MODIFIED PLANTS COMPRISING A POLYNUCLEOTIDE COMPRISING A NON-COGNATE PROMOTER OPERABLY LINKED TO A CODING SEQUENCE THAT ENCODES A TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to modified plants comprising a polynucleotide comprising a promoter operably linked to a coding sequence, and more particularly to such plants wherein the coding sequence encodes a transcription factor that has at least 30% sequence identity to one or more of SEQ ID NOs: 27, 204, 10, 19, 1-9, 11-18, 20-26, 28-203, 205, 237, or 242-310, and the promoter is non-cognate with respect to the coding sequence.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The world faces a major challenge in the next 35 years to meet the increased demands for food production to feed a growing global population, which is expected to reach 9 billion by the year 2050. Food output will need to be increased by up to 60% in view of the growing population.

Major agricultural crops include food crops, such as maize, wheat, oats, barley, soybean, millet, sorghum, potato, pulse, bean, tomato, rice, cassava, sugar beets, and potatoes, among others, forage crop plants, such as hay, alfalfa, and silage corn, among others, and oilseed crops, such as camelina, Brassica species (e.g. B. napus (canola), B. rapa, B. juncea, and B. carinata), crambe, soybean, sunflower, safflower, oil palm, flax, and cotton, among others. Crop yield can also be reduced as a consequence of weather patterns, such as heat waves, freezing temperatures, drought or flooding conditions in a particular growing season. With intensive farming practices crop pests or diseases can also reduce yield.

During the late 1980's and early 1990's genetic engineering or transgenic plants were used for the first time to develop crops which are herbicide tolerant and/or pest or disease resistant by introducing genes from the most readily available source at the time, microorganisms, to impart these new functionalities. Unfortunately, “transgenic plants” or “GMO crops” or “biotech traits” are not widely accepted in a number of different jurisdictions and are subject to regulatory approval processes which are very time consuming and prohibitively expensive. The current regulatory framework for transgenic plants results in significant costs (˜$136 million per trait; McDougall, P. 2011, The cost and time involved in the discovery, development, and authorization of a new plant biotechnology derived trait. Crop Life International, website: //croplife.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf files/Getting-a-Biotech-Crop-to-Market-Phillips-McDougall-Study.pdf) and lengthy product development timelines that limit the number of technologies that are brought to market. These risks have severely impaired private investment and the adoption of innovation in this crucial sector. Recent advances in genome editing technologies provide an opportunity to precisely remove or inactivate specific plant genes or to alter their expression by modifying their promoter sequences to improve plant performance (Belhaj, K. 2013, Plant Methods, 9, 39; Khandagale & Nadal, 2016, Plant Biotechnol Rep, 10, 327). More importantly genome editing enables the ability to do this with combinations of gene targets either sequentially or simultaneously. The challenge then is to identify which genes to modify by genome editing to improve plant performance.

Plant scientists have been able to identify the ancient ancestors of modern major agricultural crops and have begun to map the key genetic changes that have taken place through the crop domestication process resulting in these crops. Many of these changes have resulted from the modification of the activity of key plant regulator genes or transcription factors. A classic example is the domestication of modern corn from the ancient plant Teosinte (Matsuoka, Y. et al., 2002, PNAS, 99, 6080-6084). Today we know that the modern corn genome contains around 39,000 genes and about 2,500 of these are transcription factors (Lin, et. al., 2014, BMC Genomics, 15, 818-820). Based on the teosinte-domestication-to-corn analogy it might seem reasonable to assume that by altering the activity of a relatively small number of transcription factors in plants used for food and feed production, significant improvements in crop performance could be achieved. For example it may be possible to improve the performance of corn substantially using genome editing tools to modify the expression of transcription factor genes. However, simple analysis explains why it is not feasible to consider testing these one by one and/or in all combinations. To test all two-transcription-factor-gene combinations would require over 3.3 million individual experiments.

Clearly there is a need to develop systems and approaches to identifying small numbers of transcription factors whose expression can be modified alone or in combinations to improve crop performance.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the current invention to provide methods, materials and plants useful for identifying a number of transcription factor genes, and transcription factor gene combinations, as targets for modification to improve crop performance. It is a further objective of this invention to provide DNA and RNA sequences for modifying or editing these transcription factor genes and transcription factor gene combinations to modulate their expression or activity and improve the performance of plants.

Plants of interest include a crop plant, a model plant, a monocotyledonous plant, a dicotyledonous plant, a plant with C3 photosynthesis, a plant with C4 photosynthesis, an annual plant, or a perennial plant. More preferably, the crop is selected from Camelina sativa, canola, soybean, maize, rice, and wheat, crops where seed is the harvested product.

The modified crop exhibits one or more enhanced characteristics selected from higher seed yield, improved harvest index, higher individual seed weight, higher seed oil content, faster seed germination and plant emergence, improved seedling vigor, higher photosynthesis rates, reduced photorespiration rates, improved nutritional composition, drought resistance, flood resistance, disease resistance, higher CO₂assimilation rate, and lower transpiration rate relative to a control plant.

A modified plant is provided. The modified plant comprises a polynucleotide comprising a promoter operably linked to a coding sequence, wherein:

(a) the coding sequence encodes a transcription factor that has at least 30% sequence identity to one or more of SEQ ID NOs: 27, 204, 10, 19, 1-9, 11-18, 20-26, 28-203, 205, 237, or 242-310; and

(b) the promoter is non-cognate with respect to the coding sequence.

In some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of LOB domain-containing protein 42-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 27. In some of these embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 27.

In some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein 54-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 204. In some of these embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 204.

In some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 10. In some of these embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 10.

In some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of putative two-component response regulator ARR21 protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 19. In some of these embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 19.

In some embodiments, the modified plant comprises the polynucleotide based on introduction of the polynucleotide by a transformation procedure. In some of these embodiments, the non-cognate promoter comprises a constitutive promoter. Also in some of these embodiments, the non-cognate promoter comprises a seed-specific promoter. Also in some of these embodiments, the modified plant exhibits increased expression of the transcription factor in at least one tissue in comparison to a reference plant not comprising the polynucleotide. In some of these embodiments, the at least one tissue comprises a seed tissue.

In some embodiments, the coding sequence occurs naturally at a location in the genome of the modified plant, and the modified plant comprises the polynucleotide based on editing of an endogenous promoter that is operably linked to the coding sequence at the location in the genome to make the non-cognate promoter operably linked to the coding sequence at the location in the genome. In some of these embodiments, the editing increases strength of the non-cognate promoter in comparison to the endogenous promoter. Also in some of these embodiments, the editing increases tissue specificity of the non-cognate promoter in comparison to the endogenous promoter. Also in some of these embodiments, the modified plant exhibits increased expression of the transcription factor in at least one tissue in comparison to a reference plant not comprising the polynucleotide. In some of these embodiments, the at least one tissue comprises a seed tissue.

In some embodiments, the modified plant is Camelina sativa, canola, soybean, maize, rice, or wheat. In some of these embodiments, the modified plant is Camelina sativa.

In some embodiments, the modified plant has one or more of the following traits:

(i) a seed yield that is at least 5% higher, at least 10% higher, at least 20% higher, at least 40% higher, at least 60% higher, at least 80% higher, or at least 100% higher in comparison to a reference plant not comprising the polynucleotide; or

(ii) a seed oil content that is at least 5% higher, at least 10% higher, at least 20% higher, at least 40% higher, at least 60% higher, at least 80% higher, or at least 100% higher in comparison to a reference plant not comprising the polynucleotide.

A method for producing a modified plant having increased seed yield and/or oil content in comparison to a reference plant by transformation also is provided. The method comprises:

(1) transforming one or more host plants or plant cells with a genetic construct comprising a polynucleotide comprising a promoter operably linked to a coding sequence, wherein:

(a) the coding sequence encodes a transcription factor that has at least 30% sequence identity to one or more of SEQ ID NOs: 27, 204, 10, 19, 1-9, 11-18, 20-26, 28-203, 205, 237, or 242-310; and

(b) the promoter is non-cognate with respect to the coding sequence, and

(2) selecting a transformed plant or plant cell in which the polynucleotide is stably maintained, thereby obtaining the modified plant, wherein the reference plant does not comprise the polynucleotide.

In some embodiments, the non-cognate promoter comprises a constitutive promoter.

In some embodiments, the non-cognate promoter comprises a seed-specific promoter.

In some embodiments, the modified plant exhibits increased expression of the transcription factor in at least one tissue in comparison to the reference plant. In some of these embodiments, the at least one tissue comprises a seed tissue.

In some embodiments, the modified plant is Camelina sativa, canola, soybean, maize, rice, or wheat. In some of these embodiments, the modified plant is Camelina sativa.

In some embodiments, the modified plant has one or more of the following traits:

A method for producing a modified plant having increased seed yield and/or oil content in comparison to a reference plant by editing also is provided. The method comprises:

(1) editing the genome of one or more host plants or plant cells to comprise a polynucleotide comprising a promoter operably linked to a coding sequence, wherein:

(a) the coding sequence encodes a transcription factor that has at least 30% sequence identity to one or more of SEQ ID NOs: 27, 204, 10, 19, 1-9, 11-18, 20-26, 28-203, 205, 237, or 242-310;

(b) the promoter is non-cognate with respect to the coding sequence;

(d) the editing is of an endogenous promoter that is operably linked to the coding sequence at the location in the genome to make the non-cognate promoter operably linked to the coding sequence at the location in the genome, and

(2) selecting an edited plant or plant cell in which the polynucleotide is stably maintained, thereby obtaining the modified plant, wherein the reference plant does not comprise the polynucleotide.

In some embodiments, the editing increases strength of the non-cognate promoter in comparison to the endogenous promoter.

In some embodiments, the editing increases tissue specificity of the non-cognate promoter in comparison to the endogenous promoter.

In some embodiments, the modified plant exhibits increased expression of the transcription factor in at least one tissue in comparison to a reference plant not comprising the polynucleotide. In some of these embodiments, the at least one tissue comprises a seed tissue.

In some embodiments, the modified plant is Camelina sativa, canola, soybean, maize, rice, or wheat. In some of these embodiments, the modified plant is Camelina sativa.

In some embodiments, the modified plant has one or more of the following traits:

Exemplary embodiments include the following:

Embodiment 1. A modified plant comprising a polynucleotide comprising a promoter operably linked to a coding sequence, wherein:

(a) the coding sequence encodes a transcription factor that has at least 30% sequence identity to one or more of SEQ ID NOs: 27, 204, 10, 19, 1-9, 11-18, 20-26, 28-203, 205, 237, or 242-310; and

(b) the promoter is non-cognate with respect to the coding sequence.

Embodiment 2. The modified plant according to embodiment 1, wherein the transcription factor is an ortholog of LOB domain-containing protein 42-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 27.

Embodiment 3. The modified plant according to embodiment 2, wherein the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 27.

Embodiment 4: The modified plant according to embodiment 1, wherein the transcription factor is an ortholog of zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein 54-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 204.

Embodiment 5: The modified plant according to embodiment 4, wherein the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 204.

Embodiment 6: The modified plant according to embodiment 1, wherein the transcription factor is an ortholog of dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 10.

Embodiment 7: The modified plant according to embodiment 6, wherein the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 10.

Embodiment 8: The modified plant according to embodiment 1, wherein the transcription factor is an ortholog of putative two-component response regulator ARR21 protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 19.

Embodiment 9: The modified plant according to embodiment 8, wherein the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 19.

Embodiment 10: The modified plant according to any one of embodiments 1-9, wherein the modified plant comprises the polynucleotide based on introduction of the polynucleotide by a transformation procedure.

Embodiment 11: The modified plant according to embodiment 10, wherein the non-cognate promoter comprises a constitutive promoter.

Embodiment 12: The modified plant according to embodiment 10, wherein the non-cognate promoter comprises a seed-specific promoter.

Embodiment 13: The modified plant according to any one of embodiments 10-12, wherein the modified plant exhibits increased expression of the transcription factor in at least one tissue in comparison to a reference plant not comprising the polynucleotide.

Embodiment 14: The modified plant according to embodiment 13, wherein the at least one tissue comprises a seed tissue.

Embodiment 15: The modified plant according to any one of embodiments 1-14, wherein the coding sequence occurs naturally at a location in the genome of the modified plant, and the modified plant comprises the polynucleotide based on editing of an endogenous promoter that is operably linked to the coding sequence at the location in the genome to make the non-cognate promoter operably linked to the coding sequence at the location in the genome.

Embodiment 16: The modified plant according to embodiment 15, wherein the editing increases strength of the non-cognate promoter in comparison to the endogenous promoter.

Embodiment 17: The modified plant according to embodiment 15 or 16, wherein the editing increases tissue specificity of the non-cognate promoter in comparison to the endogenous promoter.

Embodiment 18: The modified plant according to any one of embodiments 15-17, wherein the modified plant exhibits increased expression of the transcription factor in at least one tissue in comparison to a reference plant not comprising the polynucleotide.

Embodiment 19: The modified plant according to embodiment 18, wherein the at least one tissue comprises a seed tissue.

Embodiment 20: The modified plant according to any one of embodiments 1-19, wherein the modified plant is Camelina sativa, canola, soybean, maize, rice, or wheat.

Embodiment 21: The modified plant according to embodiment 20, wherein the modified plant is Camelina sativa.

Embodiment 22: The modified plant according to any one of embodiments 1-21, wherein the modified plant has one or more of the following traits:

Embodiment 23: A method for producing a modified plant having increased seed yield and/or oil content in comparison to a reference plant by transformation, the method comprising:

(1) transforming one or more host plants or plant cells with a genetic construct comprising a polynucleotide comprising a promoter operably linked to a coding sequence, wherein:

(a) the coding sequence encodes a transcription factor that has at least 30% sequence identity to one or more of SEQ ID NOs: 27, 204, 10, 19, 1-9, 11-18, 20-26, 28-203, 205, 237, or 242-310; and

(b) the promoter is non-cognate with respect to the coding sequence, and

Embodiment 24: The method according to embodiment 23, wherein the transcription factor is an ortholog of LOB domain-containing protein 42-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 27.

Embodiment 25: The method according to embodiment 24, wherein the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 27.

Embodiment 26: The method according to embodiment 23, wherein the transcription factor is an ortholog of zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein 54-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 204.

Embodiment 27: The method according to embodiment 26, wherein the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 204.

Embodiment 28: The method according to embodiment 23, wherein the transcription factor is an ortholog of dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 10.

Embodiment 29: The method according to embodiment 28, wherein the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 10.

Embodiment 30: The method according to embodiment 23, wherein the transcription factor is an ortholog of putative two-component response regulator ARR21 protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 19.

Embodiment 31: The method according to embodiment 30, wherein the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 19.

Embodiment 32: The method according to any one of embodiment 23-31, wherein the non-cognate promoter comprises a constitutive promoter.

Embodiment 33: The method according to any one of embodiments 23-31, wherein the non-cognate promoter comprises a seed-specific promoter.

Embodiment 34: The method according to any one of embodiments 23-33, wherein the modified plant exhibits increased expression of the transcription factor in at least one tissue in comparison to the reference plant.

Embodiment 35: The method according to embodiment 34, wherein the at least one tissue comprises a seed tissue.

Embodiment 36: The method according to any one of embodiments 23-35, wherein the modified plant is Camelina sativa, canola, soybean, maize, rice, or wheat.

Embodiment 37: The method according to embodiment 36, wherein the modified plant is Camelina sativa.

Embodiment 38: The method according to any one of embodiments 23-37, wherein the modified plant has one or more of the following traits:

Embodiment 39: A method for producing a modified plant having increased seed yield and/or oil content in comparison to a reference plant by editing, the method comprising:

(1) editing the genome of one or more host plants or plant cells to comprise a polynucleotide comprising a promoter operably linked to a coding sequence, wherein:

(a) the coding sequence encodes a transcription factor that has at least 30% sequence identity to one or more of SEQ ID NOs: 27, 204, 10, 19, 1-9, 11-18, 20-26, 28-203, 205, 237, or 242-310;

(b) the promoter is non-cognate with respect to the coding sequence;

(2) selecting an edited plant or plant cell in which the polynucleotide is stably maintained, thereby obtaining the modified plant, wherein the reference plant does not comprise the polynucleotide.

Embodiment 40: The method according to embodiment 39, wherein the transcription factor is an ortholog of LOB domain-containing protein 42-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 27.

Embodiment 41: The method according to embodiment 40, wherein the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 27.

Embodiment 42: The method according to embodiment 39, wherein the transcription factor is an ortholog of zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein 54-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 204.

Embodiment 43: The method according to embodiment 42, wherein the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 204.

Embodiment 44: The method according to embodiment 39, wherein the transcription factor is an ortholog of dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 10.

Embodiment 45: The method according to embodiment 44, wherein the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 10.

Embodiment 46: The method according to embodiment 39, wherein the transcription factor is an ortholog of putative two-component response regulator ARR21 protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 19.

Embodiment 47: The method according to embodiment 46, wherein the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 19.

Embodiment 48: The method according to any one of embodiments 39-47, wherein the editing increases strength of the non-cognate promoter in comparison to the endogenous promoter.

Embodiment 49: The method according to any one of embodiments 39-48, wherein the editing increases tissue specificity of the non-cognate promoter in comparison to the endogenous promoter.

Embodiment 50: The method according to any one of embodiments 39-49, wherein the modified plant exhibits increased expression of the transcription factor in at least one tissue in comparison to a reference plant not comprising the polynucleotide.

Embodiment 51: The method according to embodiment 50, wherein the at least one tissue comprises a seed tissue.

Embodiment 52: The method according to any one of embodiments 39-51, wherein the modified plant is Camelina sativa, canola, soybean, maize, rice, or wheat.

Embodiment 53: The method according to embodiment 52, wherein the modified plant is Camelina sativa.

Embodiment 54: The method according to any one of embodiments 39-53, wherein the modified plant has one or more of the following traits:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates the work flow for analysis of the co-expression modules identified through Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA).

FIG. 2 illustrates a graph showing the total number of transcription factors and transcription factor families in the brown module.

FIG. 3 illustrates genetic components at different stages of the Cas enzyme mediated genome editing process using the Cas9 enzyme as an example. Delivery of the genetic components can be achieved in multiple ways. Genetic transformation can be used to deliver the expression construct depicted in (A) into a plant cell. Transcription of (A) will produce the single guide RNA (sgRNA) depicted in (B). The sgRNA will complex with the Cas9 enzyme (that is delivered separately through genetic transformation or other means) and achieve the structure depicted in (C) to promote cleavage of the target genomic DNA at the “guide target sequence”. Alternatively, the sgRNA (B) can be synthesized in vitro and introduced into cells, often in the form of Ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs) that contain Cas9 protein to produce the structure depicted in (C) to promote cleavage of the target genomic DNA at the “guide target sequence”. When using plant transformation techniques, the expression cassette (A) for production of the sgRNA is composed of a promoter, often a plant RNA polymerase III promoter, DNA encoding the “guide” of the sgRNA, DNA encoding a “guide RNA scaffold” (gRNA Sc), and a poly T-termination signal. The combination of the “guide” and the “guide RNA scaffold” are necessary to form a functional sgRNA. The DNA encoding the guide portion of the sgRNA in (A) is often identical to the “guide target sequence” of the genomic DNA to be cut in (C), however several mismatches, depending on their position, can be tolerated and still promote double stranded DNA cleavage. The guide portion of the sgRNA pairs with this complementary DNA sequence to be mutated (referred to as guide target sequence #3 in figure) that is adjacent to a 3′ protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) (C), an additional requirement for target recognition, and double stranded DNA cleavage occurs. When using the Cas9 enzyme for cleavage, all guide target sequences are typically ˜20-nucleotides adjacent to a 3′ PAM sequence of (NGG) to initiate cleavage by the Cas9 enzyme. When using the Cpf1 enzyme for cleavage, guide target sequences are typically ˜23 nucleotides adjacent to a 5′ PAM sequence that varies with the specific enzyme.

FIG. 4 illustrates the strategy for promoter replacement to change the expression pattern of a transcription factor using CRISPR genome editing. A. Guide target sequences (˜20 nt) in genomic DNA that are adjacent to a 3′ PAM sequence of (NGG) are identified in the region of the endogenous promoter to be replaced. DNA cassettes encoding sgRNA (See FIG. 3A) are designed to bind the genomic DNA at the identified guide target sequences to promote DNA cleavage and excision of the promoter DNA. In this example, guide target sequences identified for the design of three different sgRNAs are depicted in the promoter region. Pairs of sgRNAs can be used to excise regions of the promoter DNA for insertion of the new promoter replacement cassette, or alternatively, one sgRNA can be used. B. Cassettes for delivery into plant cells to achieve promoter replacement include i. a cassette to deliver the new promoter flanked by regions homologous to each side of the nuclease cut site [left and right flanking regions in (B), the flanking regions can additionally be flanked by guide target sequences and an adjacent PAM site to promote release of the cassette by Cas9 from a construct or other DNA]; ii. an expression cassette for the Cas9 nuclease or other site specific nuclease; and iii. an expression cassette(s) for DNA encoding sgRNAs to target cut sites that excise a portion or the whole promoter region. These cassettes can be transformed into the plant separately or on the same DNA through a variety of plant transformation methods including protoplast transformation, particle bombardment, nanotube or nanoparticle mediated DNA delivery (Kwak et al., 2019, Nature Nanotechnology, DOI 10.1038/s41565-019-0375-4) (Demirer et al, 2019, Nature Nanotechnology, DOI 10.1038/s41565-019-0382-5), and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The sgRNAs initiate a Cas9-induced double stranded DNA cleavage at the guide target sequence (or sgRNA binding site) in (A), whose sequence is complementary to the guide portion of the sgRNA. The regions of the promoter insertion cassette homologous to each side of the nuclease cut site direct the cassette's insertion into genomic DNA through the plants endogenous homology directed repair mechanism C. Alternatively, CRISPR mediated promoter replacement can be achieved through the use of Ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs). The RNPs are created from a promoter insertion cassette, purified Cas9 enzyme, and synthesized sgRNA1 and sgRNA3 molecules. RNPs can be created and transformed into protoplasts as previously described by Woo et al., Nature Biotechnology, 2015, 33, 1162-1164. Nanoparticles or nanotubes capable of delivering biomolecules to plants can also be used (for review see Cunningham, 2018, Trends Biotechnol., 36, 882). D. Structure of the edited plant genomic DNA containing the new heterologous promoter inserted at the positions of Guide target sequences #1 and #3, that is created through (B) genetic transformation of cassettes or (C) delivery of RNPs.

FIG. 5 illustrates cassettes for insertion into the genome at a Cas nuclease cleavage site to modulate the level of expression of the transcription factor. A. Schematic of the plant genomic DNA to be modified showing the positioning of three guide target DNA sequences (a, b, and c). The guide target sequences are adjacent to PAM sequences. B. Cassettes to be inserted to modulate expression of the transcription factor can be selected from one or more of the following: i. an expression cassette for a second copy of a transcription factor of interest containing a heterologous promoter (designated promoter x), the coding sequence (CDS) of the transcription factor, and a 3′ UTR (designated 3′UTR X). In this example, the insertion of this cassette is targeted to a genomic region where an sgRNA capable of binding to guide target sequence a will initiate a Cas9-induced double stranded DNA cleavage. The promoter insertion cassette is flanked by regions homologous to each side of the nuclease cut site to direct the cassette's insertion through the plant's endogenous homology directed repair mechanism. ii. a cassette for insertion of an intron between the promoter and the start codon of the gene. In this example, the insertion of the intron cassette is targeted to a genomic region where an sgRNA capable of binding to guide target sequence b will initiate a Cas9-induced double stranded DNA cleavage in a region near the 5′ UTR and the start codon of the transcription factor gene. The intron insertion cassette is flanked by regions homologous to each side of the nuclease cut site to direct the cassette's insertion through the plants endogenous homology directed repair mechanism. iii. a cassette for insertion of a promoter enhancer upstream of the endogenous promoter. In this example, the insertion of the enhancer cassette is targeted to a genomic region where an sgRNA capable of binding to guide target sequence c will initiate a Cas9-induced double stranded DNA cleavage. The enhancer insertion cassette is flanked by regions homologous to each side of the nuclease cut site to direct the cassette's insertion through the plant's endogenous homology directed repair mechanism. C. Illustration of the products of site-directed insertion for cassette i, ii, and/or iii into genomic DNA. While the illustration shows insertion of all three cassettes, one skilled in the art will understand that insertion(s) can be selected from one or more cassettes.

FIGS. 6-9 illustrate the in silico expression profile of LLBD42 (SEQ ID NO: 238), PEI1 (SEQ ID NO: 239), DOF4.4 (SEQ ID NO: 240), and ARR21 (SEQ ID NO: 241), respectively, in various organs and developmental tissues of Camelina. Data were retrieved from the Camelina Electronic Fluorescent Pictograph browser (website: //bar.utoronto.ca/efp_camelina/cgi-bin/efpWeb.cgi). Graphs depict the plant developmental stage on the x-axis and the expression signal in units of TPM (transcript per million) on the y-axis. The organs and developmental tissues are (1) cotyledon, (2) early mid seed development (EMSD), (3) early seed development (ESD), (4) flower, (5) germinating seed, (6) inflorescence, (7) late seed development (LSD), (8) late mid seed development (LMSD), (9) mature leaf, (10) root, (11) stem, and (12) young leaf.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following terms, unless otherwise indicated, shall be understood to have the following meanings:

As used herein we use the terms “crops” and “plants” interchangeably.

