originating from this vector. In some cases the undigested PCR product was inserted into pCR-Blunt II-TOPO (Invitrogen) or into pJET1.2 (CloneJET PCR Cloning Kit, Thermo Scientific) or directly into the binary vector. The digested/undigested products and the linearized plasmid vector were ligated using T4 DNA ligase enzyme (Roche, Switzerland or other manufacturers). In cases where pCR-Blunt II-TOPO is used no T4 ligase was needed.
Sequencing of the inserted genes was performed using the ABI 377 sequencer (Applied Biosystems). In some cases, after confirming the sequences of the cloned genes, the cloned cDNA was introduced into a modified pGI binary vector containing the At6669 promoter (SEQ ID NO:25), such as the pQFNc or pQsFN vectors, and the NOS terminator (SEQ ID NO:36) via digestion with appropriate restriction endonucleases.
Several DNA sequences of the selected genes were synthesized by GenScript (GenScript, Piscataway, N.J., USA). Synthetic DNA was designed in silico. Suitable restriction enzyme sites were added to the cloned sequences at the 5′ end and at the 3′ end to enable later cloning into the desired binary vector.
Binary Vectors—
The pPI plasmid vector was constructed by inserting a synthetic poly-(A) signal sequence, originating from pGL3 basic plasmid vector (Promega, GenBank Accession No. U47295; nucleotides 4658-4811) into the HindIII restriction site of the binary vector pBI101.3 (Clontech, GenBank Accession No. U12640). pGI is similar to pPI, but the original gene in the backbone is GUS-Intron and not GUS.
The modified pGI vector (e.g., pQFN, pQFNc, pQFNd, pQYN_6669, pQNa_RP, pQFYN, pQXNc, pQ6sVN (
In case of Brachypodium transformation, after confirming the sequences of the cloned genes, the cloned cDNAs were introduced into pQ6sVN (
Additionally or alternatively, Brachypodium transformation was performed using the pEBbVNi vector. pEBbVNi (
In case genomic DNA was cloned, the genes were amplified by direct PCR on genomic DNA extracted from leaf tissue using the DNAeasy kit (Qiagen Cat. No. 69104).
Table 13 hereinbelow provides a list of the gene cloned, including gene name, the plasmid used, the organism from which the gene is derived, the SEQ ID NO. of the primer used and the SEQ ID NO. of the gene polynucleotide and encoded polypeptide.
Zea mays
Hordeum vulgare
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Hordeum vulgare
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Hordeum vulgare
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Hordeum vulgare
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Zea mays
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Hordeum vulgare
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Hordeum vulgare
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Triticum aestivum
Hordeum vulgare
Hordeum vulgare
Zea mays
Hordeum vulgare
Similar to the Arabidopsis model plant, Brachypodium distachyon has several features that recommend it as a model plant for functional genomic studies, especially in the grasses. Traits that make it an ideal model include its small genome (˜160 Mbp for a diploid genome and 355 Mbp for a polyploidy genome), small physical stature, a short lifecycle, and few growth requirements. Brachypodium is related to the major cereal grain species but is understood to be more closely related to the Triticeae (wheat, barley) than to the other cereals. Brachypodium, with its polyploidy accessions, can serve as an ideal model for these grains (whose genomics size and complexity is a major barrier to biotechnological improvement).
Brachypodium distachyon embryogenic calli are transformed using the procedure described by Vogel and Hill (2008. High-efficiency Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Brachypodium distachyon inbred line Bd21-3. Plant Cell Rep 27:471-478); Vain et al (2008. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of the temperate grass Brachypodium distachyon (genotype Bd21) for T-DNA insertional mutagenesis. Plant Biotechnology J 6: 236-245), and Vogel J, et al. (2006. Agrobacterium mediated transformation and inbred line development in the model grass Brachypodium distachyon. Plant Cell Tiss Org. Cult. 85:199-211), each of which is fully incorporated herein by reference, with some minor modifications, which are briefly summarized herein below.
