Plants containing a cytosolic acetyl CoA-carboxylase nucleic acid

Abstract

Plants are disclosed that contain a recombinant nucleic acid construct comprising a nucleic acid encoding a cytosolic acetyl coA-carboxylase (ACCase) operably linked to a promoter. Seeds produced from such plants exhibit statistically significantly increased oil content as compared to seeds produced by a corresponding plant lacking the nucleic acid encoding the ACCase. Methods of producing seeds exhibiting statistically significantly increased oil content are also disclosed.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A plant containing a recombinant nucleic acid construct comprising a nucleic acid encoding a cytosolic ACCase operably linked to a promoter, wherein said construct lacks a nucleic acid encoding a transit peptide operably linked to said nucleic acid encoding said cytosolic ACCase, wherein said plant produces seeds that exhibit a statistically significant increase in oil content as compared to seeds produced by a corresponding plant lacking said nucleic acid construct.  
     
     
         2 . The plant of  claim 1 , wherein said increase in oil content is from about 5% to about 25% greater on a dry weight basis.  
     
     
         3 . The plant of  claim 1 , wherein said nucleic acid encodes a plant cytosolic ACCase.  
     
     
         4 . The plant of  claim 3 , wherein said nucleic acid encodes an alfalfa cytosolic ACCase.  
     
     
         5 . The plant of  claim 1 , wherein said nucleic acid encoding said ACCase lacks introns.  
     
     
         6 . The plant of  claim 1 , wherein said promoter is a cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter.  
     
     
         7 . The plant of  claim 6 , wherein said nucleic acid encoding said cytosolic ACCase lacks introns.  
     
     
         8 . The plant of  claim 1 , wherein said plant is a soybean plant.  
     
     
         9 . The plant of  claim 1 , wherein said plant is a Brassica plant.  
     
     
         10 . The plant of  claim 9 , wherein said plant is selected from the group consisting of  Brassica napus, Brassica rapa, Brassica juncea, Brassica carinata, Brassica nigra  and  Brassica oleracea.    
     
     
         11 . Seeds produced by the plant of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         12 . Progeny of the plant of  claim 1 , wherein said progeny produce seeds that exhibit said statistically significant increase in oil content.  
     
     
         13 . A plant containing a recombinant nucleic acid construct comprising a promoter operably linked to a cytosolic ACCase coding sequence, wherein said cytosolic ACCase coding sequence lacks introns, wherein said plant produces seeds that exhibit a statistically significant increase in oil content as compared to seeds produced by a corresponding plant lacking said nucleic acid construct.  
     
     
         14 . The plant of  claim 13 , wherein said promoter is a CaMV 35S promoter.  
     
     
         15 . The plant of  claim 13 , wherein said promoter is seed-specific.  
     
     
         16 . The plant of  claim 13 , wherein said construct further comprises a nucleic acid encoding a transit peptide operably linked to said cytosolic ACCase coding sequence.  
     
     
         17 . A method of producing a plant, comprising: 
 (a) providing a plant comprising a nucleic acid construct comprising a nucleic acid encoding a cytosolic ACCase operably linked to a promoter; and    (b) selecting, for at least one generation, progeny plants that produce seeds exhibiting a statistically significant increase in oil content as compared to seeds produced by a corresponding plant lacking said nucleic acid construct.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said increase in oil content is from about 5% to about 25% greater on a dry weight basis.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said nucleic acid encodes a plant cytosolic ACCase.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein said nucleic acid encodes an alfalfa cytosolic ACCase.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said nucleic acid encoding said cytosolic ACCase lacks introns.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said promoter is a CaMV 35S promoter.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said selecting is for at least three generations.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said construct further comprises a nucleic acid sequence encoding a transit peptide operably linked to said nucleic acid encoding said cytosolic ACCase.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein said nucleic acid encoding said transit peptide encodes a tobacco small subunit Rubisco transit peptide.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein said promoter is a CaMV 35S promoter.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein said nucleic acid encoding said cytosolic ACCase lacks introns.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said construct lacks nucleic acid sequences encoding a transit peptide operably linked to said nucleic acid encoding said cytosolic ACCase.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said promoter is a CaMV 35S promoter.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein said nucleic acid encoding said cytosolic ACCase lacks introns.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said plant is a Brassica plant.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein said plant is selected from the group consisting of  Brassica napus, Brassica rapa, Brassica juncea, Brassica carinata, Brassica nigra  and  Brassica oleracea.    
     
     
         33 . A method of producing a plant, comprising the steps of: 
 (a) introducing a construct into one or more plants, said construct comprising a nucleic acid encoding a cytosolic acetyl ACCase operably linked to a promoter,    wherein progeny of one or more of said transgenic plants, following at least one generation of selection, produce seeds that exhibit a statistically significant increase in oil content as compared to seeds produced by a corresponding plant lacking said nucleic acid encoding said ACCase.    
     
     
         34 . A method of increasing the oil content in seeds, comprising the steps of: 
 (a) creating one or more plants containing a nucleic acid construct, said nucleic acid construct comprising a nucleic acid encoding a cytosolic ACCase operably linked to a promoter; and    (b) selecting progeny of said one or more plants that exhibit a statistically significant increase in oil content in seeds as compared to seeds produced by a corresponding plant lacking said nucleic acid encoding said ACCase.    
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein said selection step comprises selecting progeny that contain said nucleic acid construct.  
     
     
         36 . A nucleic acid construct comprising a cytosolic ACCase coding sequence operably linked to a promoter, wherein said construct lacks a nucleic acid encoding a transit peptide operably linked to said nucleic acid encoding said cytosolic ACCase.  
     
     
         37 . The nucleic acid construct of  claim 36 , wherein said cytosolic ACCase coding sequence lacks introns.  
     
     
         38 . A nucleic acid construct comprising a cytosolic ACCase coding sequence operably linked to a promoter, wherein said cytosolic ACCase coding sequence lacks introns.  
     
     
         39 . The nucleic acid construct of  claim 38 , wherein said construct further comprises a nucleic acid sequence encoding a transit peptide operably linked to said nucleic acid encoding said cytosolic ACCase.