“Gene” refers to a nucleic acid fragment that expresses a specific protein, including regulatory sequences preceding (5′ non-coding sequences) and following (3′ non-coding sequences) the coding sequence. “Native gene” refers to a gene as found in nature with its own regulatory sequences. “Chimeric gene” or “recombinant expression construct”, which are used interchangeably, refers to any gene that is not a native gene, comprising regulatory and coding sequences that are not found together in nature. A “Cis-genic gene” is a chimeric gene where the DNA sequences making up the gene are from the same plant species or a sexually compatible plant species where the cis-genic gene is deployed in the same species from which the DNA sequences were obtained. Accordingly, a chimeric gene may comprise regulatory sequences and coding sequences that are derived from different sources, or regulatory sequences and coding sequences derived from the same source, but arranged in a manner different than that found in nature. “Endogenous gene” refers to a native gene in its natural location in the genome of an organism. A “foreign” gene refers to a gene not normally found in the host organism, but that is introduced into the host organism by gene transfer. Foreign genes can comprise native genes inserted into a non-native organism, or chimeric genes. A “transgene” is a gene that has been introduced into the genome by a transformation procedure. As used herein the term “coding sequence” refers to a DNA sequence which codes for a specific amino acid sequence. “Regulatory sequences” refer to nucleotide sequences located upstream (5′ non-coding sequences), within, or downstream (3′ non-coding sequences) of a coding sequence, and which influence the transcription, RNA processing or stability, or translation of the associated coding sequence. Regulatory sequences may include, but are not limited to, promoters, translation leader sequences, introns, and polyadenylation recognition sequences. As used herein “gene” includes protein coding regions of the specific genes and the regulatory sequences both 5′ and 3′ which control the expression of the gene.

As used herein a “modified plant” refers to non-naturally occurring plants or crops engineered as described throughout herein.

As used herein a “control plant” means a plant that has not been modified as described in the present disclosure to impart an enhanced trait or altered phenotype. A control plant is used to identify and select a modified plant that has an enhanced trait or altered phenotype. For instance, a control plant can be a plant that has not been modified or has not been genome edited to express or to inhibit its endogenous gene product. A suitable control plant can be a non-transgenic plant of the parental line used to generate a transgenic plant, for example, a wild type plant devoid of a recombinant DNA. A suitable control plant can also be a transgenic plant that contains recombinant DNA that imparts other traits, for example, a transgenic plant having enhanced herbicide tolerance. A suitable control plant can in some cases be a progeny of a hemizygous transgenic plant line that does not contain the recombinant DNA, known as a negative segregant, or a negative isogenic line.

As used herein the term “seed oil yield” or “seed oil content” refers to oil content of a seed as measured, e.g., expressed on the basis of seed dry weight.

As used herein the term “seed yield” refers to an increase or decrease in the % weight in an amount greater than an otherwise identical plant, cultured under identical conditions, but lacking any corresponding modification, e.g., gene editing or the transgene in a control plant.

As used herein the terms “biomass yield” or “biomass content” refer to increase or decrease in the % dry weight in an amount greater than an otherwise identical plant, cultured under identical conditions, but lacking any corresponding modification, e.g., gene editing or the transgene in a control plant.

As used herein, the terms “increase activity”, “increase expression” or “upregulated” are used interchangeably and mean the activity of the transcription factor is increased or higher than the expression of the same gene in the same plant species before the gene was modified as described herein. The term also encompasses the situation where the activity of the transcription factor gene is upregulated in a tissue or at a stage of plant development as compared to the activity of the transcription factor gene in the tissue or developmental stage before the gene was modified. Upregulation should be understood to include an increase in the level or activity of a target gene in a cell and/or an increase in the expression of a particular target polypeptide in a cell which normally expresses the target polypeptide. For instance, a 1%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, 2-fold, 5-fold, 10-fold, 20-fold, 50-fold, 100-fold increase in the level of activity of a target polypeptide in the cell. With respect to term “2-fold increase”, “upregulated 2-fold” and 100% increase are used interchangeably.

As used herein, the terms “reduce activity,” “reduce expression,” “decreased activity,” “decreased expression,” “down-regulating,” or “downregulated” are used interchangeably and mean the activity of the transcription factor is reduced or lower than the expression of the same gene in the same plant species before the gene was modified as described herein. Downregulation should be understood to include a decrease in the level or activity of a target gene in a cell and/or substantially complete inhibition of a particular target polypeptide in a cell which normally expresses the target polypeptide. For instance, a 1%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, 2-fold, 5-fold, 10-fold, 20-fold, 50-fold, 100-fold decrease in the level of activity of a target polypeptide in the cell. With respect to term “2-fold reduction”, “downregulated 2-fold” and 100% decrease is used interchangeably.

“Codon degeneracy” refers to divergence in the genetic code permitting variation of the nucleotide sequence without affecting the amino acid sequence of an encoded polypeptide. Accordingly, the instant invention relates to any nucleic acid fragment comprising a nucleotide sequence that encodes all or a substantial portion of the amino acid sequences set forth herein. The skilled artisan is well aware of the “codon-bias” exhibited by a specific host cell in usage of nucleotide codons to specify a given amino acid. Therefore, when synthesizing a nucleic acid fragment for increased expression in a host cell, it is desirable to design the nucleic acid fragment such that its frequency of codon usage approaches the frequency of preferred codon usage of the host cell.

As used herein, “sequence identity” or “identity” in the context of two polynucleotides or polypeptide sequences makes reference to the residues in the two sequences that are the same when aligned for maximum correspondence over a specified comparison window. 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). When sequences differ in conservative substitutions, the percent sequence identity may be adjusted upwards to correct for the conservative nature of the substitution. Sequences that differ by such conservative substitutions are said 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 percent 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., as implemented in the program PC/GENE (Intelligenetics, Mountain View, Calif.).

As used herein, “percent sequence identity” means the value determined by comparing two aligned sequences over a comparison window, wherein the portion of the polynucleotide sequence in the comparison window may comprise additions or deletions (i.e., gaps) as compared to the reference sequence (which does not comprise additions or deletions) for optimal alignment of the two sequences. The percentage is calculated by determining the number of positions at which the identical nucleic acid base or amino acid residue occurs in both sequences to yield the number of matched positions, dividing the number of matched positions by the total number of positions in the window of comparison, and multiplying the result by 100 to yield the percent sequence identity.

The “percent sequence identity” between two or more polypeptides can be determined, for example, by using the ALIGNX alignment function of the Vector NTI software package (Vector NTI Advance, Version 11.5.3, ThermoFisher), which uses the Clustal W algorithm. Default parameters of the program can be used. The percentage of sequence identity between three or more polypeptides can be determined by using the Clustal Omega Multiple Sequence Alignment Tool (website: www.ebi.ac.uk/Tools/msa/clustalo/). Default parameters can be used. The percentage of sequence identity between two polypeptides also can be determined by making a pairwise sequence alignment. This can be done using EMBOSS Needle Pairwise Sequence Alignment (PROTEIN) tool using default settings (matrix: BLOSUM62; gap open: 10; gap extend: 0.5; output format: pair; end gap penalty: false; end gap open: 10; end gap extend: 0.5) (website: ebi.ac.uk/Tools/psa/emboss_needle/). This also can be done using other pairwise sequence alignment tools that are analogous.

The term “plant” includes whole plant, mature plants, seeds, shoots and seedlings, and parts, propagation material, plant organ tissue, protoplasts, callus and other cultures, for example cell cultures, derived from plants belonging to the plant subkingdom Embryophyta, and all other species of groups of plant cells giving functional or structural units, also belonging to the plant subkingdom Embryophyta. The term “mature plants” refers to plants at any developmental stage beyond the seedling. The term “seedlings” refers to young, immature plants at an early developmental stage.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure relates to transcription factor genes in specific crop species whose expression or activity can be modulated to increase crop performance and crops having increased or reduced expression of these transcription factor genes alone and in combinations which have improved performance compared to the same plants with normal expression levels of these genes. Also disclosed are specific transcription factor gene sequences, DNA sequences, protein sequences and materials and methods for modifying plant cells and plants such that they have increased or reduced expression of the transcription factor genes, methods for identifying plant cells and plants with increased or reduced expression of the transcription factor genes and methods for producing fertile plants with increased or reduced expression of the transcription factor genes wherein the modified plants have improved performance as compared to the same plants before they were modified to increase or reduce the expression of these genes.

Transcriptome-based gene regulatory association networks can be used to identify transcription factors associated with a trait (Skraly et al., 2018, Plant Science, 273, 23-32). These networks have been previously used to identify transcription factors associated with starch biosynthesis (Fu et al., 2010, Plant Physiol., 154, 927-938), higher grain yield and stress tolerance (Ambavaram et al., 2014, Nat. Commun., 5, 5302), seed desiccation tolerance (Gonzalez-Morales et al., 2016, PNAS, 113, E5232-E5241), and wheat spike architecture (Wang et al., 2017, Plant Physiol., 175, 746-757).

Transcriptome-based gene regulatory association networks are generated using expression data obtained from RNA sequencing (RNA-SEQ) or microarray analysis of plants. Large-scale data sets from plants grown under a variety of conditions are available for some plants from public databases and are useful for creating these co-expression networks to probe the transcriptional organization of a particular plant and to identify key transcription factors that control a trait.

In various aspects, the present invention provides transcription factor genes useful for practicing the disclosed invention and include, depending on the identity of the transcription factor, those that can function as negative controllers or feedback controllers, or those that can function as positive controllers in plants. Plants evolved over millennia simply to survive and reproduce before the involvement of humans to domesticate specific plants which we recognize today as the major food and feed crops. During the domestication process the intervention of humans either through agronomic practices or through crop breeding led to the “unnatural” selection of crops for specific purposes, for example corn for grain yield, and sorghum and alfalfa for forage applications. There is genetic evidence from the domestication of teosinte to corn (maize) that the downregulation or reduced expression of transcription factors was important in achieving the performance and grain yield of the modern crop. Transcription factors function to either increase the activity of specific metabolic pathways or gene regulatory networks in plants or to decrease them. Herein we have identified transcription factors in crops some of which may act as negative controllers of key plant systems related to crop performance, and other which may act as positive controllers. It is well known in the field of metabolic engineering (synthetic biology) that a key to increasing the yield of a particular target product is to remove the negative control steps in the metabolic systems or pathways related to the target of interest. Without wishing to be bound by the theory, we believe one way to significantly improve the performance of crops is to identify and remove or down regulate key negative control points alone and in combinations in plant genes involved in gene regulation and metabolism.

It is also well known in the field of metabolic engineering that some regulators are positive regulators and that a key to increasing the yield of a particular target product is to increase the expression of these genes to improve the metabolic efficiency of the metabolic systems or pathways related to the target of interest. Without wishing to be bound by the theory, we believe one way to significantly improve the performance of crops is to identify these positive regulators and increase their expression alone and in combinations in plant genes involved in gene regulation and metabolism.

Herein we disclose transcription factor genes that have been identified through the use of co-expression networks. Using co-expression networks built on Camelina sativa RNA-Sequencing data, transcription factors (TFs) predicted to increase seed yield and/or oil content in oilseeds were identified.

Depending on the targeted TF and its function in plant metabolism, it may be desirable to increase its expression, reduce its expression, or eliminate its expression. Methods are described to enable each of these expression strategies.

Modified Plants

A modified plant is provided. The modified plant comprises a polynucleotide comprising a promoter operably linked to a coding sequence.

The coding sequence encodes a transcription factor that has at least 30% sequence identity to one or more of SEQ ID NOs: 27, 204, 10, 19, 1-9, 11-18, 20-26, 28-203, 205, 237, or 242-310.

SEQ ID NO: 27 is a predicted LOB domain-containing protein 42-like protein (also termed LBD42) transcription factor of Camelina sativa. The corresponding Camelina sativa gene (SEQ ID NO: 238) was identified as a candidate gene for engineering increased seed yield and/or oil content in an oilseed based on being a Hub gene in a co-expression network, as discussed below. The Camelina sativa LBD42 protein is predicted to be a LOB domain-containing protein 42-like protein transcription factor based in part on sharing 95.71% sequence identity with LOB domain-containing protein 42-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana (SEQ ID NO: 311). Predicted orthologs include LBD42 proteins in soybean (SEQ ID NO: 318), canola (SEQ ID NO: 322), and rice (SEQ ID NO: 326). The Camelina sativa LBD42 protein shares 55.20%, 89.74%, and 54.50% sequence identities with these orthologs, respectively.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of LOB domain-containing protein 42-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 27. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises one or more of SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 318, SEQ ID NO: 322, or SEQ ID NO: 326. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 27.

Also, in some embodiments the transcription factor is LOB domain-containing protein 42-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana of SEQ ID NO: 311.

SEQ ID NO: 204 is a predicted zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein 54-like protein (also termed PEI1) transcription factor of Camelina sativa. The corresponding Camelina sativa gene (SEQ ID NO: 239) was identified as a candidate gene for engineering increased seed yield and/or oil content in an oilseed based on (1) its high correlation to pathways that influence seed yield and/or oil content, (2) its strong expression at early, mid, and late seed developmental stages, and (3) the unique regulation of target genes by PEI1 as predicted by PlantRegMap, as discussed below. The Camelina sativa PEI1 protein is predicted to be a zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein 54-like protein transcription factor based in part on sharing 89.34%% sequence identity with zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein 54-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana (SEQ ID NO: 312). Predicted orthologs include PEI1 proteins in maize (SEQ ID NO: 315), soybean (SEQ ID NO: 319), canola (SEQ ID NO: 323), and rice (SEQ ID NO: 327). The Camelina sativa PEI1 protein shares 42.92%, 37.61%, 81.48%, and 41.67% sequence identities with these orthologs, respectively.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein 54-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 204. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises one or more of SEQ ID NO: 204, SEQ ID NO: 315, SEQ ID NO: 319, SEQ ID NO: 323, or SEQ ID NO: 327. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 204.

Also, in some embodiments the transcription factor is zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein 54-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana of SEQ ID NO: 312.

SEQ ID NO: 10 is a predicted dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4-like protein (also termed DOF4.4) transcription factor of Camelina sativa. The corresponding Camelina sativa gene (SEQ ID NO: 240) was identified as a candidate gene for engineering increased seed yield and/or oil content in an oilseed based on being a Hub gene in a co-expression network, as discussed below. The Camelina sativa DOF4.4 protein is predicted to be a dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4-like protein transcription factor based in part on sharing 47.80% sequence identity with dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana (SEQ ID NO: 313). Predicted orthologs include DOF4.4 proteins in maize (SEQ ID NO: 316), soybean (SEQ ID NO: 320), canola (SEQ ID NO: 324), and rice (SEQ ID NO: 328). The Camelina sativa DOF4.4 protein shares 39.15%, 38.30%, 55.31%, and 32.00% sequence identities with these orthologs, respectively.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 10. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises one or more of SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 316, SEQ ID NO: 320, SEQ ID NO: 324, or SEQ ID NO: 328. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 10.

Also, in some embodiments the transcription factor is dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana of SEQ ID NO: 313.

SEQ ID NO: 19 is a predicted putative two-component response regulator ARR21 protein (also termed ARR21) transcription factor of Camelina sativa. The corresponding Camelina sativa gene (SEQ ID NO: 241) was identified as a candidate gene for engineering increased seed yield and/or oil content in an oilseed based on being a Hub gene in a co-expression network, as discussed below. The Camelina sativa ARR21 protein is predicted to be a putative two-component response regulator ARR21 protein transcription factor based in part on sharing 72.76% sequence identity with putative two-component response regulator ARR21 protein of Arabidopsis thaliana (SEQ ID NO: 314). Predicted orthologs include ARR21 proteins in maize (SEQ ID NO: 317), soybean (SEQ ID NO: 321), canola (SEQ ID NO: 325), and rice (SEQ ID NO: 329). The Camelina sativa ARR21 protein shares 22.75%, 31.21%, 63.80%, and 28.60% sequence identities with these orthologs, respectively.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of putative two-component response regulator ARR21 protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 19. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises one or more of SEQ ID NO: 19, SEQ ID NO: 321, or SEQ ID NO: 325. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 19.

Also, in some embodiments the transcription factor is putative two-component response regulator ARR21 protein of Arabidopsis thaliana of SEQ ID NO: 314.

As noted above, the modified plant comprises a polynucleotide comprising a promoter operably linked to a coding sequence.

The promoter is non-cognate with respect to the coding sequence. This means that the promoter is not naturally paired with the coding sequence in organisms from which the promoter and/or the coding sequence are derived. Instead, the promoter has been paired with the nucleic acid sequence based on use of recombinant DNA techniques and/or gene editing to create a modified gene including the non-cognate promoter operably linked to the coding sequence, as discussed in detail below. For example, the promoter may be a heterologous promoter that has been operably linked to the coding sequence by replacement of an endogenous promoter of the coding sequence, e.g. through recombinant DNA techniques. Also for example the promoter may be a modified promoter operably linked to the coding sequence based on mutation of an endogenous promoter operably linked to the coding sequence, e.g. through gene editing.

Also in some of these embodiments, the non-cognate promoter comprises a seed-specific promoter. Suitable exemplary seed-specific promoters are discussed below.

Also in some of these embodiments, the modified plant exhibits increased expression of the transcription factor in at least one tissue in comparison to a reference plant not comprising the polynucleotide. The expression may be increased, for example, by 1%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, or more. The reference plant can be, for example, a plant of the same species, cultivar, and/or variety from which the modified plant was generated. In some of the embodiments, the at least one tissue in which expression of the transcription factor is increased comprises a seed tissue.

In some embodiments, the coding sequence occurs naturally at a location in the genome of the modified plant, and the modified plant comprises the polynucleotide based on editing of an endogenous promoter that is operably linked to the coding sequence at the location in the genome to make the non-cognate promoter operably linked to the coding sequence at the location in the genome, as discussed below. In some of these embodiments, the editing increases strength of the non-cognate promoter in comparison to the endogenous promoter. Also in some of these embodiments, the editing increases tissue specificity of the non-cognate promoter in comparison to the endogenous promoter. Also in some of these embodiments, the modified plant exhibits increased expression of the transcription factor in at least one tissue in comparison to a reference plant not comprising the polynucleotide. The expression may be increased, for example, by 1%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, or more. The reference plant can be, for example, a plant of the same species, cultivar, and/or variety from which the modified plant was generated. In some of these embodiments, the at least one tissue in which expression of the transcription factor is increased comprises a seed tissue.

In some embodiments, the modified plant is Camelina sativa, canola, soybean, maize, rice, or wheat. In some of these embodiments, the modified plant is Camelina sativa.

In some embodiments, the modified plant has one or more of the following traits:

Seed yield can be determined by weighing seeds, as discussed below. Seed oil content can be measured using published procedures for preparation of fatty acid methyl esters (Malik et al. 2015, Plant Biotechnology Journal, 13, 675-688). The reference plant can be, for example, a plant of the same species, cultivar, and/or variety from which the modified plant was generated.

Methods for Producing Modified Plants by Transformation

A method for producing a modified plant having increased seed yield and/or oil content in comparison to a reference plant by transformation also is provided.

The method comprises transforming one or more host plants or plant cells with a genetic construct comprising a polynucleotide comprising a promoter operably linked to a coding sequence. Transformation of the one or more host plants or plant cells can be carried out, for example, as described below.

The promoter is non-cognate with respect to the coding sequence, also as discussed above.

The method also comprises selecting a transformed plant or plant cell in which the polynucleotide is stably maintained, thereby obtaining the modified plant. Selection can be carried out, for example, as described below.

The reference plant does not comprise the polynucleotide. The reference plant can be, for example, a plant of the same species, cultivar, and/or variety as the one or more host plants or plant cells.

In some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of LOB domain-containing protein 42-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 27, as discussed above. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 27.

In some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein 54-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 204, as discussed above. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 204.

In some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 10, as discussed above. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 10.

In some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of putative two-component response regulator ARR21 protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 19, as discussed above. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 19.

In some embodiments, the non-cognate promoter comprises a constitutive promoter. In some embodiments, the non-cognate promoter comprises a seed-specific promoter. In some embodiments, the modified plant exhibits increased expression of the transcription factor in at least one tissue in comparison to the reference plant. In some of these embodiments, the at least one tissue comprises a seed tissue.

In some embodiments, the modified plant is Camelina sativa, canola, soybean, maize, rice, or wheat. In some of these embodiments, the modified plant is Camelina sativa.

In some embodiments, the modified plant has one or more of the following traits:

Methods for Producing Modified Plants by Editing

A method for producing a modified plant having increased seed yield and/or oil content in comparison to a reference plant by editing also is provided.

The method comprises editing the genome of one or more host plants or plant cells to comprise a polynucleotide comprising a promoter operably linked to a coding sequence. The editing can be carried out, for example, as described below.

The coding sequence encodes a transcription factor that has at least 30% sequence identity to one or more of SEQ ID NOs: 27, 204, 10, 19, 1-9, 11-18, 20-26, 28-203, 205, 237, or 242-310, as discussed above. The promoter is non-cognate with respect to the coding sequence, also as discussed above.

The coding sequence occurs naturally at a location in the genome. Thus, the coding sequence is present in the genome of the one or more host plants or plant cells, prior to the editing.

The editing is of an endogenous promoter that is operably linked to the coding sequence at the location in the genome. The editing modifies the endogenous promoter, e.g. by introducing one or more point mutations, insertions, deletions, or replacement sequences. The resulting modified promoter is thus non-cognate with respect to the coding sequence. The non-cognate promoter operably linked to the coding sequence at the location in the genome is thus obtained.

The method also includes selecting an edited plant or plant cell in which the polynucleotide is stably maintained, thereby obtaining the modified plant. Selection can be carried out, for example, as described below.

The reference plant does not comprise the polynucleotide. The reference plant can be, for example, a plant of the same species, cultivar, and/or variety as the one or more host plants or plant cells.

In some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of LOB domain-containing protein 42-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 27, as discussed above. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 27.

In some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein 54-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 204, as discussed above. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 204.

In some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 10, as discussed above. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 10.

In some embodiments, the transcription factor is an ortholog of putative two-component response regulator ARR21 protein of Arabidopsis thaliana and has at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 19, as discussed above. In some embodiments, the transcription factor comprises SEQ ID NO: 19.

In some embodiments, the editing increases strength of the non-cognate promoter in comparison to the endogenous promoter. In some embodiments, the editing increases tissue specificity of the non-cognate promoter in comparison to the endogenous promoter. In some embodiments, the modified plant exhibits increased expression of the transcription factor in at least one tissue in comparison to a reference plant not comprising the polynucleotide. In some of these embodiments, the at least one tissue comprises a seed tissue.

In some embodiments, the modified plant is Camelina sativa, canola, soybean, maize, rice, or wheat. In some of these embodiments, the modified plant is Camelina sativa.

In some embodiments, the modified plant has one or more of the following traits:

Recombinant Techniques and Gene Editing

In some embodiments, the polynucleotide is downregulated by techniques or various new technologies developed and/or used to create new characteristics in plants through genetic variation, the aim being targeted mutagenesis, targeted introduction of new genes or gene silencing (RdDM). Examples of such new breeding techniques are targeted sequence changes facilitated through the use of Zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology (ZFN-1, ZFN-2 and ZFN-3, see U.S. Pat. No. 9,145,565, incorporated by reference in its entirety), Oligonucleotide directed mutagenesis (ODM), Cisgenesis and intragenesis, RNA-dependent DNA methylation (RdDM, which does not necessarily change nucleotide sequence but can change the biological activity of the sequence), Grafting (on GM rootstock), Reverse breeding, Agro-infiltration (agro-infiltration “sensu stricto”, agro-inoculation, floral dip), Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALENs, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,586,363 and 9,181,535, incorporated by reference in their entireties), the CRISPR/Cas system (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,697,359; 8,771,945; 8,795,965; 8,865,406; 8,871,445; 8,889,356; 8,895,308; 8,906,616; 8,932,814; 8,945,839; 8,993,233; and 8,999,641), engineered meganuclease re-engineered homing endonucleases, DNA guided genome editing (Gao et al., Nature Biotechnology (2016), doi: 10.1038/nbt.3547, incorporated by reference in its entirety), and synthetic genomics. A complete description of each of these techniques can be found in the report made by the Joint Research Center (JRC) Institute for Prospective Technological Studies of the European Commission in 2011 and titled “New plant breeding techniques—State-of-the-art and prospects for commercial development.”

Modulation of candidate transcription factor genes is performed through known techniques in the art, such as without limitation, by genetic means, enzymatic techniques, chemicals methods, or combinations thereof. Inactivation may be conducted at the level of DNA, mRNA or protein, and inhibit the expression of one or more candidate transcription factor genes or the corresponding activity. Preferred inactivation methods affect the expression of the transcription factor gene and lead to the absence of gene product in the plant cells. It should be noted that the inhibition can be transient or permanent or stable. Inhibition of the protein can be obtained by suppressing or decreasing its activity or by suppressing or decreasing the expression of the corresponding gene. For example, a mutation in the coding sequence can induce, depending upon the nature of the mutation, expression of an inactive protein, or of a reduced-active protein; a mutation at a splicing site can also alter or abolish the protein's function; a mutation in the promoter sequence can induce the absence of expression of said protein, or the decrease of its expression. Mutagenesis can be performed, e.g., by suppressing all or part of the coding sequence or of the promoter, or by inserting an exogenous sequence, e.g., a transposon, into said coding sequence or said promoter. It can also be performed by inducing point mutations, e.g., using ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis or radiation. The mutated alleles can be detected, e.g., by PCR, by using specific primers of the gene. Rodriguez-Leal et al. describe a promoter editing method that generates a pool of promoter variants that can be screened to evaluate their phenotypic impact (Rodriguez-Leal et al., 2017, Cell, 171, 1-11). This method can be incorporated to downregulate native promoters of each transcription factor in the crop of interest.

Various high-throughput mutagenesis and splicing methods are described in the prior art. By way of examples, we may cite “TILLING” (Targeting Induced Local Lesions In Genome)-type methods, described by Till, Comai and Henikoff (2007) (R. K. Varshney and R. Tuberosa (eds.), Genomics-Assisted Crop Improvement: Vol. 1: Genomics Approaches and Platforms, 333-349.).

Plants comprising a mutation in the candidate transcription factor genes that induce inhibition of the protein product are also part of the goal. This mutation can be, e.g., a deletion of all or part of the coding sequence or of the promoter, or it may be a point mutation of said coding sequence or of said promoter.