Callus Initiation—
Immature spikes (about 2 months after seeding) are harvested at the very beginning of seeds filling. Spikes are then husked and surface sterilized with 3% NaClO containing 0.1% Tween 20, shaken on a gyratory shaker at low speed for 20 minutes. Following three rinses with sterile distilled water, embryos are excised under a dissecting microscope in a laminar flow hood using fine forceps.
Excised embryos (size ˜0.3 mm, bell shaped) are placed on callus induction medium (CIM) [LS salts (Linsmaier, E. M. & Skoog, F. 1965. Physiol. Plantarum 18, 100) and vitamins plus 3% sucrose, 6 mg/L CuSO4, 2.5 mg/12,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid, pH 5.8 and 0.25% phytagel (Sigma)] scutellar side down, 50 or 100 embryos on a plate, and incubated at 28° C. in the dark. One week later, the embryonic calli is cleaned from emerging shoots and somatic calli, and subcultured onto fresh CIM medium. During culture, yellowish embryogenic calli (EC) appear and are further selected (e.g., picked and transferred) for further incubation in the same conditions for additional 2 weeks. Twenty-five pieces of sub-cultured calli are then separately placed on 90×15 mm petri plates, and incubated as before for three additional weeks.
Transformation—
As described in Vogel and Hill (2008, Supra), Agrobacterium is scraped off 2-day-old MGL plates (plates with the MGL medium which contains: Tryptone 5 gr/L, Yeast Extract 2.5 gr/L, NaCl 5 gr/L, D-Mannitol 5 g/l, MgSO4*7H2O 0.204 gr/L, K2HPO4 0.25 gr/L, Glutamic Acid 1.2 gr/L, Plant Agar 7.5 gr/L) and resuspended in liquid MS medium supplemented with 200 μM acetosyringone to an optic density (OD) at 600 nm (OD600) of 0.6 to 1.0. Once the desired OD was attained, 1 ml of 10% Synperonic PE/F68 (Sigma) per 100 nil of inoculation medium is added.
To begin inoculation, 300 callus pieces are placed in approximately 12 plates (25 callus pieces in each plate) and covered with the Agrobacterium suspension (8-10 ml). The callus is incubated in the Agrobacterium suspension for 5 to 20 minutes. After incubation, the Agrobacterium suspension is aspirated off and the calli are then transferred into co-cultivation plates, prepared by placing a sterile 7-cm diameter filter paper in an empty 90×15 mm petri plate. The calli pieces are then gently distributed on the filter paper. One co-cultivation plate is used for two starting callus plates (50 initial calli pieces). The co-cultivation plates are then sealed with Parafilm M® or a plastic wrap [e.g., Saran™ wrap (Dow Chemical Company)] and incubated at 24° C. in the dark for 3 days.
The callus pieces are then individually transferred into CIM medium as described above, which is further supplemented with 200 mg/L Ticarcillin (to kill the Agrobacterium) and Bialaphos (5 mg/L) or Hygromycin B (40 mg/L) (for selection of the transformed resistant embryogenic calli sections), and incubated at 28° C. in the dark for 14 days.
The calli pieces are then transferred to shoot induction media (SIM; LS salts and vitamins plus 3% Maltose monohydrate) supplemented with 400 mg/L Ticarcillin, Bialaphos (5 mg/L) or Hygromycin B (40 mg/L), Indol-3-acetic acid (IAA) (0.25 mg/L), and 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) (1 mg/L), and are cultivated in conditions as described below. After 10-15 days calli are sub-cultured on the same fresh media for additional 10-15 days (total of 20-30 days). At each sub-culture all the pieces from a single callus are kept together to maintain their independence and are incubated under the following conditions: light to a level of 60 lE m−2 s−1, a 16-hours light, 8-hours dark photoperiod and a constant 24° C. temperature. During the period of 20 to 30 days from the beginning of cultivation of calli on shoot induction media (SIM) plantlets start to emerge from the transformed calli.