Advantageously, inhibition of the transcription factor protein is obtained by silencing or by knock-out techniques on the transcription factor gene. Various techniques for silencing genes in plants are known. Antisense inhibition or co suppression, described, e.g., in Hamilton and Baulcombe, 1999, Science, vol 286, pp 950-952, is noteworthy. It is also possible to use ribozymes targeting the mRNA of one or more transcription factor protein. Preferably, silencing of the transcription factor gene is induced by RNA interference targeting said gene. An interfering RNA (iRNA) is a small RNA that can silence a target gene in a sequence-specific way. Interfering RNA include, specifically, “small interfering RNA” (siRNA) and micro-RNA (miRNA). The most widely-used constructions lead to the synthesis of a pre-miRNA in which the target sequence is present in sense and antisense orientation and separated by a short spacing region. The sense and antisense sequence can hybridize together leading to the formation of a hairpin structure called the pre miRNA. This hairpin structure is maturated leading to the production of the final miRNA. This miRNA will hybridize to the target mRNA which will be cleaved or degraded, as described in Schwab et al (Schwab et al, 2006 The Plant Cell, Vol. 18, 1121-1133) or in Ossowski et al (Ossowski et al, 2008, The plant Journal 53, 674-690).

Inhibition of the transcription factor proteins can also be obtained by gene editing of the candidate transcription factor genes. Various methods can be used for gene editing, by using transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR/Cas9) or zinc-finger nucleases (ZFN) techniques (as described in Belhaj et al, 2013, Plant Methods, vol 9, p 39, Chen et al, 2014 Methods Volume 69, Issue 1, p 2-8). Preferably, the inhibition of a transcription factor protein is obtained by using Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR/Cas9) or CRISPR/Cpf1. The use of this technology in genome editing is well described in the art, for example in Fauser et al. (Fauser et al, 2014, The Plant Journal, Vol 79, p 348-359), and references cited herein. In short, CRISPR is a microbial nuclease system involved in defense against invading phages and plasmids. CRISPR loci in microbial hosts contain a combination of CRISPR-associated (Cas) genes as well as non-coding RNA elements capable of programming the specificity of the CRISPR-mediated nucleic acid cleavage (sgRNA). At least classes (Class I and II) and six types (Types I-VI) of Cas proteins have been identified across a wide range of bacterial hosts. One key feature of each CRISPR locus is the presence of an array of repetitive sequences (direct repeats) interspaced by short stretches of non-repetitive sequences (spacers). The non-coding CRISPR array is transcribed and cleaved within direct repeats into short crRNAs containing individual spacer sequences, which direct Cas nucleases to the target site (protospacer). The Type II CRISPR/Cas is one of the most well characterized systems and carries out targeted DNA double-strand break in four sequential steps. First, two non-coding RNA, the pre-crRNA array and tracrRNA, are transcribed from the CRISPR locus. Second, tracrRNA hybridizes to the repeat regions of the pre-crRNA and mediates the processing of pre-crRNA into mature crRNAs containing individual spacer sequences. Third, the mature crRNA: tracrRNA complex directs Cas9 to the target DNA via Watson-Crick base-pairing between the spacer on the crRNA and the protospacer on the target DNA next to the protospacer adjacent motif (PAM), an additional requirement for target recognition. Finally, Cas9 mediates cleavage of target DNA to create a double-stranded break within the protospacer. Cas9 is thus the hallmark protein of the Type II CRISPR-Cas system, and a large monomeric DNA nuclease guided to a DNA target sequence adjacent to the PAM (protospacer adjacent motif) sequence motif by a complex of two noncoding RNAs: CRISPR RNA (crRNA) and trans-activating crRNA (tracrRNA). The Cas9 protein contains two nuclease domains homologous to RuvC and HNH nucleases. The HNH nuclease domain cleaves the complementary DNA strand whereas the RuvC-like domain cleaves the non-complementary strand and, as a result, a blunt cut is introduced in the target DNA. Heterologous expression of Cas9 together with an sgRNA can introduce site-specific double strand breaks (DSBs) into genomic DNA of live cells from various organisms. For applications in eukaryotic organisms, codon optimized versions of Cas9, which is originally from the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes, have been used. The single guide RNA (sgRNA) is the second component of the CRISPR/Cas system that forms a complex with the Cas9 nuclease. sgRNA is a synthetic RNA chimera created by fusing crRNA with tracrRNA. The sgRNA guide sequence located at its 5′ end confers DNA target specificity. Therefore, by modifying the guide sequence, it is possible to create sgRNAs with different target specificities. The canonical length of the guide sequence is 20 bp. In plants, sgRNAs have been expressed using plant RNA polymerase III promoters, such as U6 and U3. Cas9 expression plasmids for use in the methods of the invention can be constructed as described in the art.

Kocak et al., (2019, Nature Biotechnology, 10.1038/s41587-019-0095-1) have described methods for increasing the specificity of sgRNAs by engineering a hairpin sequence that can only be undone by the target sequence. This method can be used to increase the sgRNA specificity in the practiced invention.

The absence of or loss of function in modified engineered plants or plant cells can be verified based on the phenotypic characteristics of their offspring; homozygous plants or plant cells for a mutation inactivating the transcription factor gene have a content of gene product rate that is lower than that of the wild plants (not carrying the mutation in the gene) from which they originated. Alternatively, a desirable phenotypic characteristic such as biomass yield, seed yield, or seed oil content is measured and is at least 10% higher, preferably at least 20% higher, at least preferably 30% higher, preferably at least 40% higher, preferably at least 50% higher than that of the control plants from which they originated. More preferably, seed yield or seed oil content is at least 60% higher, at least 70% higher, at least 80% higher, at least 90% higher than that of the control plants from which they originated. More preferably, seed yield or seed oil content is at least 100% higher, at least 150% higher, at least 200% higher than that of the control plants from which they originated.

The expression of the target gene or genes in the crops of interest can be reduced by any method known in the art, including the transgene based expression of antisense RNA or interfering RNA (RNAi) e.g., siRNA or miRNA or through genome editing to modify the DNA sequence of the genes disclosed herein directly in the plant cell chromosome.

In other embodiments, the polynucleotide is upregulated by techniques or new technologies developed and/or used to overexpress genes in plants, such as conventional transgenic technologies where a new expression cassette containing a promoter, the transcription factor of interest, and a terminator are inserted into the plant through for example Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, protoplast transformation, or nanotube mediated DNA delivery, all of which are well known in the art. CRISPR/Cas technologies or other technologies that create double stranded DNA breaks, such as TALENs or ZFN technologies, can also be used to insert the new expression cassette. Upregulation of the endogenous copy of the transcription factor can also be achieved by promoter replacement strategies (FIG. 4), insertion of an intron or a promoter enhancer cassette (FIG. 5), or editing of the endogenous promoter region to change its strength and/or tissue specificity.

Genome editing is a preferred method for practicing this invention. As used herein the terms “genome editing,” “genome edited,” and “genome modified” are used interchangeably to describe plants with specific DNA sequence changes in their genomes wherein those DNA sequence changes include changes of specific nucleotides, the deletion of specific nucleotide sequences or the insertion of specific nucleotide sequences.

As used herein “method for genome editing” includes all methods for genome editing technologies to precisely remove genes, gene fragments, to insert new DNA sequences into genes, to alter the DNA sequence of control sequences or protein coding regions to reduce or increase the expression of target genes in plant genomes (Belhaj, K. 2013, Plant Methods, 9, 39; Khandagale & Nadal, 2016, Plant Biotechnol Rep, 10, 327). Preferred methods involve the in vivo site-specific cleavage to achieve double stranded breaks in the genomic DNA of the plant genome at a specific DNA sequence using nuclease enzymes and the host plant DNA repair system. There are multiple methods to achieve double stranded breaks in genomic DNA, and thus achieve genome editing, including the use of zinc finger nucleases (ZFN), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), engineered meganucleases, and the CRISPR/Cas system (CRISPR is an acronym for clustered, regularly interspaced, short, Ralindromic repeats and Cas an abbreviation for CRISPR-associated protein) (for review see Khandagal & Nadal, Plant Biotechnol Rep, 2016, 10, 327). US Patent Application 2016/0032297 to Dupont describes these methods in detail. In some cases, the sequence specificity for the target gene in the plant genome is dependent on engineering specific nuclease like zinc finger nucleases (ZFN), which include an engineered DNA-binding zinc finger domain linked to a non-specific endonuclease domain such as FokI, or Tal effector nuclease (TALENS) to recognize the target DNA sequence in the plant genome. The CRISPR/Cas genome editing system is a preferred method because of its sequence targeting flexibility. This technology requires a source of the Cas enzyme and a short single guide RNA (sgRNA, ˜20 bp), DNA, RNA/DNA hybrid or double stranded DNA guide with sequence homology to the target DNA sequence in the plant genome to direct the Cas enzyme to the desired cut site for cleavage and a recognition sequence for binding the Cas enzyme. As used herein the term Cas nuclease includes any nuclease which site-specifically recognizes CRISPR sequences based on guide RNA or DNA sequences and includes Cas9, Cpf1 and others described below. CRISPR/Cas genome editing, is a preferred way to edit the genomes of complex organisms (Sander & Joung, 2013, Nat Biotech, 2014, 32, 347; Wright et al., 2016, Cell, 164, 29) including plants (Zhang et al., 2016, Journal of Genetics and Genomics, 43, 151; Puchta, H., 2016, Plant J., 87, 5; Khandagale & Nadaf, 2016, PLANT BIOTECHNOL REP, 10, 327). US Patent Application 2016/020822 to Dupont has an extensive description of the materials and methods useful for genome editing in plants using the CRISPR Cas9 system and describes many of the uses of the CRISPR/Cas9 system for genome editing of a range of gene targets in crops.

There are many variations of the CRISPR/Cas system that can be used for this technology including the use of wild-type Cas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes (Type II Cas) (Barakate & Stephens, 2016, Frontiers in Plant Science, 7, 765; Bortesi & Fischer, 2015, Biotechnology Advances 5, 33, 41; Cong et al., 2013, Science, 339, 819; Rani et al., 2016, Biotechnology Letters, 1-16; Tsai et al., 2015, Nature biotechnology, 33, 187), the use of a Tru-gRNA/Cas9 in which off-target mutations were significantly decreased (Fu et al., 2014, Nature biotechnology, 32, 279; Osakabe et al., 2016, Scientific Reports, 6, 26685; Smith et al., 2016, Genome biology, 17, 1; Zhang et al., 2016, Scientific Reports, 6, 28566), a high specificity Cas9 (mutated S. pyogenes Cas9) with little to no off target activity (Kleinstiver et al., 2016, Nature 529, 490; Slaymaker et al., 2016, Science, 351, 84), the Type I and Type III Cas Systems in which multiple Cas proteins need to be expressed to achieve editing (Li et al., 2016, Nucleic acids research, 44:e34; Luo et al., 2015, Nucleic acids research, 43, 674), the Type V Cas system using the Cpf1 enzyme (Kim et al., 2016, Nature biotechnology, 34, 863; Toth et al., 2016, Biology Direct, 11, 46; Zetsche et al., 2015, Cell, 163, 759), DNA-guided editing using the NgAgo Argonaute enzyme from Natronobacterium gregoryi that employs guide DNA (Xu et al., 2016, Genome Biology, 17, 186), and the use of a two vector system in which Cas9 and gRNA expression cassettes are carried on separate vectors (Cong et al., 2013, Science, 339, 819). A unique nuclease Cpf1, an alternative to Cas9 has advantages over the Cas9 system in reducing off-target edits which creates unwanted mutations in the host genome. Examples of crop genome editing using the CRISPR/Cpf1 system include rice (Tang et. al., 2017, Nature Plants 3, 1-5; Wu et. al., 2017, Molecular Plant, Mar. 16, 2017) and soybean (Kim et. al., 2017, Nat Commun. 8, 14406).

Methods for constructing the genome modified plant cells and plants include introducing into plant cells a site-specific nuclease to cleave the plant genome at the target site or target sites and the guide sequences. Modification to the DNA sequence at the cleavage site then occur through the plant cells natural DNA repair processes. In a preferred case using the CRISPR system the target site in the plant genome is determined by providing guide RNA sequences.

A “guide polynucleotide” also relates to a polynucleotide sequence that can form a complex with a Cas endonuclease and enables the Cas endonuclease to recognize and optionally cleave a DNA target site. The guide polynucleotide can be a single molecule or a double molecule. The guide polynucleotide sequence can be a RNA sequence, a DNA sequence, or a combination thereof (a RNA-DNA combination sequence).

As used herein “guide RNA” sequences comprise a variable targeting domain, homologous to the target site in the genome and an RNA sequence that interacts with the Cas9 or Cpf1 endonuclease. This variable targeting domain is referred to herein and within the examples as a “guide targeting sequence”. A guide polynucleotide that solely comprises ribonucleic acids is also referred to as a “guide RNA”.

Preferred embodiments include multiplex of gene edits. The method also provides introducing single-guide RNAs (sgRNAs) into plants. The guide RNAs (sgRNAs) include nucleotide sequences that are complementary to the target chromosomal DNA. The sgRNAs can be, for example, engineered single chain guide RNAs that comprise a crRNA sequence (complementary to the target DNA sequence) and a common tracrRNA sequence, or as crRNA-tracrRNA hybrids. The sgRNAs can be introduced into the cell or the organism as a DNA with an appropriate promoter, as an in vitro transcribed RNA, or as a synthesized RNA. Methods for designing the guide RNAs for any target gene of interest are well known in the art as described for example by Brazelton et al. (Brazelton, V. A. et al., 2015, GM Crops & Food, 6, 266-276) and Zhu (Zhu, L. J. 2015, Frontiers in Biology, 10, 289-296).

Examples of mutations that may lead to a reduced activity of a transcription factor protein are mutations to the coding sequence that give rise to premature stop codons, frame shifts or amino acid changes in the encoded protein. A single guide RNA can be used where the objective is to change a relatively small number of base pairs in the DNA and for example introduce frame-shift mutations resulting in the expression of an inactive or reduced activity protein. Premature stop codons typically lead to the expression of a truncated version of the encoded protein. Depending on the position of the mutation in the coding sequence, a truncated version of a protein may lack one or more domains that are essential to perform its function and/or to interact with substrates or with other proteins, and/or it may lack the ability to fold properly into a functional protein.

In certain preferred embodiments, the guide polynucleotide/Cas endonuclease system can be used to allow for the deletion of a promoter or promoter element of any one the transcription factor sequences of the invention, wherein the promoter deletion (or promoter element deletion) results in any one of the following or any one combination of the following: a permanently inactivated gene locus, an increased promoter activity (increased promoter strength), an increased promoter tissue specificity, a decreased promoter activity, a decreased promoter tissue specificity, a new promoter activity, an inducible promoter activity, an extended window of gene expression, a modification of the timing or developmental progress of gene expression, a mutation of DNA binding elements and/or an addition of DNA binding elements. Promoter elements to be deleted can be, but are not limited to, promoter core elements, promoter enhancer elements or 35 S enhancer elements (CaMV35S enhancers (Benfey et al, EMBO J, August 1989; 8(8): 2195-2202)). The promoter or promoter fragment to be deleted can be endogenous, artificial, pre-existing, or transgenic to the cell that is being edited.

In another embodiment, the guide polynucleotide/Cas endonuclease system can be used to allow for the deletion of a terminator or terminator element of any one the transcription factor sequences of the invention, wherein the terminator deletion (or terminator element deletion) results in any one of the following or any one combination of the following: an increased terminator activity (increased terminator strength), an increased terminator tissue specificity, a decreased terminator activity, a decreased terminator tissue specificity, a mutation of DNA binding elements and/or an addition of DNA binding elements. The terminator or terminator fragment to be deleted can be endogenous, artificial, pre-existing, or transgenic to the cell that is being edited.

In yet another embodiment, the genomic sequence of interest to be modified is an intron site of any one the transcription factor sequences of the invention, wherein the modification consists of inserting an intron enhancing motif into the intron which results in modulation of the transcriptional activity of the gene comprising said intron.

In a further embodiment, methods provide for modifying alternative splicing sites of any one of the transcription factor sequences of the invention resulting in enhanced production of the functional gene transcripts and gene products (proteins).

In additional embodiments, the modification of the transcription factor sequences of the invention include editing the intron borders of alternatively spliced genes to alter the accumulation of splice variants.

In other embodiments, the guide polynucleotide/Cas endonuclease system can be used to modify or replace a coding sequence of the TF genome of a plant cell, wherein the modification or replacement results in any one of the following, or any one combination of the following: an increased protein (enzyme) activity, an increased protein functionality, a decreased protein activity, a decreased protein functionality, a site specific mutation, a protein domain swap, a protein knock-out, a new protein functionality, a modified protein functionality.

In some embodiments, the protein knockout is due to the introduction of a stop codon into the coding sequence of interest. In preferred embodiments, the protein knockout is due to the deletion of a start codon into the coding sequence of interest. In yet other embodiments, the guide polynucleotide/Cas endonuclease system can be used with or without a co-delivered polynucleotide sequence to fuse a first coding sequence encoding a nuclear localization signal to a second coding sequence encoding a protein of interest, wherein the protein fusion results in targeting the protein of interest to the nuclease.

The guide RNA/Cas endonuclease system can be used to create frame shift mutations of any one of the transcription factor sequences of the invention. One or more guide RNAs are used to knockout the transcription factor genes after the Cas nuclease makes a double strand break and the error prone DNA repair pathway, non-homologous end joining, corrects the break, creating a mutation. The most likely result is a frameshift mutation that would knockout the gene. The targeting strategy involves finding proto-spacers in the exons of the gene that had a PAM sequence, NGG, and was unique in the genome.

The guide RNA/Cas endonuclease system can be used to allow for the deletion of a promoter element from any one of the transcription factor sequences of the invention. Promoter elements, such as enhancer elements, are often introduced in promoters driving gene expression cassettes in multiple copies for trait gene testing or to produce transgenic plants expressing a specific trait. Enhancer elements can be, but are not limited to, a 35S enhancer element (Benfey et al, EMBO J, August 1989; 8(8): 2195-2202). In some plants (events), the enhancer elements can cause an unwanted phenotype, a yield drag, or a change in expression pattern of the trait of interest that is not desired. It may be desired to remove the extra copies of the enhancer element while keeping the trait gene cassettes intact at their integrated genomic location. The guide RNA/Cas endonuclease can be used to remove the unwanted enhancing element from the plant genome. A guide RNA can be designed to contain a variable targeting region, or “guide target sequence” targeting a sequence of 12-30 bps adjacent to a NGG (PAM) in the enhancer. The Cas endonuclease can make cleavage to remove one or multiple enhancers. The guide RNA/Cas endonuclease system can be introduced by either Agrobacterium or particle gun bombardment. Alternatively, two different guide RNAs (targeting two different genomic target sites) can be used to remove multiple enhancer elements from the genome of a plant.

In some embodiments, the genome modified plant has improved performance as compared to a plant of the same type which does not have the genome modification. The improved performance of the genome modified plant includes for example, higher seed yield, improved harvest index, higher oil content, improved nutritional composition, higher photosynthesis rates, reduced photorespiration rates, higher biomass yield, drought resistance, flood resistance, disease resistance, faster seed germination and plant emergence, and/or improved seedling vigor. The genome modified plant can have a CO₂assimilation rate that is higher than for a corresponding control plant not comprising the genome modification.

The genome modified plant can have a seed yield that is higher than for a corresponding control plant not comprising the genome modification. For example, the genome modified plant can have a seed yield that is at least 5% higher, at least 10% higher, at least 20% higher, at least 40% higher, at least 60% higher, at least 80% higher or at least 100% higher, than for a corresponding control plant not comprising the genome modification.

The genome modified plant can have a seed oil content that is higher than for a corresponding control plant not comprising the genome modification. For example, the genome modified plant can have a seed oil content that is at least 5% higher, at least 10% higher, at least 20% higher, at least 40% higher, at least 60% higher, at least 80% higher or at least 100% higher, than for a corresponding control plant not comprising the genome modification.

Plants of Interest

Plants encompass all annual and perennial monocotyledonous or dicotyledonous plants. Preferred dicotyledonous plants are selected in particular from the dicotyledonous crop plants such as sunflower, lettuce, the genus Brassica, very particularly the species napus (oilseed rape), campestris (beet), oleracea cv Tastie (cabbage), oleracea cv Snowball Y (cauliflower) and oleracea cv Emperor (broccoli), cabbage, melon, pumpkin/squash or zucchini and others; soybean, alfalfa, pea, beans, peanut, tomato, potato, sweet potato, yams carrot, flax, cotton, hemp, cucumber, spinach, carrot, sugar beet and the various tree, nut and grapevine species, in particular banana and kiwi fruit. Preferred monocotyledonous plants include maize, rice, wheat, sugarcane, sorghum, oats and barley.

Of particular interest are oilseed plants including Camelina (false flax); Brassica species such as B. campestris, B. napus, B. rapa, B. carinata (mustard, oilseed rape or turnip rape); Cannabis sativa (hemp); Carthamus tinctorius (safflower); Cocos nucifera (coconut); Crambe abyssinica (crambe); Elaeis guinensis (African oil palm); Elaeis oleifera (American oil palm); Glycine max (soybean); Gossypium hirsutum (American cotton); Gossypium barbadense (Egyptian cotton); Gossypium herbaceum (Asian cotton); Helianthus annuus (sunflower); Jatropha curcas (jatropha); Linum usitatissimum (linseed or flax); Oenothera biennis (evening primrose); Olea europaea (olive); Oryza sativa (rice); Ricinus communis (castor); Sesamum indicum (sesame); Thlaspi caerulescens (pennycress); Triticum species (wheat); Zea mays (maize or corn), and various nut species such as, for example, walnut or almond.

Plants where the seed is a harvested product, including those selected from the group corn (maize), grain sorghum, millet, soybean, canola, cotton, wheat, rice, pulses, sunflower, safflower and Camelina are examples of particularly useful plants for performance improvement using the methods, target genes for altered expression to achieve improved plant performance and genome inserts to alter the expression of the target gene(s) are disclosed herein.

Transcription factor genes, including crop-specific transcription factor gene sequences in preferred crop species useful as targets for down regulation, alone or in combinations, to improve crop performance are described herein. Methods of downregulating these genes in these crops including site-specific nucleases, guide RNAs, guide RNA-DNA hybrids and guide DNAs, DNA constructs useful in the methods are described herein. Methods for introducing the site-specific nuclease and guide RNAs into plant cells and plant tissues are also described herein and methods for identifying plant cells, plant tissue and fertile plants having reduced expression of the transcription factor genes made using these methods are disclosed herein.

As used herein, “transgenic” refers to an organism in which a nucleic acid fragment containing a heterologous or “non-native” nucleotide sequence has been introduced. The genome inserts introduced into the plants are stable, inheritable and impart improved plant performance.

Transcription factor genes, including crop-specific transcription factor gene sequences in preferred crop species are also useful as targets for up regulation, alone or in combinations, to improve crop performance are described herein. Methods of upregulating these genes in these crops including site-specific nucleases, guide RNAs, guide RNA-DNA hybrids and guide DNAs, DNA constructs useful in the methods are described herein. Methods for introducing the site-specific nuclease and guide RNAs into plant cells and plant tissues are also described herein and methods for identifying plant cells, plant tissue and fertile plants having increased expression of the transcription factor genes made using these methods are disclosed herein. The genome inserts introduced into the plants are stable, inheritable and impart improved plant performance.

Additional methods for upregulating the transcription factor gene sequences in preferred crop species to improve crop performance including creation of transgenic, wherein a nucleic acid fragment containing a heterologous or non-native nucleotide sequence has been introduced. Cis-genic plants can also be created, wherein a nucleic acid fragment containing an endogenous or native nucleotide sequence has been introduced into the plant.

Methods of Plant Transformation

Known transformations methods can be used to upregulate or downregulate one or more gene sequences of the invention using transgenic, cis-genic or genome editing methods.

Vectors

Several plant transformation vector options are available, including those described in Gene Transfer to Plants, 1995, Potrykus et al., eds., Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York, Transgenic Plants: A Production System for Industrial and Pharmaceutical Proteins, 1996, Owen et al., eds., John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Eng, and Methods in Plant Molecular Biology: A Laboratory Course Manual, 1995, Maliga et al., eds., Cold Spring Laboratory Press, New York. Plant transformation vectors generally include one or more coding sequences of interest under the transcriptional control of 5′ and 3′ regulatory sequences, including a promoter, a transcription termination and/or polyadenylation signal, and a selectable or screenable marker gene.

Many vectors are available for transformation using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. These typically carry at least one T-DNA sequence and include vectors such as pBIN19. Typical vectors suitable for Agrobacterium transformation include the binary vectors pCIB200 and pCIB2001, as well as the binary vector pCIB 10 and hygromycin selection derivatives thereof. (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,949).

Transformation without the use of Agrobacterium tumefaciens circumvents the requirement for T-DNA sequences in the chosen transformation vector and consequently vectors lacking these sequences are utilized in addition to vectors such as the ones described above which contain T-DNA sequences. The choice of vector for transformation techniques that do not rely on Agrobacterium depends largely on the preferred selection for the species being transformed. Typical vectors suitable for non-Agrobacterium transformation include pCIB3064, pSOG 19, and pSOG35. (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,949). Alternatively, DNA fragments containing the transgene and the necessary regulatory elements for expression of the transgene can be excised from a plasmid and delivered to the plant cell using microprojectile bombardment-mediated, or alternatively, nanotube-mediated methods.

Protocols

Transformation protocols as well as protocols for introducing nucleotide sequences into plants may vary depending on the type of plant or plant cell targeted for transformation. Suitable methods of introducing nucleotide sequences into plant cells and subsequent insertion into the plant genome include microinjection (Crossway et al. (1986) Biotechniques 4:320-334), electroporation (Riggs et al. (1986) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:5602-5606), Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (Townsend et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,055; Zhao et al. WO US98/01268), direct gene transfer (Paszkowski et al. (1984) EMBO J. 3:2717-2722), and ballistic particle acceleration (see, for example, Sanford et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,050; Tomes et al. (1995) Plant Cell, Tissue, and Organ Culture: Fundamental Methods, ed. Gamborg and Phillips (Springer-Verlag, Berlin); and McCabe et al. Biotechnology 6:923-926 (1988)). Also see Weissinger et al. Ann. Rev. Genet. 22:421-477 (1988); Sanford et al. Particulate Science and Technology 5:27-37 (1987) (onion); Christou et al. Plant Physiol. 87:671-674 (1988) (soybean); McCabe et al. (1988) BioTechnology 6:923-926 (soybean); Finer and McMullen In Vitro Cell Dev. Biol. 27P:175-182 (1991) (soybean); Singh et al. Theor. Appl. Genet. 96:319-324 (1998) (soybean); Dafta et al. (1990) Biotechnology 8:736-740 (rice); Klein et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:4305-4309 (1988) (maize); Klein et al. Biotechnology 6:559-563 (1988) (maize); Tomes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,855; Buising et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,322,783 and 5,324,646; Tomes et al. (1995) in Plant Cell, Tissue, and Organ Culture: Fundamental Methods, ed. Gamborg (Springer-Verlag, Berlin) (maize); Klein et al. Plant Physiol. 91:440-444 (1988) (maize); Fromm et al. Biotechnology 8:833-839 (1990) (maize); Hooykaas-Van Slogteren et al. Nature 311:763-764 (1984); Bowen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,369 (cereals); Bytebier et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:5345-5349 (1987) (Liliaceae); De Wet et al. in The Experimental Manipulation of Ovule Tissues, ed. Chapman et al. (Longman, N.Y.), pp. 197-209 (1985) (pollen); Kaeppler et al. Plant Cell Reports 9:415-418 (1990) and Kaeppler et al. Theor. Appl. Genet. 84:560-566 (1992) (whisker-mediated transformation); D'Halluin et al. Plant Cell 4:1495-1505 (1992) (electroporation); Li et al. Plant Cell Reports 12:250-255 (1993) and Christou and Ford Annals of Botany 75:407-413 (1995) (rice); Osjoda et al. Nature Biotechnology 14:745-750 (1996) (maize via Agrobacterium tumefaciens). References for protoplast transformation and/or gene gun for Agrisoma technology are described in WO 2010/037209. Methods for transforming plant protoplasts are available including transformation using polyethylene glycol (PEG), electroporation, and calcium phosphate precipitation (see for example Potrykus et al., 1985, Mol. Gen. Genet., 199, 183-188; Potrykus et al., 1985, Plant Molecular Biology Reporter, 3, 117-128). Methods for plant regeneration from protoplasts have also been described [Evans et al., in Handbook of Plant Cell Culture, Vol 1, (Macmillan Publishing Co., New York, 1983); Vasil, I K in Cell Culture and Somatic Cell Genetics (Academic, Oro, 1984)].

Transformation protocols as well as protocols for introducing nucleotide sequences into plants may vary depending on the type of plant or plant cell, i.e., monocot or dicot, targeted for transformation.

Suitable methods of introducing nucleotide sequences into plant cells and subsequent insertion into the plant genome are described in US 2010/0229256 A1 to Somleva & Ali and US 2012/0060413 to Somleva et al.

The transformed cells are grown into plants in accordance with conventional techniques. See, for example, McCormick et al., 1986, Plant Cell Rep. 5: 81-84. These plants may then be grown, and either pollinated with the same transformed variety or different varieties, and the resulting hybrid having constitutive expression of the desired phenotypic characteristic identified. Two or more generations may be grown to ensure that constitutive expression of the desired phenotypic characteristic is stably maintained and inherited and then seeds harvested to ensure constitutive expression of the desired phenotypic characteristic has been achieved.

Procedures for in planta transformation can be simple. Tissue culture manipulations and possible somaclonal variations are avoided and only a short time is required to obtain transgenic plants. However, the frequency of transformants in the progeny of such inoculated plants is relatively low and variable. At present, there are very few species that can be routinely transformed in the absence of a tissue culture-based regeneration system. Stable Arabidopsis transformants can be obtained by several in planta methods including vacuum infiltration (Clough & Bent, 1998, The Plant J. 16: 735-743), transformation of germinating seeds (Feldmann & Marks, 1987, Mol. Gen. Genet. 208: 1-9), floral dip (Clough and Bent, 1998, Plant J. 16: 735-743), and floral spray (Chung et al., 2000, Transgenic Res. 9: 471-476). Other plants that have successfully been transformed by in planta methods include rapeseed and radish (vacuum infiltration, Ian and Hong, 2001, Transgenic Res., 10: 363-371; Desfeux et al., 2000, Plant Physiol. 123: 895-904), Medicago truncatula (vacuum infiltration, Trieu et al., 2000, Plant J. 22: 531-541), camelina (floral dip, WO/2009/117555 to Nguyen et al.), and wheat (floral dip, Zale et al., 2009, Plant Cell Rep. 28: 903-913). In planta methods have also been used for transformation of germ cells in maize (pollen, Wang et al. 2001, Acta Botanica Sin., 43, 275-279; Zhang et al., 2005, Euphytica, 144, 11-22; pistils, Chumakov et al. 2006, Russian J. Genetics, 42, 893-897; Mamontova et al. 2010, Russian J. Genetics, 46, 501-504) and Sorghum (pollen, Wang et al. 2007, Biotechnol. Appl. Biochem., 48, 79-83).

Selection

Following transformation by any one of the methods described above, the following procedures can be used to obtain a transformed plant expressing the transgenes: select the plant cells that have been transformed on a selective medium; regenerate the plant cells that have been transformed to produce differentiated plants; select transformed plants expressing the DNA construct for introducing the targeted insertion of the DNA sequence elements producing the desired level of desired polypeptide(s) in the desired tissue and cellular location.

The cells that have been transformed may be grown into plants in accordance with conventional techniques. See, for example, McCormick et al. Plant Cell Reports 5:81-84(1986). These plants may then be grown, and either pollinated with the same transformed variety or different varieties, and the resulting hybrid having constitutive expression of the desired phenotypic characteristic identified. Two or more generations may be grown to ensure that constitutive expression of the desired phenotypic characteristic is stably maintained and inherited and then seeds harvested to ensure constitutive expression of the desired phenotypic characteristic has been achieved.

Transgenic plants can be produced using conventional techniques to express any genes of interest in plants or plant cells (Methods in Molecular Biology, 2005, vol. 286, Transgenic Plants: Methods and Protocols, Pena L., ed., Humana Press, Inc. Totowa, N.J.; Shyamkumar Barampuram and Zhanyuan J. Zhang, Recent Advances in Plant Transformation, in James A. Birchler (ed.), Plant Chromosome Engineering: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 701, Springer Science+Business Media). Typically, gene transfer, or transformation, is carried out using explants capable of regeneration to produce complete, fertile plants. Generally, a DNA or an RNA molecule to be introduced into the organism is part of a transformation vector. A large number of such vector systems known in the art may be used, such as plasmids. The components of the expression system can be modified, e.g., to increase expression of the introduced nucleic acids. For example, truncated sequences, nucleotide substitutions or other modifications may be employed. Expression systems known in the art may be used to transform virtually any plant cell under suitable conditions. A transgene comprising a DNA molecule encoding a gene of interest is preferably stably transformed and integrated into the genome of the host cells. Transformed cells are preferably regenerated into whole fertile plants. Detailed description of transformation techniques are within the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

Plant promoters can be selected to control the expression of the transgene in different plant tissues or organelles for all of which methods are known to those skilled in the art (Gasser & Fraley, 1989, Science 244: 1293-1299). In one embodiment, promoters are selected from those of eukaryotic or synthetic origin that are known to yield high levels of expression in plants and algae. In a preferred embodiment, promoters are selected from those that are known to provide high levels of expression in monocots. Specific exemplary promoters useful for expression of genes in dicots and monocots are provided in TABLE 1 and TABLE 2, respectively.

TABLE 1

Promoters useful for expression of genes in dicots.

Native organism of
Gene ID*

Gene/Promoter
Expression
promoter
(SEQ ID NO)

CaMV 35S
Constitutive
Cauliflower mosaic
(SEQ ID NO: 206)

virus

Hsp70
Constitutive

Glycine max

Glyma.02G093200

(SEQ ID NO: 207)

Chlorophyll A/B Binding
Constitutive

Glycine max

Glyma.08G082900

Protein (Cab5)

(SEQ ID NO: 208)

Pyruvate phosphate dikinase
Constitutive

Glycine max

Glyma.06G252400

(PPDK)

(SEQ ID NO: 209)

Actin
Constitutive

Glycine max

Glyma.19G147900

(SEQ ID NO: 210)

ADP-glucose pyrophos-
Seed-specific

Glycine max

Glyma.04G011900

phorylase (AGPase)

(SEQ ID NO: 211)

Glutelin C (GluC)
Seed-specific

Glycine max

Glyma.03G163500

(SEQ ID NO: 212)

β-fructofuranosidase insoluble
Seed-specific

Glycine max

Glyma.17G227800

isoenzyme 1 (CIN1)

(SEQ ID NO: 213)

MADS-Box
Cob-specific

Glycine max

Glyma.04G257100

(SEQ ID NO: 214)

Glycinin (subunit G1)
Seed-specific

Glycine max

Glyma.03G163500

(SEQ ID NO: 215)

oleosin isoform A
Seed-specific

Glycine max

Glyma.16G071800

(SEQ ID NO: 216)

Hsp70
Constitutive

Brassica napus

BnaA09g05860D

Chlorophyll A/B Binding
Constitutive

Brassica napus

BnaA04g20150D

Protein (Cab5)

Pyruvate phosphate dikinase
Constitutive

Brassica napus

BnaA01g18440D

(PPDK)

Actin
Constitutive

Brassica napus

BnaA03g34950D

ADP-glucose pyrophos-
Seed-specific

Brassica napus

BnaA06g40730D

phorylase (AGPase)

Glutelin C (GluC)
Seed-specific

Brassica napus

BnaA09g50780D

β-fructofuranosidase insoluble
Seed-specific

Brassica napus

BnaA04g05320D

isoenzyme 1 (CIN1)

MADS-Box
Cob-specific

Brassica napus

BnaA05g02990D

Glycinin (subunit G1)
Seed-specific

Brassica napus

BnaA01g08350D

oleosin isoform A
Seed-specific

Brassica napus

BnaC06g12930D

1.7S napin (napA)
Seed-specific

Brassica napus

BnaA01g17200D

*Gene ID includes sequence information for coding regions as well as associated promoters. 5’ UTRs, and 3’ UTRs and are available at Phytozome (see JGI website phytozome.jgi.doe.gov/pz/portal.html).

TABLE 2

Promoters useful for expression of genes in monocots, including maize and rice.

Gene/Promoter
Expression
Rice*
Maize*
Other

Hsp70
Constitutive
LOC_Os05g38530
GRMZM2G310431

(SEQ ID NO: 217)
(SEQ ID NO: 225)

Chlorophyll A/B
Constitutive
LOC_Os01g41710
AC207722.2_FG009

Binding Protein

(SEQ ID NO: 218)
(SEQ ID NO: 226)

(Cab5)

GRMZM2G351977

(SEQ ID NO: 227)

maize ubiquitin
Constitutive

(SEQ ID NO: 228)

promoter/maize

ubiquitin intron

(sequence listed in

Genbank KT962835)

maize ubiquitin
Constitutive

(SEQ ID NO: 229)

promoter/maize

ubiquitin intron

(maize promoter and

intron sequence with

99% identity to

sequence in Genbank

KT985051.1)

CaMV 35S
Constitutive
—
—
Cauliflower

mosaic virus

(SEQ ID NO:

206)

Pyruvate phosphate
Constitutive
LOC_Os05g33570
GRMZM2G306345

dikinase (PPDK)

(SEQIDNO: 219)
(SEQ ID NO: 230)

Actin
Constitutive
LOC_Os03g50885
GRMZM2G047055

(SEQ ID NO: 220)
(SEQ ID NO: 231)

Hybrid cab5/hsp70
Constitutive
N/A
SEQ ID NO: 232

intron promoter

ADP-glucose
Seed-specific
LOC_Os01g44220
GRMZM2G429899

pyrophos-phorylase

(SEQ ID NO: 221)
(SEQ ID NO: 233)

(AGPase)

Glutelin C (GluC)
Seed-specific
LOC_Os02g25640
N/A

(SEQ ID NO: 222)

β-fructofuranosidase
Seed-specific
LOC_Os02g33110
GRMZM2G139300

insoluble isoenzyme 1

(SEQ ID NO: 223)
(SEQ ID NO: 234)

(CIN1)

MADS-Box
Cob-specific
LOC_Os12g10540
GRMZM2G160687

(SEQ ID NO: 224)
(SEQ ID NO: 235)

Maize TrpA promoter
Seed-specific

GRMZM5G841619

(SEQ ID NO: 236)

*Gene ID includes sequence information for coding regions as well as associated promoters. 5’ UTRs, and 3’ UTRs and are available at Phytozome (see JGI website phytozome.jgi.doe.gov/pz/portal.html).

Constitutive promoters include, for example, the core promoter of the Rsyn7 promoter and other constitutive promoters disclosed in WO 99/43838 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,072,050, the core CaMV 35S promoter (Odell et al., 1985, Nature 313: 810-812), rice actin (McElroy et al., 1990, Plant Cell 2: 163-171), ubiquitin (Christensen et al., 1989, Plant Mol. Biol. 12: 619-632; Christensen et al., 1992, Plant Mol. Biol. 18: 675-689), pEMIU (Last et al., 1991, Theor. Appl. Genet. 81: 581-588), MAS (Velten et al., 1984, EMBO J 3: 2723-2730), and ALS promoter (U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,026). Other constitutive promoters are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 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.

“Tissue-preferred” promoters can be used to target gene expression within a particular tissue. Compared to chemically inducible systems, developmentally and spatially regulated stimuli are less dependent on penetration of external factors into plant cells. Tissue-preferred promoters include those described by Van Ex et al., 2009, Plant Cell Rep. 28: 1509-1520; Yamamoto et al., 1997, Plant J. 12: 255-265; Kawamata et al., 1997, Plant Cell Physiol. 38: 792-803; Hansen et al., 1997, Mol. Gen. Genet. 254: 337-343; Russell et al., 1997, Transgenic Res. 6: 157-168; Rinehart et al., 1996, Plant Physiol. 112: 1331-1341; Van Camp et al., 1996, Plant Physiol. 112: 525-535; Canevascini et al., 1996, Plant Physiol. 112: 513-524; Yamamoto et al., 1994, Plant Cell Physiol. 35: 773-778; Lam, 1994, Results Probl. Cell Differ. 20: 181-196, Orozco et al., 1993, Plant Mol. Biol. 23: 1129-1138; Matsuoka et al., 1993, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90: 9586-9590, and Guevara-Garcia et al., 1993, Plant J. 4: 495-505. Such promoters can be modified, if necessary, for weak expression.

Any of the described promoters can be used to control the expression of one or more of the genes of the invention, their homologs and/or orthologs as well as any other genes of interest in a defined spatiotemporal manner.

Expression Cassettes

Nucleic acid sequences intended for expression in transgenic plants are first assembled in expression cassettes behind a suitable promoter active in plants. The expression cassettes may also include any further sequences required or selected for the expression of the transgene. Such sequences include, but are not restricted to, transcription terminators, extraneous sequences to enhance expression such as introns, vital sequences, and sequences intended for the targeting of the gene product to specific organelles and cell compartments. These expression cassettes can then be transferred to the plant transformation vectors described infra.

A variety of transcriptional terminators are available for use in expression cassettes. These are responsible for the termination of transcription beyond the transgene and the correct polyadenylation of the transcripts. Appropriate transcriptional terminators are those that are known to function in plants and include the CaMV 35S terminator, the tm1 terminator, the nopaline synthase terminator and the pea rbcS E9 terminator. These are used in both monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants.

Individual plants within a population of transgenic plants that express a recombinant gene(s) may have different levels of gene expression. The variable gene expression is due to multiple factors including multiple copies of the recombinant gene, chromatin effects, and gene suppression. Accordingly, a phenotype of the transgenic plant may be measured as a percentage of individual plants within a population. The yield of a plant can be measured simply by weighing. The yield of seed from a plant can also be determined by weighing. The increase in seed weight from a plant can be due to a number of factors, an increase in the number or size of the seed pods, an increase in the number of seed or an increase in the number of seed per plant. In the laboratory or greenhouse seed yield is usually reported as the weight of seed produced per plant and in a commercial crop production setting yield is usually expressed as weight per acre or weight per hectare.

A recombinant DNA construct including a plant-expressible gene or other DNA of interest is inserted into the genome of a plant by a suitable method. Suitable methods include, for example, Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated DNA transfer, direct DNA transfer, liposome-mediated DNA transfer, electroporation, co-cultivation, diffusion, particle bombardment, microinjection, gene gun, calcium phosphate coprecipitation, viral vectors, and other techniques. Suitable plant transformation vectors include those derived from a Ti plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. In addition to plant transformation vectors derived from the Ti or root-inducing (Ri) plasmids of Agrobacterium, alternative methods can be used to insert DNA constructs into plant cells. A transgenic plant can be produced by selection of transformed seeds or by selection of transformed plant cells and subsequent regeneration.

In one embodiment, the transgenic plants are grown (e.g., on soil) and harvested. In one embodiment, above ground tissue is harvested separately from below ground tissue. Suitable above ground tissues include shoots, stems, leaves, flowers, grain, and seed. Exemplary below ground tissues include roots and root hairs. In one embodiment, whole plants are harvested and the above ground tissue is subsequently separated from the below ground tissue.

Genetic constructs may encode a selectable marker to enable selection of transformation events. There are many methods that have been described for the selection of transformed plants [for review see (Miki et al., Journal of Biotechnology, 2004, 107, 193-232) and references incorporated within]. Selectable marker genes that have been used extensively in plants include the neomycin phosphotransferase gene nptII (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,034,322, 5,530,196), hygromycin resistance gene (U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,298, Waldron et al., (1985), Plant Mol Biol, 5:103-108; Zhijian et al., (1995), Plant Sci, 108:219-227), the bar gene encoding resistance to phosphinothricin (U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,268), the expression of aminoglycoside 3″-adenyltransferase (aadA) to confer spectinomycin resistance (U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,675), the use of inhibition resistant 5-enolpyruvyl-3-phosphoshikimate synthetase (U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,060) and methods for producing glyphosate tolerant plants (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,463,175; 7,045,684). Other suitable selectable markers include, but are not limited to, genes encoding resistance to chloramphenicol (Herrera Estrella et al., (1983), EMBO J, 2:987-992), methotrexate (Herrera Estrella et al., (1983), Nature, 303:209-213; Meijer et al, (1991), Plant Mol Biol, 16:807-820); streptomycin (Jones et al., (1987), Mol Gen Genet, 210:86-91); bleomycin (Hille et al., (1990), Plant Mol Biol, 7:171-176); sulfonamide (Guerineau et al., (1990), Plant Mol Biol, 15:127-136); bromoxynil (Stalker et al., (1988), Science, 242:419-423); glyphosate (Shaw et al., (1986), Science, 233:478-481); phosphinothricin (DeBlock et al., (1987), EMBO J, 6:2513-2518).

Methods of plant selection that do not use antibiotics or herbicides as a selective agent have been previously described and include expression of glucosamine-6-phosphate deaminase to inactive glucosamine in plant selection medium (U.S. Pat. No. 6,444,878) and a positive/negative system that utilizes D-amino acids (Erikson et al., Nat Biotechnol, 2004, 22, 455-8). European Patent Publication No. EP 0 530 129 A1 describes a positive selection system which enables the transformed plants to outgrow the non-transformed lines by expressing a transgene encoding an enzyme that activates an inactive compound added to the growth media. U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,378 describes the use of mannose or xylose for the positive selection of transgenic plants.

Methods for positive selection using sorbitol dehydrogenase to convert sorbitol to fructose for plant growth have also been described (WO 2010/102293). Screenable marker genes include the beta-glucuronidase gene (Jefferson et al., 1987, EMBO J. 6: 3901-3907; U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,463) and native or modified green fluorescent protein gene (Cubitt et al., 1995, Trends Biochem. Sci. 20: 448-455; Pan et al., 1996, Plant Physiol. 112: 893-900).

Transformation events can also be selected through visualization of fluorescent proteins such as the fluorescent proteins from the nonbioluminescent Anthozoa species which include DsRed, a red fluorescent protein from the Discosoma genus of coral (Matz et al. (1999), Nat Biotechnol 17: 969-73). An improved version of the DsRed protein has been developed (Bevis and Glick (2002), Nat Biotech 20: 83-87) for reducing aggregation of the protein.

Visual selection can also be performed with the yellow fluorescent proteins (YFP) including the variant with accelerated maturation of the signal (Nagai, T. et al. (2002), Nat Biotech 20: 87-90), the blue fluorescent protein, the cyan fluorescent protein, and the green fluorescent protein (Sheen et al. (1995), Plant J 8: 777-84; Davis and Vierstra (1998), Plant Molecular Biology 36: 521-528). A summary of fluorescent proteins can be found in Tzfira et al. (Tzfira et al. (2005), Plant Molecular Biology 57: 503-516) and Verkhusha and Lukyanov (Verkhusha, V. V. and K. A. Lukyanov (2004), Nat Biotech 22: 289-296) whose references are incorporated in entirety. Improved versions of many of the fluorescent proteins have been made for various applications. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art how to use the improved versions of these proteins or combinations of these proteins for selection of transformants.

The plants modified for enhanced performance by reducing the expression of the transcription factor genes or transcription factor gene combinations may be combined or stacked with input traits by crossing or plant breeding. Useful input traits include herbicide resistance and insect tolerance, for example a plant that is tolerant to the herbicide glyphosate and that produces the Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) toxin. Glyphosate is a herbicide that prevents the production of aromatic amino acids in plants by inhibiting the enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSP synthase). The overexpression of EPSP synthase in a crop of interest allows the application of glyphosate as a weed killer without killing the modified plant (Suh, et al., J. M Plant Mol. Biol. 1993, 22, 195-205). BT toxin is a protein that is lethal to many insects providing the plant that produces it protection against pests (Barton, et al. Plant Physiol. 1987, 85, 1103-1109). Other useful herbicide tolerance traits include but are not limited to tolerance to Dicamba by expression of the dicamba monoxygenase gene (Behrens et al, 2007, Science, 316, 1185), tolerance to 2,4-D and 2,4-D choline by expression of a bacterial aad-1 gene that encodes for an aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase enzyme (Wright et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2010, 107, 20240), glufosinate tolerance by expression of the bialophos resistance gene (bar) or the pat gene encoding the enzyme phosphinotricin acetyl transferase (Droge et al., Planta, 1992, 187, 142), as well as genes encoding a modified 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD) that provides tolerance to the herbicides mesotrione, isoxaflutole, and tembotrione (Siehl et al., Plant Physiol, 2014, 166, 1162). The plants modified for enhanced yield by reducing the expression of the transcription factor genes or transcription factor gene combinations may be combined or stacked with other genes which improve plant performance.

Transcriptome-based gene regulatory association networks can be used to identify transcription factors associated with a trait (Skraly et al., 2018, Plant Science, 273, 23-32). These networks can be generated using expression data obtained from RNA sequencing (RNA-SEQ) or microarray analysis of plants. Large-scale data sets from plants grown under a variety of conditions are available for some plants from public databases and are useful for creating these co-expression networks to probe the transcriptional organization of a particular plant and to identify key transcription factors that control a trait. In oilseed crops such as canola or Camelina, increasing seed yield and/or oil content are key traits that can significantly impact the economics of the crop. It was thus the object of this work to create co-expression networks using Camelina gene expression data to identify genes to increase seed yield and/or oil content. The Camelina specific genes identified in this work can be used to increase the value of Camelina as a crop, and can also be used to identify orthologs in other oilseed crops, such as corn, canola, and soybean, for increasing seed yield and/or oil content.

Examples
Example 1. Expression Data Retrieval and Processing

Previously deposited Camelina gene expression datasets encompassing 162 RNA-sequencing libraries from the NCBI sequence read archive (website: //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra/docs/sradownload/) were identified. Six different Camelina varieties (Suneson, DH55, CO-46, Joelle, Celine and MT-5) associated with thirteen different tissue types were represented.

Gene expression data, especially when collected across different experiments from different laboratories, needs to be normalized to remove potential biases introduced by various Next-generation sequencing platforms. Basic quality control was performed and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequences were removed by using SilvaDB. Tools like FastQC (website: //www.bioinformatics.babraham.ac.uk/projects/fastqc/) and Cutadapt (website: //journal.embnet.org/index.php/embnetjournal/article/view/200) were used to check the quality of RNA-seq data, with a modular set of analyses to identify any issues associated with the sequencing data and to remove the adapters. Reads were mapped using HISAT2 (Pertea et al., 2016, Nat. Protoc., 11, 1650), an alignment program for mapping reads to the reference genome, and the alignments were assembled into transcripts. The counts per transcript were normalized and basic quality control information leveraging the alignments was produced. Finally, the normalized FPKM values (Fragment Per Kilobase of exon per Million fragments mapped) were transformed into a log 2 (1+FPKM) to minimize the noise associated with the low expression values. Wherever replicate information was available for RNA-seq libraries, the replicate's expression values were averaged. This resulted in a final set of 88 samples.

There are several tools available to build co-expression networks. For this work an R program based package called WGCNA (weighted gene co-expression network analysis) (Zhang and Horvath, 2005, Statistical Applications in Genetics and Molecular Biology 4:1, Article 17), was selected. The first step in generating a gene co-expression network is to perform a pair-wise comparison of gene expressions across all the samples by using simple Pearson correlation coefficients. The second step is to raise the correlation matrix to a power of beta (0) function to develop an adjacency matrix. This generates a square matrix in which each row and column represents one gene, so that an adjacency value a_ijdefines the “connectedness” of the two genes labeled i and j to each other. The Pearson correlation value cor_ijdefines the correlation of two genes labeled i and j based on the relationship between their normalized expression profiles. We used normalized read count data from the set of 88 samples described above, and the R package WGCNA was used to generate an unsigned connectivity matrix of the most-variable genes, yielding a 17,804×17,804 matrix. Each of the values within the matrix was raised to the power of β=6 to give better scale-free topology of the network (Zhang and Horvath, 2005, Statistical Applications in Genetics and Molecular Biology 4:1, Article 17).