When plantlets are large enough to handle without damage, they are transferred to plates containing the above mentioned shoot induction media (SIM) with Bialaphos or Hygromycin B. Each plantlet is considered as a different event. After two weeks of growth, the plantlets are transferred to 2-cm height Petri plates (De Groot, Catalog No. 60-664160) containing MSnoH media (MS salts 4.4 gr/L, sucrose 30 gr/L, supplemented with Hygromycine B (40 mg/L) and Ticarcillin (400 mg/L). Roots usually appear within 2 weeks. Rooted and non-rooted plants are transferred to a fresh MSnoH media supplemented with Hygromycin B and Ticarcillin as described above. In case roots do not appear in the non-rooted plants after two weeks on the MSnoH media (which is supplemented with Hygromycin B and Ticarcillin), then the non-rooted plants are further transferred to the rooting induction medium [RIM; MS salts and vitamins 4.4 gr/L, sucrose 30 gr/L with Ticarcillin 400 mg/L, Indol-3-acetic acid (IAA) (1 mg/L), and α-Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) (2 mg/L)]. After additional two weeks of incubation at 24° C., the plantlets are transferred to 0.5 modified RIM medium [MS modified salts 4.4 gr/L, MS vitamins 103 mg/L, sucrose 30 gr/L with α-Tocopherol (2 mg/L), Indol-3-acetic acid (IAA) (1 mg/L), and α-Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) (2 mg/L)] and are incubated at 28° C. for additional 15-20 days, till the roots appear.
If needed, in the tillering stage the plantlets can grow axillary tillers and eventually become bushy on the above mentioned media (SIM) without Bialaphos or Hygromycin B. Each bush from the same plant (event ID) is then divided to tissue culture boxes (“Humus”) containing “rooting medium” [MS basal salts, 3% sucrose, 3 gr/L phytagel, 2 mg/L α-Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) and 1 mg/L IAA and Ticarcillin 400 mg/L, PH 5.8]. All plants in a “Humus box” are individual plants of the same transformation event.
When plantlets establish roots they are transplanted to the soil and grown in the greenhouse. Before transfer to greenhouse, 20 randomly selected events are tested every month for expression of the BAR_GA gene (SEQ ID NO:39, BAR gene) which is responsible for resistance to Bialaphos, using AgraStrip® LL strip test seed check (Romer labs). Briefly, the expression of the BAR gene is determined as follows: Leaves (about 0.5 cm long leave) are grounded using a pellet pestle in an Eppendorf tube containing 150 μl of water until the water turns green in color. A strip test is then added to the Eppendorf tube and the results are read within 30-60 seconds. Appearance of two pink bands means that the plant is transgenic. On the other hand, appearance of one pink band means that the plant is not transgenic or not expressing BAR gene.
To verify the transgenic status of plants containing the gene of interest, T1 plants are subjected to PCR as previously described by Vogel et al. 2006 [Agrobacterium mediated transformation and inbred line development in the model grass Brachypodium distachyon. Plant Cell Tiss Org. Cult. 85:199-211].
The transgenic Brachypodium plants obtained as described hereinabove were used to validate the effect of the transformed gene(s) on fungal penetration and spreading within the plant by evaluation of fungal penetration and spreading within inoculated seedlings grown under controlled conditions.
Each validation assay evaluates the gene performance by quantitative and/or qualitative measure of specific traits as described in Table 14 below.
The validation assay was performed with inoculated transgenic plants grown under controlled conditions till seedling stage (1-2 tilles).
Transgenic Brachypodium seeds were sown in trays contained sterilized vermiculite soaked with 0.1% BASTA solution for transgenic plants selection. The trays were placed in the refrigerator where they undergo cold treatment for 3 days at 4° C. (stratification step) following by trays placement in controlled growth chamber for germination up to 5 days.