Example 2. Identification of Co-Expression Modules

The R package WGCNA was used to find co-expression modules (groups of genes that show similar expression patterns across multiple samples or conditions) using the correlation and adjacency matrices described in Example 1. “Guilt-by-association” principles (Wolfe et al., 2005, BMC Bioinf., 6, 227) assume that genes with similar expression patterns are likely to be functionally associated and may participate in the same or similar functions. The modules were identified based on hierarchical clustering yielding groups of genes with high topological overlap. Twenty-one modules were identified and these modules contained between 35 and 6637 genes, depending on the module (TABLE 3). The known transcription factors and acyl lipid related genes were identified within these co-expression modules. The number of total genes in each module, along with the number of TFs and acyl lipid related genes, are shown in TABLE 3. Each module has been assigned a color, as is typically done within the WGCNA programs, for identification purposes.

TABLE 3

Summary of the co-expression modules identified through

WGCNA using Camelina sativa transcriptome data

Number of
TF genes
Acyl lipid

genes
within
related genes

Module
Module Color
within module
module
within module

1
turquoise
6637
644
262

2
blue
4174
183
226

3
brown
2519
211
164

4
yellow
970
32
21

5
green
855
61
42

6
red
743
78
31

7
black
236
1
5

8
pink
209
10
7

9
magenta
169
15
10

10
purple
159
18
33

11
green yellow
156
6
5

12
tan
134
12
2

13
salmon
130
5
4

14
cyan
128
17

15
midnight blue
118
13
6

16
light cyan
109
5
4

17
grey60
102

3

0
grey
79
3
3

18
light green
66
1
1

19
light yellow
39

2

20
royal blue
37

21
dark red
35
2
2

Total
17804
1317
833

Since co-expression modules often consist of a large number of genes, it is important to identify which gene(s) in each module are important for the traits of interest. A data mining workflow describing various steps involved in evaluation of the identified module(s) is shown in FIG. 1. Briefly, gene set enrichment analysis is performed on each co-expression module. This helps to identify what metabolic pathways or processes are most represented in the module. Gene Ontology (GO), the accepted standard in gene functionality description, is typically used for functional annotation of the genes and gene set enrichment analysis. For our purposes, publicly available web-based gene ontology (GO) analysis tools such as agriGO (website: //bioinfo.cau.edu.cn/agriGO/), panther (website: //www.pantherdb.org/) and blast2go (website: //www.blast2go.com) were used for the gene enrichment analysis step. TABLE 4 shows the enriched and/or overrepresented pathways that are potentially associated with seed oil content and/or seed yield traits in the modules generated with the Camelina sativa transcriptome data described in Example 1.

TABLE 4

Gene set enrichment analysis of co-expression modules¹

Enriched pathways or processes relevant to seed

Total # of

yield and seed oil content

genes in
# of
# of acyl lipid

# of

Module
module
TFs
related genes
Biological process
genes

Turquoise
6637
644
262
Response to stress
349

Regulation of primary metabolic process
255

Nitrogen metabolic processes
247

Carbohydrate metabolic processes
866

Cellular processes
1055

Primary metabolic processes
818

Response to stimulus
1041

Response to hormone
334

Transport
340

Metabolic process
1466

Blue
4174
183
226
Photosynthesis
144

Photosynthetic ETS
36

Chlorophyll metabolic process
33

Lipid metabolic process
127

Response to hormone
173

Regulation of photosynthesis
20

Response to abiotic stress
301

Metabolic process
929

Response to abiotic stimulus
306

Fatty acid biosynthetic process
24

Brown
2519
211
164
Lipid metabolic processes
86

Fatty acid metabolic process
29

Seed development
60

Fatty acid biosynthetic process
23

Seed coat development
12

Lipid biosynthetic process
47

Seed maturation
14

Positive regulation of metabolic process
45

Lipid transport
20

Carbohydrate metabolic process
73

Green
855
61
42
Seed development
33

Response to lipid
37

Response to hormone
53

Post-embryonic development
49

Reproductive system development
42

Magenta
169
15
10
Metabolic process
62

carbohydrate metabolic process
13

secondary metabolic process
8

single-organism metabolic process
35

Red
743
78
31
response to stress
98

secondary metabolic process
28

defense response
50

catabolic process
47

metabolic process
207

response to osmotic stress
22

lipid transport
9

Purple
159
18
33
lipid metabolic process
13

phenylpropanoid metabolic process
9

secondary metabolic process
9

developmental process
20

anatomical structure development
20

Yellow
970
32
21
cell cycle
77

regulation of cell cycle
36

regulation of mitotic cell cycle
14

DNA metabolic process
30

cell proliferation
14

mitotic cell cycle process
41

¹Gene ontology analysis was performed using agriGO v2.0 (website://systemsbiology.cau.edu.cn/agriGOv2/index.php). For each module, the top ten pathways that are predicted to influence seed oil content and seed yield traits are listed.

Based on the functional enrichment analysis of most of the modules, the brown module (TABLE 4) appears to have the most important metabolic pathways that are potentially associated with seed oil content and seed yield. The brown module was thus chosen for further examination. The brown module contains 211 transcription factor genes that fall into 15 different families of plant-specific transcription factors (FIG. 2). Highly connected intra-modular hub genes were identified within the brown module based on the module membership (MM) of the genes, as previously described by Zhang and Horvath (2005). The MM is a value between −1 and +1 and represents a correlation of the expression value of each individual gene to the module eigengene (the module's eigengene is an expression value that is representative of the gene expression of the module). The MM measures each gene's strength within the module—the higher the value of MM, the stronger the hub gene's influence on the intra-modular network. The top 50 hub genes identified for the brown module are listed in TABLE 5.

TABLE 5

Top 50 hub genes identified within the brown module¹

kME

C. sativa
A. thaliana
A. thaliana
A. thaliana

Csa locus
brown
NCBI_ID
description
ID
gene
description

Csa02g028180
0.9458
XP_010437974.1
LOW
AT4G09820
TT8-like
basic helix-loop-

SEQ ID NO:

QUALITY

helix (bHLH) DNA-

14***

PROTEIN

binding superfamily

transcription

protein(TT8)

factor TT8-like

Csa03g025850
0.8996
XP_010498656.1
nuclear
AT1G21970
NYFB-9
Nuclear

SEQ ID NO:

transcription

transcription factor

58***

factor Y subunit

Y subunit B-9

B-9-like isoform

X1

Csa03g031290
0.9744
XP_010499297.1
probable 2-
AT1G28030
AOP1
2-oxoglutarate

SEQ ID NO:

oxoglutarate-

(2OG) and Fe(II)-

177

dependent

dependent

dioxygenase

oxygenase

AOP1

superfamily protein

Csa03g031590
0.7889
XP_010499344.1
B3 domain-
AT1G28300
LEC2
B3 domain-

SEQ ID NO:

containing

containing

95**

transcription

transcription factor

factor LEC2-like

LEC2

isoform X1

Csa04g012470
0.8927
XP_019100092.1
B3 domain-
AT3G26790
FUS3
AP2/B3-like

SEQ ID NO:

containing

transcriptional

178*

transcription

factor family

factor FUS3-like

protein(FUS3)

Csa04g015890
0.9760
XP_010502784.1
transcription
AT3G27785
MYB46
myb domain protein

SEQ ID NO:

factor MYB46-

118(MYB118)

13***

like

Csa04g024180
0.9258
XP_019100162.1
ABSCISIC
AT3G44460
ABI5
Basic-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO:

ACID-

(bZ1P) transcription

179

INSENSITIVE

factor family

5-like protein 1

protein(DPBF2)

isoform X1

Csa04g038090
0.9820
XP_010503963.1
general
AT3G52270
TFI1F
Transcription

SEQ ID NO:

transcription

initiation factor IIF,

180

factor IIF

beta subunit

subunit 2-like

Csa04g040400
0.9080
XP_010504232.1
ethylene-
AT3G54320
WRI1
Integrase-type

SEQ ID NO:

responsive

DNA-binding

4**

transcription

superfamily

factor WRI1-

protein(WRI1)

like isoform X1

Csa05g008730
0.9567
XP_010506126.1
agamous-like
AT2G42830
AGL5
K-box region and

SEQ ID NO:

MADS-box

MADS-box

11**

protein AGL5

transcription factor

isoform X2

family

protein(SHP2)

Csa05g035240
0.9780
XP_019101013.1
defensin-like
AT2G29045
AT2G29045
Putative defensin-

SEQ ID NO:

protein 171

like protein 170

181

Csa05g084910
0.9693
XP_010511848.1
LOB domain-
AT1G68510
LOB
LOB domain-

SEQ ID NO:

containing

containing protein

182*

protein 42-like

42(LBD42)

Csa05g085820
0.7999
XP_010511937.1
floral homeotic
AT1G69120
APETALA1
K-box region and

SEQ ID NO:

protein

MADS-box

92**

APETALA 1

transcription factor

family protein(AP1)

Csa06g006590
0.9156
XP_010514343.1
B3 domain-
AT3G26790
FUS3
AP2/B3-like

SEQ ID NO:

containing

transcriptional

183

transcription

factor family

factor FUS3-like

protein(FUS3)

isoform X1

Csa06g008890
0.9681
XP_010514489.1
transcription
AT3G27785
MYB98
myb domain protein

SEQ ID NO:

factor MYB98-

118(MYB118)

8**

like

Csa06g017080
0.9183
XP_019102243.1
ABSCISIC
AT3G44460
ABI5
Basic-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO:

ACID-

(bZ1P) transcription

184*

INSENSITIVE

factor family

5-like protein 1

protein(DPBF2)

isoform X1

Csa06g028810
0.9071
XP_010515956.1
ethylene-
AT3G54320
WRI1
Integrase-type

SEQ ID NO:

responsive

DNA-binding

3***

transcription

superfamily

factor WRI1

protein(WRI1)

isoform X2

Csa06g050920
0.9779
XP_010518059.1
dynamin-related
AT2G44590
AT2G44590
DYNAMIN-like

SEQ ID NO:

protein 1D

1D(DL1D)

200

Csa07g034190
0.9724
XP_010415471.1
LOB domain-
AT1G68510
LOB42
LOB domain-

SEQ ID NO:

containing

containing protein

44***

protein 42

42(LBD42)

Csa07g057090
0.9827
XP_010417391.1
thermospermine
AT5G19530
ACAULIS5
S-adenosyl-L-

SEQ ID NO:

synthase

methionine-

185

ACAULIS5-like

dependent

methyltransferases

superfamily

protein(ACL5)

Csa08g028460
0.9506
XP_010455149.1
acyl carrier
AT5G27200
ACP5
acyl carrier protein

SEQ ID NO:

protein 5,

5(ACP5)

186

chloroplastic-

like

Csa08g037600
0.9128
XP_010421888.1
transcription
AT4G09820
TT8-like
basic helix-loop-

SEQ ID NO:

factor TT8

helix (bHLH) DNA-

21**

binding superfamily

protein(TT8)

Csa09g011440
0.9356
XP_019084789.1
B3 domain-
AT3G26790
FUS3
AP2/B3-like

SEQ ID NO:

containing

transcriptional

187

transcription

factor family

factor FUS3-like

protein(FUS3)

Csa09g015930
0.9814
XP_010425555.1
transcription
AT3G27785
MYB98
myb domain protein

SEQ ID NO:

factor MYB98-

118(MYB118)

16***

like

Csa09g034290
0.9114
XP_019085979.1
ABSCISIC
AT3G44460
ABI5
Basic-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO:

ACID-

(bZ1P) transcription

188

INSENSITIVE

factor family

5-like protein 1

protein(DPBF2)

isoform X2

Csa09g064030
0.9217
XP_010427125.1
ethylene-
AT3G54320
WRI1
Integrase-type

SEQ ID NO:

responsive

DNA-binding

1***

transcription

superfamily

factor WRI1

protein(WRI1)

isoform X2

Csa10g022470
0.9593
XP_010449133.1
dof zinc finger
AT4G21050
DOF4.4
Dof-type zinc finger

SEQ ID NO:

protein DOF4.4-

domain-containing

10***

like

protein(DOF4.4)

Csa11g012280
0.9595
XP_010445038.1
ethylene-
AT4G31060
ERF015
Integrase-type

SEQ ID NO:

responsive

DNA-binding

189*

transcription

superfamily protein

factor ERF015

Csa11g015010
0.9619
XP_019086428.1
O-acyltransferase
AT5G53380
WSD1
O-acyltransferase

SEQ ID NO:

WSD1-like

(WSD1-like) family

190

protein

Csa11g064030
0.9650
XP_010441425.1
nuclear
AT5G47670
NYFB-6
nuclear factor Y,

SEQ ID NO:

transcription

subunit B6

37***

factor Y subunit

(NF-YB6)

B-6 isoform X2

Csa12g003340
0.9614
XP_010446600.1
dof zinc finger
AT4G38000
DOF4.7
DNA binding with

SEQ ID NO:

protein DOF4.7-

one finger

25***

like

4.7(DOF4.7)

Csa12g039190
0.9790
XP_010449222.1
UPF0725
AT2G20620
At2g20620
UPF0725 protein

SEQ ID NO:

protein

At2g20620

191

At2g20620-like

isoform X1

Csa12g086590
0.9639
XP_010450960.1
non-specific
AT5G38160
AKCS9
Bifunctional

SEQ ID NO:

lipid-transfer

inhibitor/lipid-

192

protein 2-like

transfer protein/seed

storage 2S albumin

superfamily p

Csa13g020090
0.9540
XP_010453918.1
homeobox-
AT5G17320
HDG9
homeodomain

SEQ ID NO:

leucine zipper

GLABROUS

76**

protein HDG9-

9(HDG9)

like

Csa13g027370
0.9754
XP_010493379.1
GDSL
AT5G22810
GDSL
GDSL-like

SEQ ID NO:

esterase/lipase

lipase/acylhydrolase

193

At5g22810

superfamily protein

Csa13g030540
0.9757
XP_019090093.1
uncharacterized
AT5G24790
AT5G24790
transmembrane

SEQ ID NO:

protein

protein, putative

194

LOC104738156,

(Protein of

partial

unknown function,

DUF599)

Csa13g044750
0.9334
XP_010455373.1
transcription
AT4G09820
TT8-like
basic helix-loop-

SEQ ID NO:

factor TT8-like

helix (bHLH) DNA-

binding superfamily

protein(TT8)

Csa14g027200
0.9166
XP_010459921.1
nuclear
AT1G21970
NYFB-9
Nuclear

SEQ ID NO:

transcription

transcription factor

46**

factor Y subunit

Y subunit B-10

B-9 isoform X1

Csa14g041570
0.9501
XP_010460983.1
agamous-like
AT1G31640
AGL86
Agamous-like

SEQ ID NO:

MADS-box

MADS-box protein

80**

protein AGL86

AGL92

Csa15g023010
0.9649
XP_019097440.1
uncharacterized
AT3G16970
S-protein
Plant self-

SEQ ID NO:

protein

incompatibility

195

LOC109131201

protein S1 family

Csa15g050420
0.8508
XP_010466887.1
B3 domain-
AT3G24650
ABI3
late embryogenesis

SEQ ID NO:

containing

abundant protein,

196

transcription

group 2

factor ABI3-like

Csa16g028530
0.9746
XP_010470800.1
LOB domain-
AT1G68510
L0B42
LOB domain-

SEQ ID NO:

containing

containing protein

27***

protein 42-like

42(LBD42)

Csa17g028800
0.9167
XP_010477449.1
nuclear
AT1G21970
NYFB-9
Nuclear

SEQ ID NO:

transcription

transcription factor

42***

factor Y subunit

Y subunit B-11

B-9-like isoform

X1

Csa18g021260
0.9543
XP_010482362.1
nuclear
AT5G50480
NYFC-6
nuclear factor Y,

SEQ ID NO:

transcription

subunit C6

82**

factor Y subunit

(NF-YC6)

C-6-like

Csa19g036570
0.9797
XP_019096638.1
uncharacterized
AT3G24600
AT3G24600
late embryogenesis

SEQ ID NO:

protein

abundant protein,

197

LOC109130945

group 2

Csa19g036630
0.8556
XP_010488574.1
B3 domain-
AT3G24650
ABI3
late embryogenesis

SEQ ID NO:

containing

abundant protein,

198

transcription

group 2

factor ABI3-like

Csa20g009570
0.9629
XP_010491325.1
putative two-
AT5G07210
ARR21
response regulator

SEQ ID NO:

component

21

19***

response

[Source:TAIR;Acc:

regulator

AT5G07210]

ARR21

Csa20g009630
0.9753
XP_010491330.1
homeobox-
AT5G07260
AT5G07260
START (StAR-

SEQ ID NO:

leucine zipper

related lipid-

199

protein

transfer) lipid-

ANTHOCYANINLESS

binding domain-

2-like

containing protein

Csa20g082160
0.9618
XP_010495006.1
nuclear
AT5G47670
NYFB-6
nuclear factor Y,

SEQ ID NO:

transcription

subunit B6

41***

factor Y subunit

(NF-YB6)

B-6 isoform X1

¹The top 50 hub genes include transcription factor and non-transcription factor genes.

²kME is a measure of the membership value of a gene with respect to the module.

*Indicates TF genes that are common in TABLE 5 and TABLE 7.

**Indicates TF genes that are common in TABLE 5 and TABLE 8.

***Indicates TF genes that are common in TABLE 5, TABLE 7, and TABLE 8.

Example 3. Identification of Novel Regulators (TFs) to Increase Seed Yield and/or Oil Content

In order to further explore the association of the 211 transcription factors to the enriched biological processes within the brown module, the correlations of transcription factor genes to the top ten overrepresented pathways in the brown module were computed using a TF-module association network. TABLE 6 shows the network for the top 26 transcription factor genes. The top ten pathways that are overrepresented in the brown module, and their abbreviations in TABLE 6, are lipid metabolic process (Lipid MP), fatty acid metabolic process (FA MP), seed development (Seed dev), fatty acid biosynthetic process (FA BP), seed coat development (Seed coat dev), lipid biosynthetic process (Lipid BP), seed maturation (Seed mat), post regulation of metabolic process (Pos reg MP), lipid transport (Lipid transport), and carbohydrate metabolic processes (Carb MP). Each cell in TABLE 6 represents the TF pathway association score that is calculated by taking the sum of the TF's connectivities to the indicated pathway genes located within the brown module. The value in each cell is normalized by dividing the connectivities by the total number of genes in each pathway that are located within the module. A value close to 0.5 indicates a strong association of the pathway genes to the TF gene.

TABLE 6

Transcription factor (TF)-module association network for the brown module¹

Seed

Pos

Camelina Gene
Lipid
FA
Seed
FA
coat
Lipid
Seed
reg
Lipid
Carb

ID
MP
MP
dev
BP
dev
BP
mat
MP
transport
MP

Csa02g028180
0.21
0.23
0.27
0.26
0.42
0.20
0.21
0.30
0.25
0.22

Csa03g025850
0.17
0.20
0.22
0.23
0.35
0.16
0.15
0.24
0.24
0.18

Csa02g039160
0.23
0.24
0.26
0.26
0.32
0.22
0.29
0.31
0.30
0.22

Csa04g012470
0.21
0.18
0.30
0.20
0.21
0.20
0.44
0.28
0.32
0.19

Csa06g028810
0.20
0.26
0.20
0.31
0.28
0.23
0.16
0.24
0.18
0.20

Csa06g017080
0.24
0.22
0.31
0.25
0.24
0.23
0.44
0.30
0.33
0.22

Csa07g034190
0.29
0.31
0.35
0.35
0.39
0.29
0.40
0.38
0.37
0.28

Csa04g015890
0.28
0.30
0.34
0.35
0.43
0.27
0.38
0.37
0.36
0.27

Csa04g040410
0.16
0.17
0.20
0.20
0.28
0.16
0.18
0.28
0.18
0.16

Csa08g010060
0.22
0.21
0.27
0.23
0.22
0.22
0.36
0.29
0.29
0.21

Csa05g084910
0.28
0.30
0.34
0.34
0.38
0.28
0.39
0.37
0.37
0.27

Csa09g015930
0.28
0.31
0.34
0.36
0.44
0.28
0.36
0.39
0.37
0.28

Csa09g064030
0.21
0.27
0.22
0.33
0.30
0.24
0.18
0.26
0.20
0.21

Csa11g012280
0.26
0.27
0.34
0.31
0.37
0.25
0.41
0.36
0.36
0.25

Csa11g064030
0.28
0.30
0.33
0.35
0.39
0.27
0.37
0.36
0.36
0.27

Csa10g022470
0.24
0.28
0.30
0.32
0.43
0.24
0.28
0.33
0.32
0.25

Csa12g003340
0.25
0.28
0.30
0.31
0.42
0.24
0.27
0.34
0.33
0.25

Csa13g016510
0.24
0.21
0.31
0.24
0.26
0.23
0.42
0.33
0.32
0.22

Csa13g044940
0.20
0.21
0.26
0.25
0.36
0.20
0.25
0.32
0.25
0.21

Csa13g009540
0.25
0.24
0.32
0.28
0.26
0.24
0.45
0.31
0.35
0.23

Csa16g028530
0.28
0.31
0.35
0.36
0.41
0.28
0.38
0.38
0.37
0.28

Csa17g028800
0.19
0.23
0.23
0.26
0.36
0.19
0.19
0.26
0.27
0.20

Csa20g009570
0.23
0.24
0.27
0.28
0.40
0.22
0.25
0.31
0.26
0.23

Csa20g009930
0.25
0.25
0.34
0.28
0.28
0.25
0.47
0.33
0.36
0.24

Csa20g082160
0.27
0.30
0.32
0.34
0.38
0.27
0.36
0.35
0.35
0.26

Csa03g055650
0.21
0.22
0.27
0.25
0.35
0.20
0.29
0.31
0.30
0.21

¹Abbreviations: Lipid MP: lipid metabolic process; FA MP: fatty acid metabolic process; Seed dev: seed development; FA BP: fatty acid biosynthetic process; Seed coat dev: seed coat development; Lipid BP: lipid biosynthetic process; Seed mat: seed maturation; Post reg MP: post regulation of metabolic process; Carb MP: carbohydrate metabolic processes.

TABLE 7 lists the top TF candidates that were obtained through this analysis that contain the strongest association to the major metabolic pathways that are considered as core pathways for increasing seed oil content and seed yield. Interestingly, some of the genes that are known to have a large effect on oil biosynthesis and/or seed yield, such as WRINKLED1 (WRI1, Ma et al., PLoS One, 2013, 8, e68887), LEAFY COTYLEDON 1-LIKE (LEC1-LIKE, referred to as NFYB6 in tables, Tan et al., 2011, 156, 1577-1588), and LEAFY COTYLEDON 1 (LEC1, referred to as NFYB-9 in tables) (Tan et al., 2011) were found in the top candidate list of transcription factors (TABLE 7).

TABLE 7

Candidate Camelina sativa transcription factors to increase seed yield and/or

oil content identified in the brown module of the TF-module association network

A. thaliana

A. thaliana

best BLAST

Csa locus

C. sativa gene description
NCBI ID
gene
hit

Csa02g028180
LOW QUALITY PROTEIN: transcription
XP_010437974.1
TT8-like
AT4G09820

SEQ ID NO:
factor TT8-like

14***

Csa03g025850
nuclear transcription factor Y subunit B-9-like
XP_010498656.1
NFYB-9
AT1G21970

SEQ ID NO:
isoform X1

58***

Csa02g039160
nuclear transcription factor Y subunit C-6-like
XP_010442179.1
NFYC-
AT5G50480

SEQ ID NO:

6like

203

Csa04g012470
B3 domain-containing transcription factor
XP_019100092.1
FUS3
AT3G26790

SEQ ID NO:
FUS3-like

178*

Csa06g028810
ethylene-responsive transcription factor WRI1
XP_010515956.1
WRI1
AT3G54320

SEQ ID NO:
isoform X2

3***

Csa06g017080
ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE 5-like
XP_019102243.1
ABI5
AT3G44460

SEQ ID NO:
protein

184*

Csa07g034190
LOB domain-containing protein 42
XP_010415471.1
LOB
AT1G68510

SEQ ID NO:

44***

Csa04g015890
transcription factor MYB46-like
XP_010502784.1
MYB-46
AT3G27785

SEQ ID NO:

13***

Csa04g040410
floral homeotic protein APETALA 3-like
XP_010504236.1
APETALA3
AT3G54340

SEQ ID NO: 54

Csa08g010060
WUSCHEL-related homeobox 12-like
XP_019084718.1
WOX12
AT5G17810

SEQ ID NO:

201

Csa05g084910
LOB domain-containing protein 42-like
XP_010511848.1
LOB42
AT1G68510

SEQ ID NO:

182*

Csa09g015930
transcription factor MYB98-like
XP_010425555.1
MYB98
AT3G27785

SEQ ID NO:

16***

Csa09g064030
ethylene-responsive transcription factor WRI1
XP_010427125.1
WRI1
AT3G54320

SEQ ID NO:
isoform X2

1***

Csa11g012280
ethylene-responsive transcription factor
XP_010445038.1
ERF015
AT4G31060

SEQ ID NO:
ERF015

189*

Csa11g064030
nuclear transcription factor Y subunit B-6
XP_010441425.1
NFYB6
AT5G47670

SEQ ID NO:
isoform X2

37***

Csa10g022470
dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4-like
XP_010449133.1
DOF4.4
AT4G21050

SEQ ID NO:

10***

Csa12g003340
dof zinc finger protein DOF4.7-like [;Camelina
XP_010446600.1
DOF4.7
AT4G38000

SEQ ID NO:

sativa]

25***

Csa13g016510
agamous-like MADS-box protein AGL15
XP_010453479.1
AGL15
AT5G13790

SEQ ID NO:
isoform X2

202

Csa13g044940
agamous-like MADS-box protein AGL11
XP_010455384.1
AGL11
AT4G09960

SEQ ID NO: 33
isoform X2

Csa13g009540
zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein
XP_010452718.1
PEI1 (also
AT5G07500

SEQ ID NO:
54-like

known as

204

ATTZF6)

Csa16g028530
LOB domain-containing protein 42-like
XP_010470800.1
lob42
AT1G68510

SEQ ID NO:

27***

Csa17g028800
nuclear transcription factor Y subunit B-9-like
XP_010477449.1
NFYB-9
AT1G21970

SEQ ID NO:
isoform X1

42***

Csa20g009570
putative two-component response regulator
XP_010491325.1
ARR21
AT5G07210

SEQ ID NO:
ARR21

19***

Csa20g009930
zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein
XP_010491369.2
ATTZF6
AT5G07500

SEQ ID NO:
54

205

Csa20g082160
nuclear transcription factor Y subunit B-6
XP_010495006.1
NFYB6
AT5G47670

SEQ ID NO:
isoform X1

41***

Csa03g055650
transcription factor bHLH95 -like
XP_010500526.1
bHLH95
AT1G49770

SEQ ID NO:

237

*Indicates TF genes that are common in TABLE 5 and TABLE 7.