The viable transgenic seedlings were inoculated with a spore solution of Fusarium verticillioides (Fv) at 104 spores/ml s (Fv 149 strain, CFP-tagged and bar resistant) and then transplanted to 180 cm3 pots filled with sterilized vermiculite. The plants were grown up to 14 days in the growth chamber (temperature 26° C.±1, humidity of 50%).
Fungal extraction from each of the biological repeat (6 root or 6 stems) were plated in petri dish with 3 dilution degree and incubated for 5 days in 25° C. Plates were counting for colony forming units (CFU) using florescent binocular and data were transformed to logarithmic scale for further analysis.
Fungal Biomass—Log CFU of fungal root extraction 7 days after inoculation
Fungal Biomass—Log CFU of fungal stem extraction 14 days after inoculation
Statistical analyses—To identify genes conferring significantly improved tolerance to fungal penetration and fungal spreading, the results obtained from the transgenic plants were compared to those obtained from control plants. To identify outperforming genes and constructs, results from the independent transformation events tested were analyzed separately. Analysis was conducted on the log CFU data using Student's t-test. The JMP statistics software package was used (Version 5.2.1, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, N.C., USA).
Table 15 hereinbelow shows the reduction in CFU in the tested infected plants and its significance compared to control plants. Negative numbers indicate increase in the CFU number.
Cloned genes which conferred significant reduction in CFU in at least one transformed plant (event) in two different assays were designated as preferred candidates for conferring and/or enhancing resistance when expressed in the plants. Among these genes are LFS24; LFS49; LFS53; LFS10; LFS9; LFS18; LFS30; LFS36; LFS27; LFS50; LFS19; LFS29; LFS72; LFS8; LFS78; LFS45; LFS7; LFS40; LFS4; LFS47; LFS48; LFS73; LFS74; and LFS75. Cloned genes which enhanced susceptibility to the fungal infection (at least three transformed plants (events) affording >30% susceptibility) were designated as preferred candidates the expression of which is to be reduced (knocked down or knocked out) in order to confer and/or enhance resistance to the fungus. Among these genes are LFS25; LFS39; and LFS59.
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
sorghum
Over-expression of a polypeptide according to certain embodiments of the present invention can be achieved using methods of gene editing. One example of such approach includes editing a selected genomic region as to express the polypeptide of interest. In the current example, the target genomic region is the maize locus GRMZM2G069095 (based on genome version Zea mays AGPv3) and the polypeptide to be over-expressed is the maize LFS24 comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:589 encoded by the polynucleotide having the nucleic acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:138. It is to be explicitly understood that other genome loci can be used as targets for genome editing for over-expressing other polypeptides of the invention based on the same principles.
The complete exemplary repair template (SEQ ID NO:49) is depicted in
The repair template is delivered into the cell type of interest along with the 5′ and 3′ guide RNA sequences (SEQ ID NO:43 and SEQ ID NO:44, respectively).
Knock-out of a polypeptide according to certain embodiments of the present invention can be achieved using methods of gene editing.
In the current example, the target genomic region is the maize LFS39 protein comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:603 encoded by the polynucleotide having the nucleic acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:53. It is to be explicitly understood that other genome loci can be used as targets for genome editing for over-expressing other polypeptides of the invention based on the same principles.
The CRISPR/CAS9 or similar systems can generate double stranded breaks (DSBs) at any genomic locus under the guidance of an engineered single-guide RNA when delivered into the cell type of interest. Non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) in the absence of DNA template accompanied with the modification of target genomic repair the DSBs but tends to be prone to insertion and/or deletion (indel) mutations at the junctional site, causing frame shifts mutations that disrupt the targeted gene. (
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without undue experimentation and without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. The means, materials, and steps for carrying out various disclosed functions may take a variety of alternative forms without departing from the invention.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IL2018/050044 | 1/11/2018 | WO | 00 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62446546 | Jan 2017 | US |