***Indicates TF genes that are common in TABLE 5, TABLE 7, and TABLE 8.

Example 4. Additional Transcription Factor Candidates Identified Through WGCNA

Additional transcription factor genes were identified from the WGCNA adjacency matrix constructed in Example 1 that may increase oil and/or seed yield. These transcription factors are listed in TABLE 8.

TABLE 8

Candidate¹transcription factors to increase seed yield and/or

oil content identified from WGCNA adjacency matrix in Example 1

A. thaliana best

A. thaliana

Csa locus

C. sativa description
BLAST hit
gene

A. thaliana description

Csa09g064030
ethylene-responsive
AT3G54320
WRI1
Ethylene-responsive

SEQ ID NO:
transcription factor WRI1,

transcription factor WRI1

1***
transcript variant X2

Csa20g025980
transcription repressor MYB6-
AT5G17800
MYB56
Transcription factor MYB56

SEQ ID NO: 2
like

Csa06g028810
ethylene-responsive
AT3G54320
WRI1
Ethylene-responsive

SEQ ID NO:
transcription factor WRI1,

transcription factor WRI1

3***
transcript variant X2

Csa04g040400
ethylene-responsive
AT3G54320
WRI1
Ethylene-responsive

SEQ ID NO: 4**
transcription factor WRI1-like,

transcription factor WRI1

transcript variant X2

Csa17g083180
B3 domain-containing protein
AT1G49475
At1g49475
B3 domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 5
At1g49475-like

At1g49475

Csa08g010050
myb-related protein 315-like
AT5G17800
MYB56
Transcription factor MYB56

SEQ ID NO: 6

Csa04g059420
agamous-like MADS-box
AT2G42830
AGL5
Agamous-like MADS-box

SEQ ID NO: 7
protein AGL5, transcript

protein AGL5

variant X1

Csa06g008890
transcription factor MYB98-
AT3G27785
MYB118
Transcription factor MYB118

SEQ ID NO: 8**
like

Csa13g044750
transcription factor TT8-like
AT4G09820
TT8
Transcription factor TT8

SEQ ID NO: 9**

Csa10g022470
Dof family protein
AT4G21050
DOF4.4
Dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4

SEQ ID NO:

10***

Csa05g008730
MIKC_MADS family protein
AT2G42830
AGL5
Agamous-like MADS-box

SEQ ID NO:

protein AGL5

11**

Csa13g020620
MYB family protein
AT5G17800
MYB56
Transcription factor MYB56

SEQ ID NO: 12

Csa04g015890
transcription factor MYB46-
AT3G27785
MYB118
Transcription factor MYB118

SEQ ID NO: 13
like

Csa02g028180
transcription factor TT8-like
AT4G09820
TT8
Transcription factor TT8

SEQ ID NO:

14***

Csa06g048980
agamous-like MADS-box
AT2G42830
AGL5
Agamous-like MADS-box

SEQ ID NO: 15
protein AGL5, transcript

protein AGL5

variant X2

Csa09g015930
transcription factor MYB98-
AT3G27785
MYB118
Transcription factor MYB118

SEQ ID NO:
like

16***

Csa17g013010
transcription repressor MYB6-
AT1G09540
MYB61
Transcription factor MYB61

SEQ ID NO: 17
like

Csa19g026420
B3 domain-containing protein
AT3G18960
At3g18960
B3 domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 18
At3g18960-like

At3g18960

Csa20g009570
putative two-component
AT5G07210
ARR21
Putative two-component

SEQ ID NO:
response regulator ARR21

response regulator ARR21

19***

Csa02g001270
LOB domain-containing
AT4G00220
LBD30
LOB domain-containing protein 30

SEQ ID NO: 20
protein 30

Csa08g037600
transcription factor TT8
AT4G09820
TT8
Transcription factor TT8

SEQ ID NO:

21**

Csa15g017660
transcription repressor MYB5
AT3G13540
MYB5
Transcription repressor MYB5

SEQ ID NO: 22

Csa04g063340
LOB domain-containing
AT2G45420
LBD18
LOB domain-containing protein 18

SEQ ID NO: 23
protein 18

Csa08g001290
LOB domain-containing
AT4G00220
LBD30
LOB domain-containing protein 30

SEQ ID NO: 24
protein 30-like

Csa12g003340
dof zinc finger protein
AT4G38000
DOF4.7
Dof zinc finger protein DOF4.7

SEQ ID NO:
DOF4.7-like

25***

Csa14g010940
transcription repressor MYB6-
AT1G09540
MYB61
Transcription factor MYB61

SEQ ID NO: 26
like

Csa16g028530
LOB domain-containing
AT1G68510
LBD42
LOB domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO:
protein 42-like

42

27***

Csa10g003120
dof zinc finger protein
AT4G38000
DOF4.7
Dof zinc finger protein DOF4.7

SEQ ID NO: 28
DOF4.7-like

Csa02g067030
B3 domain-containing protein
AT5G60140
At5g60140
B3 domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 29
At5g60140-like

At5g60140

Csa15g027280
bHLH family protein
AT3G19500
BHLH113
Transcription factor bHLH 113

SEQ ID NO: 30

Csa05g024520
HD-ZIP family protein
AT2G32370
HDG3
Homeobox-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO: 31

protein HDG3

Csa07g054640
B3 family protein
AT4G00260
REM15.15
Putative B3 domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 32

protein REM15

Csa13g044940
MIKC_MADS family protein
AT4G09960
AGL11
Agamous-like MADS-box

SEQ ID NO: 33

protein AGL11

Csa03g012900
transcription repressor MYB6-
AT1G09540
MYB61
Transcription factor MYB61

SEQ ID NO: 34
like

Csa20g048870
B3 domain-containing protein
AT5G25475
At5g25475
B3 domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 35
At5g25470-like

At5g25475

Csa20g081120
homeobox-leucine zipper
AT5G46880
HDG5
Homeobox-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO: 36
protein HDG5-like, transcript

protein HDG5

variant X1

Csa11g064030
NF-YB family protein
AT5G47670
NFYB6
nuclear factor Y, subunit B6

SEQ ID NO:

37***

Csa19g027040
transcription factor bHLH113
AT3G19500
BHLH113
Transcription factor bHLH113

SEQ ID NO: 38

Csa11g065050
homeobox-leucine zipper
AT5G46880
HDG5
Homeobox-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO: 39
protein HDG5-like

protein HDG5

Csa08g038790
MIKC_MADS family protein
AT4G09960
AGL11
Agamous-like MADS-box

SEQ ID NO: 40

protein AGL11

Csa20g082160
nuclear transcription factor Y
AT5G47670
NFYB6
Nuclear transcription factor Y

SEQ ID NO:
subunit B-6-like

subunit B-6

41***

Csa17g028800
nuclear transcription factor Y
AT1G21970
NFYB9
Nuclear transcription factor Y

SEQ ID NO:
subunit B-9-like, transcript

subunit B-9

42***
variant X2

Csa18g030810
B3 family protein
AT5G57720
At5g57720
B3 domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 43

At5g57720

Csa07g034190
LOB domain-containing
AT1G68510
LBD42
LOB domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO:
protein 42

42

44***

Csa19g018880
transcription repressor MYB5-
AT3G13540
MYB5
Transcription repressor MYB5

SEQ ID NO: 45
like

Csa14g027200
nuclear transcription factor Y
AT1G21970
NFYB9
Nuclear transcription factor Y

SEQ ID NO:
subunit B-9, transcript variant

subunit B-9

46**
X2

Csa09g064040
MIKC_MADS family protein
AT3G54340
AP3
Floral homeotic protein

SEQ ID NO: 47

APETALA 3

Csa18g002140
nuclear transcription factor Y
AT5G47670
NFYB6
Nuclear transcription factor Y

SEQ ID NO: 48
subunit B-6-like, transcript

subunit B-6

variant X2

Csa01g003470
LOB domain-containing
AT3G03760
LBD20
LOB domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 49
protein 20-like

20

Csa06g051800
LOB domain-containing
AT2G45420
LBD18
LOB domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 50
protein 18-like

18

Csa15g001870
developmental protein
AT3G02310
SEP2
Developmental protein

SEQ ID NO: 51
SEPALLATA 2

SEPALLATA 2

Csa06g051300
homeobox-leucine zipper
AT2G44910
ATHB-4
Homeobox-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO: 52
protein ATHB-4-like

protein ATHB-4

Csa01g022540
transcription factor bHLH113-
AT3G19500
BHLH113
Transcription factor bHLH113

SEQ ID NO: 53
like

Csa04g040410
floral homeotic protein
AT3G54340
AP3
Floral homeotic protein

SEQ ID NO: 54
APETALA 3-like

APETALA 3

Csa15g026630
B3 family protein
AT3G18960
At3g18960
B3 family protein

SEQ ID NO: 55

Csa15g003590
LOB domain-containing
AT3G03760
LBD20
LOB domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 56
protein 20-like

20

Csa19g005910
LOB domain-containing
AT3G03760
LBD20
LOB domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 57
protein 20

20

Csa03g025850
nuclear transcription factor Y
AT1G21970
NFYB9
Nuclear transcription factor Y

SEQ ID NO:
subunit B-9-like, transcript

subunit B-9

58***
variant X1

Csa18g003140
homeobox-leucine zipper
AT5G46880
HDG5
Homeobox-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO: 59
protein HDG5

protein HDG5

Csa08g007940
MIKC_MADS family protein
AT5G15800
SEP1
Developmental protein

SEQ ID NO: 60

SEPALLATA 1

Csa16g008940
no hit on PlantTFDB
AT2G32460
MYB101
Transcription factor MYB101

SEQ ID NO: 61

Csa08g056710
NAC family protein
AT5G07680
NAC079
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 62

protein 79

Csa13g056870
myb-related protein 3R-1-like,
AT4G00540
MYB3R2
Transcription factor MYB3R-2

SEQ ID NO: 63
transcript variant X1

Csa01g015840
transcription repressor MYB5,
AT3G13540
MYB5
Transcription repressor MYB5

SEQ ID NO: 64
transcript variant X2

Csa02g026980
agamous-like MADS-box
AT4G09960
AGL11
Agamous-like MADS-box

SEQ ID NO: 65
protein AGL11, transcript

protein AGL11

variant X1

Csa13g057190
LOB domain-containing
AT4G00220
LBD30
LOB domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 66
protein 30-like

30

Csa11g009840
B3 family protein
AT4G33280
REM16
B3 domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 67

REM16

Csa05g094940
transcription factor MYB12-
AT3G62610
MYB11
Transcription factor MYB11

SEQ ID NO: 68
like

Csa17g021380
no hit on PlantTFDB
AT1G15790
At1g15790
Mediator of RNA polymerase II

SEQ ID NO: 69

transcription subunit 15a-like

protein

Csa11g003480
dof zinc finger protein
AT4G38000
DOF4.7
Dof zinc finger protein DOF4.7

SEQ ID NO: 70
DOF4.7-like

Csa16g046300
B3 domain-containing protein
AT4G00260
REM15.15
Putative B3 domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 71
REM14-like

protein REM15

Csa01g001860
MIKC_MADS family protein
AT3G02310
SEP2
Developmental protein

SEQ ID NO: 72

SEPALLATA 2

Csa11g025480
dof zinc finger protein
AT4G21050
DOF4.4
Dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4

SEQ ID NO: 73
DOF4.4-like

Csa06g028820
MIKC_MADS family protein
AT3G54340
AP3
Floral homeotic protein

SEQ ID NO: 74

APETALA 3

Csa03g055340
B3 domain-containing protein
AT1G49475
At1g49475
B3 domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 75
At1g49475-like

At1g49475

Csa13g020090
homeobox-leucine zipper
AT5G17320
HDG9
Homeobox-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO:
protein HDG9-like

protein HDG9

76**

Csa07g060030
HD-ZIP family protein
AT1G79840
GL2
Homeobox-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO: 77

protein GLABRA 2

Csa20g025400
homeobox-leucine zipper
AT1G34650
HDG10
Homeobox-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO: 78
protein HDG9-like

protein HDG10

Csa19g005080
no hit on PlantTFDB
AT3G02940
MYB107
Myb domain protein 107

SEQ ID NO: 79

Csa14g041570
agamous-like MADS-box
AT1G31630
AGL86
Agamous-like MADS-box

SEQ ID NO:
protein AGL86

protein AGL86

80**

Csa02g004620
B3 domain-containing
AT4G01500
NGA4
B3 domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 81
transcription factor NGA4-like

transcription factor NGA4

Csa18g021260
nuclear transcription factor Y
AT5G50480
NFYC6
Nuclear transcription factor Y

SEQ ID NO:
subunit C-6-like

subunit C-6

82**

Csa11g097230
NAC domain-containing
AT5G61430
NAC100
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 83
protein 100

protein 100

Csa11g081940
nuclear transcription factor Y
AT5G50480
NFYC6
Nuclear transcription factor Y

SEQ ID NO: 84
subunit C-6-like

subunit C-6

Csa19g002950
MIKC_MADS family protein
AT3G02310
SEP2
Developmental protein

SEQ ID NO: 85

SEPALLATA 2

Csa13g018600
MIKC_MADS family protein
AT5G15800
SEP1
Developmental protein

SEQ ID NO: 86

SEPALLATA 1

Csa18g005150
WUSCHEL-related homeobox
AT5G45980
WOX8
WUSCHEL-related homeobox

SEQ ID NO: 87
8-like

8

Csa15g059710
growth-regulating factor 6
AT2G06200
GRF6
Growth-regulating factor 6

SEQ ID NO: 88

Csa02g068380
transcription factor MYB28-
AT5G61420
MYB28
Transcription factor MYB28

SEQ ID NO: 89
like

Csa04g018190
mini zinc finger protein 2-like
AT3G28917
MIF2
Mini zinc finger protein 2

SEQ ID NO: 90

Csa18g034740
transcription factor MYB28
AT5G61420
MYB28
Transcription factor MYB28

SEQ ID NO: 91

Csa05g085820
MIKC_MADS family protein
AT1G69120
AP1
Floral homeotic protein

SEQ ID NO:

APETALA 1

92**

Csa09g021300
mini zinc finger protein 2-like
AT3G28917
MIF2
Mini zinc finger protein 2

SEQ ID NO: 93

Csa03g030490
developmental protein
AT1G24260
SEP3
Developmental protein

SEQ ID NO: 94
SEPALLATA 3, transcript

SEPALLATA 3

variant X8

Csa03g031590
B3 domain-containing
AT1G28300
LEC2
B3 domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 95
transcription factor LEC2-like,

transcription factor LEC2

transcript variant X1

Csa18g033440
B3 domain-containing protein
AT5G60130
At5g60130
B3 domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 96
At5g60140-like

At5g60130

Csa20g038200
protein TRANSPARENT
AT5G23260
TT16
Protein TRANSPARENT

SEQ ID NO: 97
TESTA 16-like, transcript

TESTA 16

variant X2

Csa09g095190
homeobox-leucine zipper
AT1G79840
GL2
Homeobox-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO: 98
protein GLABRA 2-like

protein GLABRA 2

Csa01g002590
transcription factor MYB3-like
AT3G02940
MYB107
Myb domain protein 107

SEQ ID NO: 99

Csa12g037530
dof zinc finger protein
AT4G21050
DOF4.4
Dof zinc finger protein DOF4.4

SEQ ID NO: 100
DOF4.4-like

Csa03g026440
agamous-like MADS-box
AT1G22590
AGL87
AGAMOUS-like 87

SEQ ID NO: 101
protein AGL80, transcript

variant X1

Csa13g027840
protein TRANSPARENT
AT5G23260
TT16
Protein TRANSPARENT

SEQ ID NO: 102
TESTA 16-like

TESTA 16

Csa14g034830
developmental protein
AT1G24260
SEP3
Developmental protein

SEQ ID NO: 103
SEPALLATA 3, transcript

SEPALLATA 3

variant X4

Csa20g023310
developmental protein
AT2G03710
AGL3
Agamous-like MADS-box

SEQ ID NO: 104
SEPALLATA 1

protein AGL3

Csa16g050670
HD-ZIP family protein
AT1G79840
GL2
Homeobox-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO: 105

protein GLABRA 2

Csa06g027310
growth-regulating factor 4
AT3G52910
GRF4
Growth-regulating factor 4

SEQ ID NO: 106

Csa14g035910
B3 family protein
AT1G28300
LEC2
B3 domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 107

transcription factor LEC2

Csa13g009710
NAC domain-containing
AT5G07680
NAC079
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 108
protein 79-like

protein 79

Csa15g002660
MYB family protein
AT3G02940
MYB107
Myb domain protein 107

SEQ ID NO: 109

Csa18g034760
NAC domain-containing
AT5G61430
NAC100
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 110
protein 100-like

protein 100

Csa17g029500
M-type_MADS family protein
AT1G22590
AGL87
AGAMOUS-like 87

SEQ ID NO: 111

Csa15g020050
NAC transcription factor 56-
AT3G15510
NAC056
NAC transcription factor 56

SEQ ID NO: 112
like

Csa05g004070
axial regulator YABBY 1
AT2G45190
YAB1
Axial regulator YABBY 1

SEQ ID NO: 113

Csa06g051580
axial regulator YABBY 1
AT2G45190
YAB1
Axial regulator YABBY 1

SEQ ID NO: 114

Csa09g088810
B3 domain-containing protein
AT4G00260
REM15.15
Putative B3 domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 115
REM14-like, transcript variant

protein REM15

X1

Csa04g046300
agamous-like MADS-box
AT3G58780
AGL1
Agamous-like MADS-box

SEQ ID NO: 116
protein AGL1

protein AGL1

Csa04g063090
axial regulator YABBY 1
AT2G45190
YAB1
Axial regulator YABBY 1

SEQ ID NO: 117

Csa05g024410
transcription factor GAMYB-
AT2G32460
MYB101
Transcription factor MYB101

SEQ ID NO: 118
like, transcript variant X2

Csa07g010180
transcription factor GAMYB-
AT2G32460
MYB101
Transcription factor MYB101

SEQ ID NO: 119
like

Csa19g004650
LOB domain-containing
AT3G02550
LBD41
LOB domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 120
protein 41-like

41

Csa19g028720
GATA family protein
AT3G20750
GATA29
GATA transcription factor 29

SEQ ID NO: 121

Csa17g035980
developmental protein
AT1G24260
SEP3
Developmental protein

SEQ ID NO: 122
SEPALLATA 3-like, transcript

SEPALLATA 3

variant X3

Csa20g026650
NAC domain-containing
AT5G18270
NAC087
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 123
protein 100-like

protein 87

Csa08g010750
NAC domain-containing
AT5G18270
NAC087
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 124
protein 92-like

protein 87

Csa13g019570
transcription factor MYB39-
AT5G16770
MYB9
Myb domain protein 9

SEQ ID NO: 125
like, transcript variant X2

Csa09g095630
NAC family protein
AT1G61110
NAC025
NAC domain containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 126

25

Csa13g021170
NAC domain-containing
AT5G18270
NAC087
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 127
protein 92

protein 87

Csa18g038180
NAC family protein
AT5G64530
NAC104
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 128

protein 104

Csa17g039350
NAC domain-containing
AT1G28470
NAC010
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 129
protein 10

protein 10

Csa02g073300
NAC domain-containing
AT5G64530
NAC104
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 130
protein 104-like

protein 104

Csa20g024680
transcription factor MYB39-
AT5G16770
MYB9
Myb domain protein 9

SEQ ID NO: 131
like, transcript variant X1

Csa09g061160
growth-regulating factor 4-like
AT3G52910
GRF4
Growth-regulating factor 4

SEQ ID NO: 132

Csa19g040820
GRF family protein
AT2G06200
GRF6
Growth-regulating factor 6

SEQ ID NO: 133

Csa16g009060
HD-ZIP family protein
AT2G32370
HDG3
Homeobox-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO: 134

protein HDG3

Csa01g002130
LOB domain-containing
AT3G02550
LBD41
LOB domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 135
protein 41

41

Csa07g054730
B3 domain-containing protein
AT2G24696
At2g24696
B3 domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 136
REM-like 2

REM-like 2

Csa08g008960
MYB family protein
AT5G16770
MYB9
Myb domain protein 9

SEQ ID NO: 137

Csa05g085100
bZIP family protein
AT1G68640
PAN
Transcription factor

SEQ ID NO: 138

PERIANTHIA

Csa09g079830
zinc-finger homeodomain
AT1G75240
ZHD5
Zinc-finger homeodomain

SEQ ID NO: 139
protein 5, transcript variant X1

protein 5

Csa15g002200
LOB domain-containing
AT3G02550
LBD41
LOB domain-containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 140
protein 41-like

41

Csa07g011710
myb-related protein Myb4-like
AT2G31180
MYB14
Transcription factor MYB14

SEQ ID NO: 141

Csa01g021240
NAC family protein
AT3G18400
NAC058
NAC domain containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 142

58

Csa15g024970
NAC family protein
AT3G18400
NAC058
NAC domain containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 143

58

Csa08g054280
transcription factor MYB39-
AT5G10280
MYB92
Transcription factor MYB92

SEQ ID NO: 144
like, transcript variant X2

Csa04g041170
AP2-like ethylene-responsive
AT3G54990
SMZ
AP2-like ethylene-responsive

SEQ ID NO: 145
transcription factor SMZ

transcription factor SMZ

Csa16g039140
zinc-finger homeodomain
AT1G75240
ZHD5
Zinc-finger homeodomain

SEQ ID NO: 146
protein 5-like

protein 5

Csa20g015580
transcription factor MYB39-
AT5G10280
MYB92
Transcription factor MYB92

SEQ ID NO: 147
like, transcript variant X2

Csa17g001720
ethylene-responsive
AT1G01250
ERF023
Ethylene-responsive

SEQ ID NO: 148
transcription factor ERF023-

transcription factor ERF023

like

Csa14g030660
homeobox protein knotted-1-
AT1G70510
KNAT2
Homeobox protein knotted-1-

SEQ ID NO: 149
like 2

like 2

Csa16g012440
myb-related protein Myb4-like
AT2G31180
MYB14
Transcription factor MYB14

SEQ ID NO: 150

Csa07g046680
zinc-finger homeodomain
AT1G75240
ZHD5
Zinc-finger homeodomain

SEQ ID NO: 151
protein 5-like

protein 5

Csa13g055830
transcription factor bHLH57-
AT4G01460
BHLH57
Transcription factor bHLH57

SEQ ID NO: 152
like

Csa17g076670
C3H family protein
AT1G48195
At1g48195
Zinc finger CCCH domain-

SEQ ID NO: 153

containing protein 13

Csa10g03160
agamous-like MADS-box
AT4G37940
AGL21
Agamous-like MADS-box

SEQ ID NO: 154
protein AGL21, transcript

protein AGL21

variant X1

Csa05g030120
myb-related protein Myb4-like
AT2G31180
MYB14
Transcription factor MYB14

SEQ ID NO: 155

Csa11g003540
no hit on PlantTFDB
AT4G37940
AGL21
Agamous-like MADS-box

SEQ ID NO: 156

protein AGL21

Csa03g01950
ethylene-responsive
AT1G01250
ERF023
Ethylene-responsive

SEQ ID NO: 157
transcription factor ERF023

transcription factor ERF023

Csa12g037480
Dof family protein
AT4G21080
DOF4.5
Dof zinc finger protein DOF4.5

SEQ ID NO: 158

Csa10g046940
NAC domain-containing
AT5G39610
NAC92
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 159
protein 92

protein 92

Csa12g081820
NAC domain-containing
AT5G39610
NAC92
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 160
protein 92-like

protein 92

Csa01g035280
MADS-box transcription factor
AT2G14210
ANR1
MADS-box transcription factor

SEQ ID NO: 161
ANR1-like

ANR1

Csa17g014180
C2H2 family protein
AT1G10480
ZFP5
Zinc finger protein 5

SEQ ID NO: 162

Csa11g055650
NAC domain-containing
AT5G39610
NAC92
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 163
protein 92

protein 92

Csa06g036530
agamous-like MADS-box
AT3G58780
AGL1
Agamous-like MADS-box

SEQ ID NO: 164
protein AGL1

protein AGL1

Csa07g010290
HD-ZIP family protein
AT2G32370
HDG3
Homeobox-leucine zipper

SEQ ID NO: 165

protein HDG3

Csa20g020460
NAC domain-containing
AT5G14000
NAC084
NAC domain containing protein

SEQ ID NO: 166
protein 83-like

84

Csa03g052940
C3H family protein
AT1G48195
At1g48195
Zinc finger CCCH domain-

SEQ ID NO: 167

containing protein 13

Csa07g034330
transcription factor
AT1G68640
PAN
Transcription factor

SEQ ID NO: 168
PERIANTHIA-like, transcript

PERIANTHIA

variant X1

Csa03g012890
transcription factor PIF3 -like
AT1G09530
PIF3
Transcription factor PIF3

SEQ ID NO: 169

Csa07g030650
bHLH family protein
AT1G66470
BHLH83
Transcription factor bHLH83

SEQ ID NO: 170

Csa11g030760
transcriptional regulator
AT4G17810
AXX17
CYP705A1

SEQ ID NO: 171
SUPERMAN-like

Csa08g022800
C2H2 family protein
AT5G25160
ZFP3
Zinc finger protein 3

SEQ ID NO: 172

Csa16g044520
bHLH family protein
AT2G22770
NAI1
Transcription factor NAI1

SEQ ID NO: 173

Csa03g060000
NAC domain-containing
AT1G52890
NAC019
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 174
protein 19-like

protein 19

Csa17g093080
NAC domain-containing
AT1G52890
NAC019
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 175
protein 19-like

protein 19

Csa01g018090
NAC domain-containing
AT3G15500
NAC055
NAC domain-containing

SEQ ID NO: 176
protein 55

protein 55

**Indicates TF genes that are common in TABLE 5 and TABLE 8.

***Indicates TF genes that are common in TABLE 5, TABLE 7, and TABLE 8.

Example 5. Overexpression of TFs in Oilseed Crops: Canola, Soybean, Corn, Camelina, Etc.

The TFs listed in TABLE 5, TABLE 7, and TABLE 8 can be overexpressed in oilseed crops to increase seed yield and/or oil content. Genetic constructs containing a promoter operably linked to the TF coding sequence, operably linked to a termination sequence can be constructed and transformed into the crop of interest. Appropriate constitutive and seed-specific promoters include those listed in TABLE 1 and TABLE 2 however those skilled in the art will understand that many other promoters can be used to practice the invention, depending on the tissue specificity and strength of the desired expression.

Canola Transformation.

For transformation of canola, vectors can be constructed to include a cassette for expression of the bar gene, providing resistance to the herbicide bialophos.

In preparation for plant transformation experiments, seeds of Brassica napus cv DH12075 (obtained from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) are surface sterilized with sufficient 95% ethanol for 15 seconds, followed by 15 minutes incubation with occasional agitation in full strength Javex (or other commercial bleach, 7.4% sodium hypochlorite) and a drop of wetting agent such as Tween 20. The Javex solution is decanted and 0.025% mercuric chloride with a drop of Tween 20 is added and the seeds are sterilized for another 10 minutes. The seeds are then rinsed three times with sterile distilled water. The sterilized seeds are plated on half strength hormone-free Murashige and Skoog (MS) media (Murashige T, Skoog F (1962). Physiol Plant 15:473-498) with 1% sucrose in 15×60 mm petri dishes that are then placed, with the lid removed, into a larger sterile vessel (Majenta GA7 jars). The cultures are kept at 25° C., with 16 h light/8 h dark, under approximately 70-80 μE of light intensity in a tissue culture cabinet. 4-5 days old seedlings are used to excise fully unfolded cotyledons along with a small segment of the hypocotyl. Excisions are made so as to ensure that no part of the apical meristem is included.

Agrobacterium strain GV3101 (pMP90) carrying the transformation construct of interest with an expression cassette for the bar gene, are grown overnight in 5 ml of LB media with 50 mg/L kanamycin, gentamycin, and rifampicin. The culture is centrifuged at 2000 g for 10 min., the supernatant is discarded and the pellet is suspended in 5 ml of inoculation medium (Murashige and Skoog with B5 vitamins (MS/B5; Gamborg O L, Miller R A, Ojima K. Exp Cell Res 50:151-158), 3% sucrose, 0.5 mg/L benzyl aminopurine (BA), pH 5.8). Cotyledons are collected in Petri dishes with ˜1 ml of sterile water to keep them from wilting. The water is removed prior to inoculation and explants are inoculated in mixture of 1 part Agrobacterium suspension and 9 parts inoculation medium in a final volume sufficient to bathe the explants. After explants are well exposed to the Agrobacterium solution and inoculated, a pipet is used to remove any extra liquid from the petri dishes.

The Petri plates containing the explants incubated in the inoculation media are sealed and kept in the dark in a tissue culture cabinet set at 25° C. After 2 days the cultures are transferred to 4° C. and incubated in the dark for 3 days. The cotyledons, in batches of 10, are then transferred to selection medium consisting of Murashige Minimal Organics (Sigma), 3% sucrose, 4.5 mg/L BA, 500 mg/L MES, 27.8 mg/L Iron (II) sulfate heptahydrate, pH 5.8, 0.7% Phytagel with 300 mg/L timentin, and 2 mg/L L-phosphinothricin (L-PPT) added after autoclaving. The cultures are kept in a tissue culture cabinet set at 25° C., 16 h/8 h, with a light intensity of about 125 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹. The cotyledons are transferred to fresh selection every 3 weeks until shoots are obtained. The shoots are excised and transferred to shoot elongation media containing MS/B5 media, 2% sucrose, 0.5 mg/L BA, 0.03 mg/L gibberellic acid (GA₃), 500 mg/L 4-morpholineethanesulfonic acid (MES), 150 mg/L phloroglucinol, pH 5.8, 0.9% Phytagar and 300 mg/L timentin and 3 mg/L L-phosphinothricin added after autoclaving. After 3-4 weeks any callus that was formed at the base of shoots with normal morphology is cut off and shoots are transferred to rooting media containing half strength MS/B5 media with 1% sucrose and 0.5 mg/L indole butyric acid, 500 mg/L MES, pH 5.8, 0.8% agar, with 1.5 mg/L L-PPT and 300 mg/L timentin added after autoclaving. The plantlets with healthy shoots are hardened and transferred to 6 inch (15 cm) pots in the greenhouse to collect T1 transgenic seeds.

Screening of transgenic plants of canola expressing the TF gene to identify plants with higher yield is performed as follows. The T1 seeds of several independent lines are grown in a randomized complete block design in a greenhouse maintained at 24° C. during the day and 18° C. during the night. The T2 generation of seed from each line is harvested. Seed yield from each plant is determined by harvesting all of the mature seeds from a plant and drying them in an oven with mechanical convection set at 22° C. for two days. The weight of the entire harvested seed is recorded. The 100 seed weight is measured to obtain an indication of seed size. The oil content of seeds is measured using published procedures for preparation of fatty acid methyl esters (Malik et al. 2015, Plant Biotechnology Journal, 13, 675-688).

Soybean Transformation.

Transformation of soybean can be performed with the expression cassette for the TF gene of choice and an expression cassette for the selectable marker hygromycin resistance as follows. Purified DNA containing the expression cassettes are co-bombarded using biolistics into embryogenic cultures of soybean Glycine max cultivars X5 and Westag97 to obtain transgenic plants. The hygromycin resistance gene is expressed from a plant promoter, such as the soybean actin promoter and is flanked by a suitable 3′ UTR.

The transformation, selection, and plant regeneration protocol is adapted from Simmonds (2003) (Simmonds, 2003, Genetic Transformation of Soybean with Biolistics. In: Jackson J F, Linskens H F (eds) Genetic Transformation of Plants. Springer Verlag, Berlin, pp 159-174) and is performed as follows.

Induction and Maintenance of Proliferative Embryogenic Cultures: Immature pods, containing 3-5 mm long embryos, are harvested from host plants grown at 28/24° C. (day/night), 15-h photoperiod at a light intensity of 300-400 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹. Pods are sterilized for 30 s in 70% ethanol followed by 15 min in 1% sodium hypochlorite (with 1-2 drops of Tween 20 (Sigma, Oakville, ON, Canada)) and three rinses in sterile water. The embryonic axis is excised and explants are cultured with the abaxial surface in contact with the induction medium (MS salts, B5 vitamins (Gamborg O L, Miller R A, Ojima K. Exp Cell Res 50:151-158), 3% sucrose, 0.5 mg/L BA, pH 5.8), 1.25-3.5% glucose (concentration varies with genotype), 20 mg/l 2,4-D, pH 5.7). The explants, maintained at 20° C. at a 20-h photoperiod under cool white fluorescent lights at 35-75 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹, are sub-cultured four times at 2-week intervals. Embryogenic clusters, observed after 3-8 weeks of culture depending on the genotype, are transferred to 125-ml Erlenmeyer flasks containing 30 ml of embryo proliferation medium containing 5 mM asparagine, 1-2.4% sucrose (concentration is genotype dependent), 10 mg/l 2,4-D, pH 5.0 and cultured as above at 35-60 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹of light on a rotary shaker at 125 rpm. Embryogenic tissue (30-60 mg) is selected, using an inverted microscope, for subculture every 4-5 weeks.

Transformation: Cultures are bombarded 3 days after subculture. The embryogenic clusters are blotted on sterile Whatman filter paper to remove the liquid medium, placed inside a 10×30-mm Petri dish on a 2×2 cm²tissue holder (PeCap, 1 005 μm pore size, Band SH Thompson and Co. Ltd. Scarborough, ON, Canada) and covered with a second tissue holder that is then gently pressed down to hold the clusters in place. Immediately before the first bombardment, the tissue is air dried in the laminar air flow hood with the Petri dish cover off for no longer than 5 min. The tissue is turned over, dried as before, bombarded on the second side and returned to the culture flask. The bombardment conditions used for the Biolistic PDS-I000/He Particle Delivery System are as follows: 737 mm Hg chamber vacuum pressure, 13 mm distance between rupture disc (Bio-Rad Laboratories Ltd., Mississauga, ON, Canada) and macrocarrier. The first bombardment uses 900 psi rupture discs and a microcarrier flight distance of 8.2 cm, and the second bombardment uses 1100 psi rupture discs and 11.4 cm microcarrier flight distance. DNA precipitation onto 1.0 μm diameter gold particles is carried out as follows: 2.5 μl of 100 ng/μl of DNA containing the expression cassette for the TF gene, and 2.5 μl of 100 ng/μl selectable marker DNA (cassette for hygromycin selection) are added to 3 mg gold particles suspended in 50 μl sterile dH₂O and vortexed for 10 sec; 50 μl of 2.5 M CaCl₂is added, vortexed for 5 sec, followed by the addition of 20 μl of 0.1 M spermidine which is also vortexed for 5 sec. The gold is then allowed to settle to the bottom of the microfuge tube (5-10 min) and the supernatant fluid is removed. The gold/DNA is resuspended in 200 μl of 100% ethanol, allowed to settle and the supernatant fluid is removed. The ethanol wash is repeated and the supernatant fluid is removed. The sediment is resuspended in 120 μl of 100% ethanol and aliquots of 8 μl are added to each macrocarrier. The gold is resuspended before each aliquot is removed. The macrocarriers are placed under vacuum to ensure complete evaporation of ethanol (about 5 min).

Selection: The bombarded tissue is cultured on embryo proliferation medium described above for 12 days prior to subculture to selection medium (embryo proliferation medium contains 55 mg/l hygromycin added to autoclaved media). The tissue is sub-cultured 5 days later and weekly for the following 9 weeks. Green colonies (putative transgenic events) are transferred to a well containing 1 ml of selection media in a 24-well multi-well plate that is maintained on a flask shaker as above. The media in multi-well dishes is replaced with fresh media every 2 weeks until the colonies are approximately 2-4 mm in diameter with proliferative embryos, at which time they are transferred to 125 ml Erlenmeyer flasks containing 30 ml of selection medium. A portion of the proembryos from transgenic events is harvested to examine gene expression by RT-PCR.

Plant regeneration: Maturation of embryos is carried out, without selection, at conditions described for embryo induction. Embryogenic clusters are cultured on Petri dishes containing maturation medium (MS salts, B5 vitamins, 6% maltose, 0.2% gelrite gellan gum (Sigma), 750 mg/l MgCl₂, pH 5.7) with 0.5% activated charcoal for 5-7 days and without activated charcoal for the following 3 weeks. Embryos (10-15 per event) with apical meristems are selected under a dissection microscope and cultured on a similar medium containing 0.6% phytagar (Gibco, Burlington, ON, Canada) as the solidifying agent, without the additional MgCl₂, for another 2-3 weeks or until the embryos become pale yellow in color. A portion of the embryos from transgenic events after varying times on gelrite are harvested to examine gene expression by RT-PCR.

Mature embryos are desiccated by transferring embryos from each event to empty Petri dish bottoms that are placed inside Magenta boxes (Sigma) containing several layers of sterile Whatman filter paper flooded with sterile water, for 100% relative humidity. The Magenta boxes are covered and maintained in darkness at 20° C. for 5-7 days. The embryos are germinated on solid B5 medium containing 2% sucrose, 0.2% gelrite and 0.075% MgCl₂in Petri plates, in a chamber at 20° C., 20-h photoperiod under cool white fluorescent lights at 35-75 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹. Germinated embryos with unifoliate or trifoliate leaves are planted in artificial soil (Sunshine Mix No. 3, SunGro Horticulture Inc., Bellevue, Wash., USA), and covered with a transparent plastic lid to maintain high humidity. The flats are placed in a controlled growth cabinet at 26/24° C. (day/night), 18 h photoperiod at a light intensity of 150 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹. At the 2-3 trifoliate stage (2-3 weeks), the plantlets with strong roots are transplanted to pots containing a 3:1:1:1 mix of ASB Original Grower Mix (a peat-based mix from Greenworld, ON, Canada):soil:sand:perlite and grown at 18-h photoperiod at a light intensity of 300-400 μmolm⁻²s⁻¹.

T1 seeds are harvested and planted in soil and grown in a controlled growth cabinet at 26/24° C. (day/night), 18 h photoperiod at a light intensity of 300-400 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹. Plants are grown to maturity and T2 seed is harvested. Seed yield per plant and oil content of the seeds is measured.

The selectable marker can be removed by segregation if desired by identifying co-transformed plants that have not integrated the selectable marker expression cassette and the TF gene cassette into the same locus. Plants are grown, allowed to set seed and germinated. Leaf tissue is harvested from soil grown plants and screened for the presence of the selectable marker cassette. Plants containing only the TF gene expression cassette are advanced.

Corn Transformation

An expression cassette for the TF gene can be constructed using a variety of different promoters for expression. Candidate constitutive and seed-specific promoters for use in monocots including corn are listed in TABLE 2, however those skilled in the art will understand that other promoters can be selected for expression.

Methods to transform the expression cassette into maize are routine and well known in the art and have recently been reviewed by Que et al., (2014), Frontiers in Plant Science 5, article 379, pp 1-19.

Protoplast transformation methods useful for practicing the invention are well known to those skilled in the art. Such procedures include for example the transformation of maize protoplasts as described by Rhodes and Gray (Rhodes, C. A. and D. W. Gray, Transformation and regeneration of maize protoplasts, in Plant Tissue Culture Manual: Supplement 7, K. Lindsey, Editor. 1997, Springer Netherlands: Dordrecht. p. 353-365). For protoplast transformation of maize, the expression cassette can be co-bombarded with an expression cassette for a selectable marker, such as the bar gene imparting transgenic plants resistance to bialophos.

For Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of maize, the expression cassette can be inserted into a binary vector that also contains an expression cassette for a selectable marker, such as the bar gene. The binary vector is transformed into an Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain, such as A. tumefaciens strain EHA101. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of maize can be performed following a previously described procedure (Frame et al. (2006), Agrobacterium Protocols, Wang K., ed., Vol. 1, pp 185-199, Humana Press) as follows.

Plant Material: Plants grown in a greenhouse are used as an explant source. Ears are harvested 9-13 days after pollination and surface sterilized with 80% ethanol.

Explant Isolation, Infection and Co-Cultivation: Immature zygotic embryos (1.2-2.0 mm) are aseptically dissected from individual kernels and incubated in an A. tumefaciens strain EHA101 culture containing the transformation vector of interest for genome editing (grown in 5 ml N6 medium supplemented with 100 μM acetosyringone for stimulation of the bacterial vir genes for 2-5 h prior to transformation) at room temperature for 5 min. The infected embryos are transferred scutellum side up on to a co-cultivation medium (N6 agar-solidified medium containing 300 mg/l cysteine, 5 μM silver nitrate and 100 μM acetosyringone) and incubated at 20° C., in the dark for 3 d. Embryos are transferred to N6 resting medium containing 100 mg/l cefotaxime, 100 mg/l vancomycin and 5 μM silver nitrate and incubated at 28° C., in the dark for 7 d.

Callus Selection: All embryos are transferred on to the first selection medium (the resting medium described above supplemented with 1.5 mg/l bialaphos) and incubated at 28° C. in the dark for 2 weeks followed by subculture on a selection medium containing 3 mg/l bialaphos. Proliferating pieces of callus are propagated and maintained by subculture on the same medium every 2 weeks.

Plant Regeneration and Selection: Bialaphos-resistant embryogenic callus lines are transferred on to regeneration medium I (MS basal medium supplemented with 60 g/l sucrose, 1.5 mg/l bialaphos and 100 mg/l cefotaxime and solidified with 3 g/l Gelrite) and incubated at 25° C. in the dark for 2 to 3 weeks. Mature embryos formed during this period are transferred on to regeneration medium II (the same as regeneration medium I with 3 mg/l bialaphos) for germination in the light (25° C., 80-100 μmol/m²/s light intensity, 16/8-h photoperiod). Regenerated plants are ready for transfer to soil within 10-14 days. Plants are grown in the greenhouse to maturity and T1 seeds are isolated.

The copy number of the transgene insert is determined, through methods such as Southern blotting or digital PCR, and lines are selected to bring forward for further analysis. Overexpression of the TF gene is determined by RT-PCR and/or Western blotting techniques and plants with the desired level of expression are selected. Homozygous lines are generated. The yield seed of homozygous lines is compared to control lines.

Rice Transformation

Candidate constitutive and seed-specific promoters for use in monocots can be used in the expression cassettes for the TF gene in rice and are listed in TABLE 2. Those skilled in the art will understand that other promoters can be selected for expression.

The example expression cassette can be used to transform the TF gene into rice. The expression cassette can be inserted into a binary vector that also contains an expression cassette for a selectable marker, such as the hygromycin selectable marker. The binary vector is transformed into an Agrobacterium tumefaciens AGL1 strain.

In preparation for rice transformation, callus of the rice cultivar Nipponbare is initiated from mature, dehusked, surface sterilized seeds on N6-basal salt callus induction media (N6-CI; contains per liter 3.9 g CHU (N₆) basal salt mix (Sigma Catalog #C1416); 10 ml of 100×N6-vitamins (contains in final volume of 500 mL, 100 mg glycine, 25 mg nicotinic acid, 25 mg pyridoxine hydrochloride and 50 mg thiamin hydrochloride); 0.1 g myo-inositol; 0.3 g casamino acid (casein hydrolysate); 2.88 g proline; 10 ml of 100×2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 30 g sucrose, pH 5.8 with 4 g gelrite or phytagel). Approximately 100 seeds are used for each transformation. The frequency of callus induction is scored after 21 days of culture in the dark at 27±1° C. Callus induction from the scutellum with a high frequency (of about 96% total callus induction) is observed.

The rice transformation vector is transformed into Agrobacterium strain AGL1. The resulting Agrobacterium strain is resuspended in 10 mL of MG/L medium (5 g tryptone, 2.4 g yeast extract, 5 g mannitol, 5 g Mg₂SO₄, 0.25 g K₂HIPO₄, 1 g glutamic acid and 1 g NaCl) to a final OD600 of 0.3. Approximately twenty-one day old scutellar embryogenic callus are cut to about 2-3 mm in size and are infected with Agrobacterium containing the transformation vector for 5 min. After infection, the calli are blotted dry on sterile filter papers and transferred onto co-cultivation media (N6-CC; contains per liter 3.9 g CHU (N₆) basal salt mix; 10 ml of 100×N6-vitamins; 0.1 g myo-inositol; 0.3 g casamino acid; 10 ml of 100×2,4-D, 30 g sucrose, 10 g glucose, pH 5.2 with 4 g gelrite or phytagel and 1 mL of acetosyringone (19.6 mg/mL stock)). Co-cultivated calli are incubated in the dark for 3 days at 25° C. After three days of co-cultivation, the calli are washed thoroughly in sterile distilled water to remove the bacteria. A final wash with a timentin solution (250 mg/L) is performed and calli are blotted dry on sterile filter paper. Callus are transferred to selection media (N6-SH; contains per liter 3.9 g CHU (N₆) basal salt mix, 10 ml of 100×N6-vitamins, 0.1 g myo-inositol, 0.3 g casamino acid, 2.88 g proline, 10 ml of 100×, 2,4-D, 30 g sucrose, pH 5.8 with 4 g phytagel and 500 μL of hygromycin (stock concentration: 100 mg/ml)) and incubated in the dark for two-weeks at 27±1° C. The transformed calli that survive the selection pressure and that proliferate on N6-SH medium are sub-cultured on the same media for a second round of selection. These calli are maintained under the same growth conditions for another two weeks. The number of plants regenerated after 30 days on N6-SH medium is scored and the frequency calculated. After 30 days, the proliferating calli are transferred to regeneration media (N6-RH medium; contains per liter 4.6 g MS salt mixture, 10 ml of 100×MS-vitamins (MS-vitamins contains in 500 mL final volume 250 mg nicotinic acid, 500 mg pyridoxine hydrochloride, 500 mg thiamine hydrochloride, 100 mg glycine), 0.1 g myo-inositol, 2 g casein hydrolysate, 1 ml of 1,000×1-naphtylacetic acid solution (NAA; contains in 200 mL final volume 40 mg NAA and 3 mL of 0.1 N NaOH), 20 ml of 50× kinetin (contains in 500 mL final volume 50 mg kinetin and 20 mL 0.1 N HCl), 30 g sucrose, 30 g sorbitol, pH 5.8 with 4 g phytagel and 500 μl of a 100 mg/mL hygromycin stock). The regeneration of plantlets from these calli occurs after about 4-6 weeks. Rooted plants are transferred into peat-pellets for one week to allow for hardening of the roots. The plants are then kept in sealable bags for acclimatization. Plants are transferred into pots and grown in a greenhouse to maturity.

Seed is harvested from each panicle (T1 generation) and the seed yield per plant is calculated. T1 seed is grown in a greenhouse to produce T2 seed. The mass of the total seed per plant is collected to compare seed yield of transgenics to wild-type control plants.

Camelina sativa Transformation

Constructs to overexpress the TF gene in Camelina can be performed as follows:

In preparation for plant transformation experiments, seeds of Camelina sativa germplasm 10CS0043 (abbreviated WT43, obtained from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) are sown directly into 4 inch (10 cm) pots filled with soil in the greenhouse. Growth conditions are maintained at 24° C. during the day and 18° C. during the night. Plants are grown until flowering. Plants with a number of unopened flower buds were used in “floral dip” transformations.

Agrobacterium strain GV3101 (pMP90) is transformed with the plasmid containing the expression cassette for the TF gene of interest using electroporation. This expression cassette contains a promoter, operably linked to the TF gene, operably linked to a termination sequence. An expression cassette for a gene encoding a visual marker, such as DsRed, a red fluorescent protein from the Discoma genus of coral (Matz et al., 1999, Nat. Biotechnol. 17, 969-973) can be used to screen transgenic seeds. A single colony of GV3101 (pMP90) containing the construct of interest is obtained from a freshly streaked plate and is inoculated into 5 mL LB medium. After overnight growth at 28° C., 2 mL of culture is transferred to a 500-mL flask containing 300 mL of LB and incubated overnight at 28° C. Cells are pelleted by centrifugation (4,000 rpm, 20 min), and diluted to an OD600 of ˜0.8-1.0 with infiltration medium containing 5% sucrose and 0.05% (v/v) Silwet-L77 (Lehle Seeds, Round Rock, Tex., USA). Plants of Camelina sativa germplasm 10CS0043 (abbreviated WT43; germplasm obtained from Kevin Falk at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) are transformed by “floral dip” using the chosen transformation construct as follows. Pots containing plants at the flowering stage are placed inside a 460 mm height vacuum desiccator (Bel-Art, Pequannock, N.J., USA). Inflorescences are immersed into the Agrobacterium inoculum contained in a 500-ml beaker. A vacuum (85 kPa) is applied and held for 5 min. Plants are removed from the desiccator and are covered with plastic bags in the dark for 24 h at room temperature. Plants are removed from the bags and returned to normal growth conditions within the greenhouse for seed formation (T1 generation of seed).

T1 seeds are screened by monitoring the expression of DsRed, a marker on the T-DNA allowing the identification of transgenic seeds. DsRed expression in the seed is visualized by fluorescent microscopy using a Nikon AZ100 microscope with a TRITC-HQ(RHOD)2 filter module (HQ545/30X, Q570LP, HQ610/75M) as previously described (Malik et al., 2015, Plant Biotechnology Journal, 13, 675). DsRed positive T1 seeds are planted in soil and transgenic plants are obtained. Transgenic plant lines are further confirmed using PCR with primers specific to the gene of interest.

Transformation using nanotubes or nanoparticles: Nanoparticles or nanotubes capable of delivering biomolecules to plants can also be used to practice the invention using Camelina, canola, corn, and soybean (for review see Cunningham, 2018, Trends Biotechnol., 36, 882).

Example 6. Modulating Expression of Transcription Factors Using CRISPR/Cas Genome Editing Mediated Promoter Replacement

The expression of a transcription factor can be modulated by replacing the endogenous promoter in front of the transcription factor with a new promoter that is expressed at a higher or lower level, is expressed at a different developmental stage, and/or has a different tissue specificity. To modulate expression of the endogenous Camelina TF genes listed in TABLE 5, TABLE 7, and TABLE 8 in Camelina, CRISPR/Cas9 mediated promoter replacement can be used.

Promoter replacement requires the delivery of three elements to the plant, the sgRNAs to target the insertion site, the promoter cassette for insertion that is flanked by regions homologous to the genome insertion site, and the Cas nuclease enzyme. The flanking regions with homology to the genome insertion site enable incorporation of the promoter cassette through the plants endogenous homology directed repair mechanism. Delivery of the necessary genetic elements to enable promoter replacement can be achieved in multiple ways: by introducing a complex of the Cas9 enzyme, the synthesized sgRNAs, and the promoter cassette to be inserted (called ribonucleoprotein complexes, or RNPs) (FIG. 4C) directly to protoplasts (Woo et al., Nature Biotechnology, 2015, 33, 1162-1164); by transfection of protoplasts either stably or transiently with a genetic construct(s) containing expression cassettes for DNA encoding the sgRNA(s) and the Cas9 enzyme, mixed with a DNA fragment containing the promoter to be inserted (FIG. 4B); through particle bombardment of the plant or plant tissues with a genetic construct(s) with expression cassettes for DNA encoding the sgRNA(s) and the Cas9 enzyme, mixed with a DNA fragment containing the promoter to be inserted (FIG. 4B); or through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of the plant or plant tissues using a binary construct(s) with expression cassettes for DNA encoding the sgRNA(s), the Cas9 enzyme, and the promoter DNA fragment to be inserted (FIG. 4B). For Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, it is advantageous to have the promoter DNA fragment to be inserted flanked by sgRNA binding sites with adjacent PAM sequences (FIG. 4B), so that Cas9 expression can release the promoter fragment from the vector as it enters the plant, or alternatively can release the promoter fragment from the T-DNA that is stably incorporated into the plant genome.

Alternatively, nanotube or nanoparticle mediated DNA delivery (Kwak et al., 2019, Nature Nanotechnology, DOI 10.1038/s41565-019-0375-4) (Demirer et al, 2019, Nature Nanotechnology, DOI 10.1038/s41565-019-0382-5) can be used to deliver genetic construct(s) with expression cassettes for DNA encoding the sgRNA(s) and the Cas9 enzyme, mixed with a DNA fragment containing the promoter to be inserted (FIG. 4B).

Nanoparticles or nanotubes capable of delivering biomolecules to plants (for review see Cunningham, 2018, Trends Biotechnol., 36, 882) can also be used to deliver RNPs (FIG. 4C).

An advantage of RNPs, as well as the protoplast, particle bombardment, or nanotube and nanoparticle methods, with only transient expression of the expression cassettes encoding the Cas9 enzyme and the sgRNAs, is that DNA does not stably integrate into the genome and thus does not need to be removed through segregation to produce a plant containing only the edit. For stable transformation methods, segregation of the unwanted DNA encoding the CRISPR editing machinery must be removed after the edit is obtained by conventional breeding methods. The design of each genetic component to achieve promoter replacement is described below.

Design of single guide RNAs (sgRNAs): The region around the promoter to be replaced in the genome is scanned for protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sites, sites necessary for Cas9 to bind and cleave the target sequence. These PAM sites flank the 3′ region of the double stranded DNA cut site for the Cas9 enzyme (FIG. 3C).

From the ˜20 nucleotides of DNA sequence upstream from the PAM site, the sequence of the complementary “guide” can be obtained (FIG. 3C). To generate the functional sgRNA sequence, the sequence of the “guide” is combined with the sequence of a guide RNA scaffold (FIG. 3B). Guide RNA scaffolds have been previously described by other researchers (see for example Mali et al. 2013, Science, 339, pp. 823-826; Li et al. 2013, Nature biotechnology, 31, pp. 688-691; Konermann et al., 2015, Nature, 517, p. 583; Jiang et al., 2013, Nucleic acids research, 41, pp. e188-e188) and are well known in the art. The double stranded DNA sequence (FIG. 3A) required to generate the functional sgRNA (FIG. 3B) can be determined from the sequence of the sgRNA and used in a genetic transformation construct.

Ideally, the sequence of the DNA encoding the “guide” (FIG. 3A) is identical to the genomic DNA sequence, or “guide target sequence”, that is base paired to the sgRNA (FIG. 3C). In practice, some mismatches between the sequence of the DNA encoding the guide (FIG. 3A) and the genomic DNA sequence can be tolerated and still result in double stranded cleavage by Cas9.

DNA encoding the guides (FIG. 3A) necessary to generate sgRNAs (FIG. 3B) to excise promoter regions from the plant genome are designed by identifying promoter regions upstream of the start codon and the 5′UTR of each ortholog. For this purpose, it is useful to target sequence before the ATG of the coding sequence (CDS) that includes 1000-1200 bp of sequence upstream of the 5′UTR (FIG. 4A). Verification that the specific sequence contains a predicted promoter can be performed using the RegSite Plant DB from Softberry Inc. (website: softberry.com/berry.phtml?topic=index&group=programs&subgroup=promoter) or similar programs.

DNA sequences that are ˜20 nucleotides in length and span different regions of the upstream promoter (FIG. 4A) can be chosen as Guide Target Sequences. When fused to DNA encoding the guide RNA scaffold (gRNA Sc) (FIG. 3A), the transcribed product is a functional sgRNA (FIG. 3B) that has all the elements to bind with the complementary target genomic DNA that lies adjacent to a PAM sequence (FIG. 3C) and to interact with the CAS enzyme. The use of two sgRNAs, such as Guide #1 and Guide #3 in FIG. 4A, can allow for targeted excision of a region of the endogenous promoter, which can be the core base elements of the promoter, for example the −10 and −35 regions, or can include a large fragment encompassing the entire promoter region and untranslated regions. Alternatively, the use of a single sgRNA to promote site specific cleavage of DNA within one region of the endogenous promoter can be used. DNA sequences encoding the guide portion of sgRNA are designed following the SpCas9 guide RNA architectures (equivalent to 20 nucleotides of the target genomic DNA that is adjacent to a PAM sequence of NGG) using a web-based guide RNA design tool, CRISPOR, on the TEFOR website. A number of other web-based tools can also be used for guide sequence selection and analysis, such as CRISPRdirect and CRISPR-P 2.0 (Ding et al., 2016, Frontiers in Plant Science, 7, 703; Naito et al., 2015, Bioinformatics, 31, 1120; Liu et al., 2017, Molecular Plant, 10, 530). Based on the disclosure herein, it will be apparent to a person of skill in the art that different sgRNAs to target different regions of the endogenous promoter for promoter insertion or replacement can be used to modulate the expression of the endogenous TF genes in TABLE 5, TABLE 7, and TABLE 8.

To modulate expression of endogenous TF genes that are orthologs of the Camelina genes listed in TABLE 5, TABLE 7, and TABLE 8 in other crops, such as corn, canola, and soybean, CRISPR/Cas9 mediated promoter replacement strategies similar to those described above can be used.

Example 7. Modulating Expression of Transcription Factors Using CRISPR/Cas Genome Editing Mediated Cassette Insertion

The expression of an endogenous TF gene in a crop can also be modulated by insertion of other genetic elements. For example, an expression cassette for a second copy of the TF gene can be inserted into a site within the plant genome (FIG. 5Bi).

Insertions into or near the endogenous promoter of a TF can include the insertion of an intron (FIG. 5Bii) or a promoter enhancer insertion cassette (FIG. 5Biii) to modulate the endogenous promoter's activity.

The products of each of these insertions is illustrated in FIG. 5C.

Example 8. Modulating Expression of Transcription Factors Using CRISPR/Cas Mediated Mutation

The guide RNA/Cas endonuclease system can be used to create frame shift mutations of any one of the TF sequences of the invention. One or more guide RNAs are used to knockout the TF genes after the Cas nuclease makes a double strand break and the error prone DNA repair pathway, non-homologous end joining, corrects the break, creating a mutation. The most likely result is a frameshift mutation that would knockout the gene. DNA encoding the guide of the sgRNA (FIG. 3A) can be designed to target the sequence of the TF gene at the desired location.

In some instances, in frame mutations in the TF gene can be obtained. This can produce a TF with weaker or stronger activity, depending on the mutation.

When targeting the promoter region, a mutation can produce a promoter with increased strength, decreased strength, or it can lead to an inactive promoter, depending on the mutation and its location. Experiments to characterize the activity of the promoter in the mutated plants can be performed to characterize the strength of the promoter.

Example 9. Preferred Camelina sativa Genes for Increasing Seed Yield and/or Oil Content in Oilseeds

TABLE 5 and TABLE 7 list candidate genes from Camelina sativa to engineer to increase seed yield and/or oil content in an oilseed. Preferred genes for increasing seed yield and/or seed oil content were determined through multiple approaches including (1) finding common genes in TABLE 5 (hub genes in brown module) and TABLE 7 (genes within brown module identified from TF-pathway correlation scores), (2) examining the predicted biological processes of genes in TABLE 7 using the TF-pathway correlation scores shown in TABLE 6, and/or (3) examining the in silico expression profile of genes in TABLE 7 across 12 different tissues using the Camelina eFP Browser (website: //bar.utoronto.ca/efp_camelina/cgi-bin/efpWeb.cgi). The list of genes was further reduced by only including genes that had not been previously associated with increased seed yield and/or oil content. Based on these analyses, four preferred genes, LBD42 (SEQ ID NO: 238), PEI1 (SEQ ID NO: 239), DOF4.4 (SEQ ID NO: 240), and ARR21 (SEQ ID NO: 241), were identified for engineering into oilseeds (TABLE 9).

TABLE 9

Preferred genes for engineering into oilseeds

to increase seed yield and/or oil content

Encoded protein

Gene Name
Csa locus
Gene SEQ ID NO
SEQ ID NO

LBD42*
Csa16g028530
SEQ ID NO: 238
SEQ ID NO: 27

PEI1(also
Csa13g009540
SEQ ID NO: 239
SEQ ID NO: 204

known as

ATTZF6)

DOF4.4*
Csa10g022470
SEQ ID NO: 240
SEQ ID NO: 10

ARR21*
Csa20g009570
SEQ ID NO: 241
SEQ ID NO: 19

*Genes common in TABLE 5 (Hub genes) and TABLE 7 (genes identified through TF-pathway correlation scores).

Three of these preferred genes, LBD42, DOF4.4, and ARR21, were identified as Hub genes (TABLE 5) in the co-expression network.

The remaining preferred gene, PEI1, is not a hub gene. PEI1 was included in the list of preferred genes due to (1) its high correlation to pathways that influence seed yield and/or oil content (TABLE 6), (2) its strong expression at early, mid, and late seed developmental stages (FIG. 7), and (3) the unique regulation of target genes by PEI1 as predicted by PlantRegMap (website: //plantregmap.cbi.pku.edu.cn/). PEI1 protein from Arabidopsis thaliana has been described as an embryo-specific transcription factor required at the globular to heart stage transition in embryo development (Li, 1998, The Plant Cell, 10, 383-398). Arabidopsis thaliana plants lacking PEI1 produce white seeds in which embryo development does not progress through the heart stage (Li, 1998, The Plant Cell, 10, 383-398).

The in silico expression profiles of the four preferred genes from Camelina sativa are shown in FIGS. 6-9.

Orthologs of the four preferred Camelina sativa genes in Arabidopsis thaliana, maize, soybean, canola, and rice are listed in TABLES 10-14. The corresponding genes of these orthologs in Arabidopsis thaliana, maize, soybean, canola, and/or rice also may be engineered to increase seed yield and/or oil content in an oilseed.

TABLE 10

Orthologs of preferred Camelina sativa genes in Arabidopsis thaliana

Protein

Arabidopsis

Protein
Sequence

SEQ ID

thaliana locus
SEQ ID
identity

Gene Name
Csa locus
NO
(accession)
NO
(%)

LBD42*
Csa16g028530
SEQ ID
Q9CA30.1
SEQ ID
95.71%

NO: 27

NO: 311

PEI1(also known
Csa13g009540
SEQ ID
O65036.1
SEQ ID
89.34%

as ATTZF6)

NO: 204

NO: 312

DOF4.4*
Csa10g022470
SEQ ID
Q9SUA9.1
SEQ ID
47.80%

NO: 10

NO: 313

ARR21*
Csa20g009570
SEQ ID
Q9LYP5.3
SEQ ID
72.76%

NO: 19

NO: 314

TABLE 11

Orthologs of preferred Camelina sativa genes in maize

Protein

Protein
Sequence

SEQ ID
Maize locus
SEQ ID
identity

Gene Name
Csa locus
NO
(accession)
NO
(%)

LBD42*
Csa16g028530
SEQ ID
—
—
—

NO: 27

PEI1(also known
Csa13g009540
SEQ ID
AFT82650.1
SEQ ID
42.92%

as ATTZF6)

NO: 204

NO: 315

DOF4.4*
Csa10g022470
SEQ ID
AFT82704.1
SEQ ID
39.15%

NO: 10

NO: 316

ARR21*
Csa20g009570
SEQ ID
AFU81650.1
SEQ ID
22.75%

NO: 19

NO: 317

TABLE 12

Orthologs of preferred Camelina sativa genes in soybean

Protein

Protein
Sequence

SEQ ID
Soybean locus
SEQ ID
identity

Gene Name
Csa locus
NO
(accession)
NO
(%)

LBD42*
Csa16g028530
SEQ ID
XP_003541285.1
SEQ ID
55.20%

NO: 27

NO: 318

PEI1(also known
Csa13g009540
SEQ ID
XP_003544707.1
SEQ ID
37.61%

as ATTZF6)

NO: 204

NO: 319

DOF4.4*
Csa10g022470
SEQ ID
XP_006594581.1
SEQ ID
38.30%

NO: 10

NO: 320

ARR21*
Csa20g009570
SEQ ID
XP_014624277.1
SEQ ID
31.21%

NO: 19

NO: 321

TABLE 13

Orthologs of preferred Camelina sativa genes in canola

Protein

Protein
Sequence

SEQ ID
Canola locus
SEQ ID
identity

Gene Name
Csa locus
NO
(accession)
NO
(%)

LBD42*
Csa16g028530
SEQ ID
XP_013702916.1
SEQ ID
89.74%

NO: 27

NO: 322

PEI1(also known
Csa13g009540
SEQ ID
XP_013743197.1
SEQ ID
81.48%

as ATTZF6)

NO: 204

NO: 323

DOF4.4*
Csa10g022470
SEQ ID
XP_013717421.1
SEQ ID
55.31%

NO: 10

NO: 324

ARR21*
Csa20g009570
SEQ ID
CDY67763.1
SEQ ID
63.80%

NO: 19

NO: 325

TABLE 14

Orthologs of preferred Camelina sativa genes in rice

Protein

Protein
Sequence

SEQ ID
Rice locus
SEQ ID
identity

Gene Name
Csa locus
NO
(accession)
NO
(%)

LBD42*
Csa16g028530
SEQ ID
EEE54673.1
SEQ ID
54.50%

NO: 27

NO: 326

PEI1(also known
Csa13g009540
SEQ ID
XP_015640763.1
SEQ ID
41.67%

as ATTZF6)

NO: 204

NO: 327

DOF4.4*
Csa10g022470
SEQ ID
XP_015623741.1
SEQ ID
32.00%

NO: 10

NO: 328

ARR21*
Csa20g009570
SEQ ID
XP_015630577.1
SEQ ID
28.60%

NO: 19

NO: 329

Example 10. Transformation of Camelina sativa and Canola with Preferred Genes for Increasing Seed Yield and/or Oil Content Listed in TABLE 9

Expression cassettes for each gene listed in TABLE 9 can be prepared for transforming Camelina sativa and/or canola by choosing a suitable promoter and termination sequence. Suitable promoters, including constitutive and seed-specific promoters, are listed in TABLE 1. Preferred constitutive expression cassettes contain the constitutive CaMV 35S promoter (SEQ ID NO: 206) operably linked to the gene of interest (LBD42, PEI1, DOF4.4, or ARR21) operably linked to a suitable termination sequence. Preferred seed-specific expression cassettes contain the oleosin promoter from Glycine max (SEQ ID NO: 216) operably linked to the gene of interest (LBD42, PEI1, DOF4.4, or ARR21) operably linked to a suitable termination sequence. These expression cassettes can be inserted into a binary vector and transformed into canola or Camelina using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation as described above. Alternatively, the isolated expression cassettes can be transformed into canola or Camelina using particle bombardment procedures.

Example 11. Additional Transcription Factors in the Co-Expression Network Brown Module

Two hundred and eleven transcription factors were identified in the brown module described in Example 2. A subset of these 211 transcription factors were listed in TABLE 5, TABLE 7, and TABLE 8. The remaining 69 transcription factors are listed in TABLE 15. These 69 TFs can be used to engineer Camelina, or other oilseeds such as canola, to increase seed yield and/or oil content as previously described above.

TABLE 15

Additional candidate transcription factor(s) from brown

module to increase seed yield and/or oil content

A. thaliana

Csa locus

C. sativa gene description
NCBI ID

A. thaliana gene
BLAST hit

Csa01g018100
NAC transcription factor 56
XP_010503061.1
NAC056
AT3G15510

SEQ ID NO:

242

Csa02g061860
AP2-like ethylene-responsive
XP_010452060.1
AIL5
AT5G57390

SEQ ID NO:
transcription factor AIL5

243

Csa02g068390
NAC domain-containing protein 100-
XP_010457328.1
NAC100
AT5G61430

SEQ ID NO:
like

244

Csa02g073440
transcription factor TGA1, transcript
XP_010462108.1
TGA1
AT5G65210

SEQ ID NO:
variant X1

245

Csa03g020230
myb-related protein Myb4-like,
XP_010497901.1
MYB4
AT1G16490

SEQ ID NO:
transcript variant X2

246

Csa04g044320
transcription factor bHLH60-like
XP_010504720.1
BHLH60
AT3G57800

SEQ ID NO:

247

Csa04g049030
uncharacterized LOC104781971,
XP_010505080.1
Homeodomain-
AT2G35640

SEQ ID NO:
transcript variant X3

like

248

Csa04g055500
ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE 5-
XP_010505871.1
DPBF4
AT2G41070

SEQ ID NO:
like protein 3

249

Csa04g057930
basic leucine zipper 34-like
XP_019100580.1
BZIP34
AT2G42380

SEQ ID NO:

250

Csa04g058020
LOB domain-containing protein 16
XP_010506068.1
LBD16
AT2G42430

SEQ ID NO:

251

Csa04g062780
homeobox-leucine zipper protein
XP_010506430.1
ATHB-4
AT2G44910

SEQ ID NO:
ATHB-4-like

252

Csa05g003640
agamous-like MADS-box protein
XP_010508132.1
AGL6
AT2G45650

SEQ ID NO:
AGL6

253

Csa05g003860
LOB domain-containing protein 18
XP_010508173.1
LBD18
AT2G45420

SEQ ID NO:

254

Csa05g004360
homeobox-leucine zipper protein
XP_010508231.1
ATHB-4
AT2G44910

SEQ ID NO:
ATHB-4-like

255

Csa05g009160
LOB domain-containing protein 16-
XP_010508576.1
LBD16
AT2G42430

SEQ ID NO:
like

256

Csa05g011590
ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE 5-
XP_010508770.1
DPBF4
AT2G41070

SEQ ID NO:
like protein 3

257

Csa05g017650
growth-regulating factor 3-like
XP_010509475.1
GRF3
AT2G36400

SEQ ID NO:

258

Csa05g021350
WUSCHEL-related homeobox 9
XP_019082947.1
WOX9
AT2G33880

SEQ ID NO:

259

Csa05g022930
NAC domain-containing protein 41
XP_010413856.1
NAC
AT2G33480

SEQ ID NO:
isoform X1

260

Csa05g072040
transcription factor MYB114-like
XP_010511463.1
MYB90
AT1G66390

SEQ ID NO:

261

Csa05g079950
LOB domain-containing protein 40
XP_010511626.1
LBD40
AT1G67100

SEQ ID NO:

262

Csa06g029500
AP2-like ethylene-responsive
XP_010516049.1
AP2
AT3G54990

SEQ ID NO:
transcription factor SMZ

263

Csa06g039040
growth-regulating factor 3
XP_010516861.1
GRF3
AT2G36400

SEQ ID NO:

264

Csa06g046960
ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE 5-
XP_010517591.1
DPBF4
AT2G41070

SEQ ID NO:
like protein 3

265

Csa06g048530
LOB domain-containing protein 16-
XP_010517768.1
LBD16
AT2G42430

SEQ ID NO:
like

266

Csa07g007900
NAC domain-containing protein 41,
XP_010413857.1
NAC041
AT2G33480

SEQ ID NO:
transcript variant X1

267

Csa07g032410
LOB domain-containing protein 40-
XP_010415261.1
LOB
AT1G67100

SEQ ID NO:
like isoform X2

268

Csa07g065130
transcription factor EGL1-like,
XP_010418394.1
BHLH2
AT1G63650

SEQ ID NO:
transcript variant X3

269

Csa08g005750
agamous-like MADS-box protein
XP_010419983.1
AGL15
AT5G13790

SEQ ID NO:
AGL15

270

Csa08g009490
homeobox-leucine zipper protein
XP_010420445.1
HDG9
AT5G17320

SEQ ID NO:
HDG9-like

271

Csa08g009620
AP2-like ethylene-responsive
XP_010420464.1
BBM
AT5G17430

SEQ ID NO:
transcription factor BBM

272

Csa08g011090
zinc finger CCCH domain-containing
XP_010420624.1
Zinc finger
AT5G18550

SEQ ID NO:
protein 58-like

273

Csa08g054010
AP2-like ethylene-responsive
XP_010422835.1
AP2
AT5G10510

SEQ ID NO:
transcription factor AIL6

274

Csa08g056890
zinc finger CCCH domain-
XP_010423197.1
Zinc finger
AT5G07500

SEQ ID NO:
containing protein 54

275

Csa09g065810
AP2-like ethylene-responsive
XP_010427236.1
SMZ
AT3G54990

SEQ ID NO:
transcription factor SMZ

276

Csa09g071410
agamous-like MADS-box protein
XP_010427788.1
AGL1
AT3G58780

SEQ ID NO:
AGL1 [Camelina sativa]

277

Csa09g072570
uncharacterized protein
XP_019085743.1
BHLH160
AT1G71200

SEQ ID NO:
LOC104712692 isoform X1

278

Csa10g003940
transcription factor SPATULA-like,
XP_010432082.1
SPT
AT4G36930

SEQ ID NO:
transcript variant X2

279

Csa10g008930
B3 domain-containing protein
XP_010432581.1
B3
AT4G33280

SEQ ID NO:
REM16-like isoform X1

280

Csa10g011420
ethylene-responsive transcription
XP_010436316.1
ERF015
AT4G31060

SEQ ID NO:
factor ERF015-like

281

Csa10g017470
dehydration-responsive element-
XP_010433631.1
DREB1A
AT4G25480

SEQ ID NO:
binding protein 1A-like

282

Csa11g004450
transcription factor SPATULA-like,
XP_010437251.1
SPT
AT4G36930

SEQ ID NO:
transcript variant X2

283

Csa11g065270
transcription factor bHLH71-like
XP_010441558.1
BHLH71
AT5G46690

SEQ ID NO:

284

Csa11g090950
AP2-like ethylene-responsive
XP_010443425.1
AIL5
AT5G57390

SEQ ID NO:
transcription factor AIL5

285

Csa11g102430
transcription factor TGA1-like,
XP_010462108.1
TGA1
AT5G65210

SEQ ID NO:
transcript variant X3

286

Csa11g102460
dof zinc finger protein DOF5.7
XP_010444508.1
DOF5.7
AT5G65590

SEQ ID NO:

287

Csa12g004200
transcription factor SPATULA-like,
XP_019088981.1
SPT
AT4G36930

SEQ ID NO:
transcript variant X2

288

Csa12g007960
protein RKD5-like
XP_019089344.1
RKD5
AT4G35590

SEQ ID NO:

289

Csa12g011520
B3 domain-containing protein
XP_019089716.1
REM16
AT4G33280

SEQ ID NO:
REM16-like

290

Csa12g016010
ethylene-responsive transcription
XP_010451100.1
ERF015
AT4G31060

SEQ ID NO:
factor ERF015-like

291

Csa13g012280
AP2-like ethylene-responsive
XP_010453080.1
AP2
AT5G10510

SEQ ID NO:
transcription factor AIL6

292

Csa13g017580
transcription factor WER-like
XP_019084715.1
WER
AT5G14750

SEQ ID NO:

293

Csa13g020200
AP2-like ethylene-responsive
XP_010453937.1
BBM
AT5G17430

SEQ ID NO:
transcription factor BBM

294

Csa13g020630
WUSCHEL-related homeobox 12-
XP_010453983.1
WOX12
AT5G17810

SEQ ID NO:
like

295

Csa14g027760
agamous-like MADS-box protein
XP_010498732.1
AGL80
AT1G22590

SEQ ID NO:
AGL80 isoform X1

296

Csa14g032030
B3 domain-containing protein
XP_010460279.1
REM17
AT1G26680

SEQ ID NO:
REM17-like

297

Csa15g003920
myb-related protein 2, transcript
XP_010463875.1
MYR2
AT3G04030

SEQ ID NO:
variant X2

298

Csa16g026870
LOB domain-containing protein 40-
XP_010470605.1
LBD40
AT1G67100

SEQ ID NO:
like

299

Csa17g071560
ethylene-responsive transcription
XP_010479108.1
RAP2-1
AT1G46768

SEQ ID NO:
factor RAP2-1-like

300

Csa18g003340
transcription factor bHLH71-like,
XP_010481425.1
BHLH71
AT5G46690

SEQ ID NO:
transcript variant X1

301

Csa18g030400
AP2-like ethylene-responsive
XP_010483252.1
AIL5
AT5G57390

SEQ ID NO:
transcription factor AIL5

302

Csa19g022280
NAC transcription factor 56-like
XP_010465520.1
NAC056
AT3G15510

SEQ ID NO:

303

Csa20g010110
NAC domain-containing protein 79-
XP_010491387.1
NAC79
AT5G07680

SEQ ID NO:
like [Camelina sativa]

304

Csa20g015840
AP2-like ethylene-responsive
XP_010491724.1
AIL6
AT5G10510

SEQ ID NO:
transcription factor AIL6

305

Csa20g021290
transcription factor WER-like,
XP_010492291.1
WER
AT5G14750

SEQ ID NO:
transcript variant X2

306

Csa20g025580
AP2-like ethylene-responsive
XP_010492696.1
BBM
AT5G17430

SEQ ID NO:
transcription factor BBM

307

Csa20g026000
WUSCHEL-related homeobox 12-
XP_010492747.1
WOX12
AT5G17810

SEQ ID NO:
like

308

Csa20g026430
B3 domain-containing protein
XP_010492802.1
B3
AT5G18090

SEQ ID NO:
At5g18090-like

309

Csa20g080840
transcription factor bHLH71
XP_010494850.1
BHLH71
AT5G46690

SEQ ID NO:

310

Reference to a “Sequence Listing,” a Table, or a Computer Program Listing Appendix Submitted as an ASCII Text File

The material in the ASCII text file, named “YTEN-60942WO-Sequence-Listing_ST25.txt”, created May 12, 2020, file size of 929,792 bytes, is hereby incorporated by reference.

	Number	Date	Country
	62847658	May 2019	US
	62873018	Jul 2019	US

MODIFIED PLANTS COMPRISING A POLYNUCLEOTIDE COMPRISING A NON-COGNATE PROMOTER OPERABLY LINKED TO A CODING SEQUENCE THAT ENCODES A TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR

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