Wheat plants having increased resistance to imidazolinone herbicides

Abstract

The present invention is directed to wheat plants having increased resistance to an imidazolinone herbicide. More particularly, the present invention includes wheat plants containing one or more IMI nucleic acids such as a Teal IMI cultivar. The nucleic acids are preferably located on or derived from different genomes. The present invention also includes seeds produced by these wheat plants and methods of controlling weeds in the vicinity of these wheat plants.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A wheat plant, wherein the wheat plant was obtained by a process comprising crossing a plant of line Teal11A with a plant of another wheat line, a representative sample of seed of the line Teal11A having been deposited with American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) under Patent Deposit Designation Number PTA-3953 and the wheat plant comprises a Teal11A Imi2 nucleic acid, said Teal11A Imi2 nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding an IMI polypeptide having a serine to asparagine substitution in Domain E, said Imi2 nucleic acid being that of the B genome, and said wheat plant exhibiting increased tolerance to an imidazolinone herbicide as compared to that of a wild-type wheat plant. 
     
     
         2 . The plant of  claim 1 , wherein the imidazolinone herbicide comprises at least one of: imazethapyr, imazapic, imazamox, imazaquin, imazethabenz, imazapyr, a mixture of imazapyr and imazamox, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The plant of  claim 1 , wherein the Teal11A Imi2 nucleic acid comprises the polynucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:3. 
     
     
         4 . The plant of  claim 1 , wherein the Teal11A Imi2 nucleic acid encodes an IMI polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:4. 
     
     
         5 . The plant of  claim 1 , wherein the plant is non-transgenic. 
     
     
         6 . The plant of  claim 1 , wherein the plant is transgenic. 
     
     
         7 . The plant of  claim 1 , wherein the plant comprises a non-mutated AHAS gene at its Als1 or Als3 loci. 
     
     
         8 . A wheat seed of a wheat plant wherein the wheat plant was obtained by a process comprising crossing a plant of line Teal11A with a plant of another wheat line, a representative sample of seed of the line Teal11A having been deposited with American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) under Patent Deposit Designation Number PTA-3953 and the wheat seed comprises a Teal11A Imi2 nucleic acid, said Teal11A Imi2 nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding an IMI polypeptide having a serine to asparagine substitution in Domain E, said Imi2 nucleic acid being that of the B genome, and a wheat plant grown from said seed exhibiting increased tolerance to an imidazolinone herbicide as compared to that of a wild-type wheat plant. 
     
     
         9 . The seed of  claim 8 , wherein said seed further comprises a seed treatment. 
     
     
         10 . The seed of  claim 9 , wherein said seed treatment comprises an herbicidal composition. 
     
     
         11 . The seed of  claim 10 , wherein said herbicidal composition comprises an imidazolinone herbicide. 
     
     
         12 . The seed of  claim 11 , wherein said imidazolinone herbicide comprises at least one of: imazethapyr, imazapic, imazamox, imazaquin, imazethabenz, imazapyr, a mixture of imazapyr and imazamox, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         13 . The seed of  claim 11 , wherein the imidazolinone herbicide comprises imazethapyr. 
     
     
         14 . The seed of  claim 11 , wherein the imidazolinone herbicide comprises imazamox. 
     
     
         15 . A method for treating a seed comprising:
 a. providing the seed of  claim 8 ; and   b. treating said seed with an herbicidal composition comprising an imidazolinone herbicide.   
     
     
         16 . A method for controlling weeds in the vicinity of a wheat plant comprising;
 a. providing the treated seed of  claim 11 ; and   b. growing a wheat plant from said treated seed in a field thereby controlling weeds in the vicinity of the wheat plant grown from said treated seed.   
     
     
         17 . A method for controlling weeds in the vicinity of a wheat plant comprising:
 a. providing a wheat plant, wherein said plant was obtained by a process comprising crossing a plant of line Teal11A, a representative sample of seed of the line having been deposited with American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) under Patent Deposit Designation Number PTA-3953, with a plant of another wheat line and the wheat plant comprises a Teal11A Imi2 nucleic acid, said Teal11A Imi2 nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding an IMI polypeptide having a serine to asparagine substitution in Domain E, said polynucleotide sequence is that of the B genome, and said plant having increased tolerance to an imidazolinone herbicide as compared to that of a wild-type wheat; and   b. applying an herbicidal composition comprising an imidazolinone herbicide to the wheat plant and the vicinity thereof, thereby controlling weeds.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein said imidazolinone herbicide comprises at least one of: imazethapyr, imazapic, imazamox, imazaquin, imazethabenz, imazapyr, a mixture of imazapyr and imazamox, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the imidazolinone herbicide comprises imazethapyr. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the imidazolinone herbicide comprises imazamox. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein said imidazolinone herbicide comprises at least one of: imazethapyr, imazapic, imazamox, imazaquin, imazethabenz, imazapyr, a mixture of imazapyr and imazamox, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the imidazolinone herbicide comprises imazethapyr. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the imidazolinone herbicide comprises imazamox. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said imidazolinone herbicide comprises at least one of: imazethapyr, imazapic, imazamox, imazaquin, imazethabenz, imazapyr, a mixture of imazapyr and imazamox, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the imidazolinone herbicide comprises imazethapyr. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the imidazolinone herbicide comprises imazamox. 
     
     
         27 . An isolated Imi2 nucleic acid, wherein said Imi2 nucleic acid is the Imi2 from a wheat plant, or from a seed thereof, the wheat plant having been obtained by a process comprising crossing a plant of line Teal11A, a representative sample of seed of the line having been deposited with American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) under Patent Deposit Designation Number PTA-3953, with a plant of another wheat line, wherein the Imi2 nucleic acid of said wheat plant or seed is a Teal11A Imi2 nucleic acid, said Teal11A Imi2 nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding an IMI polypeptide having a serine to asparagine substitution in Domain E, said polynucleotide sequence is that of the B genome, and said plant having increased tolerance to an imidazolinone herbicide as compared to that of a wild-type wheat. 
     
     
         28 . A method for identifying the presence of the nucleic acid described in  claim 1  comprising:
 a. providing biological material from a wheat plant or a seed thereof; 
 b. assaying for the presence of said nucleic acid using a PCR methodology or employing a labeled probe; and 
 c. identifying, based on the results of step (b), that the wheat plant or wheat seed of step (a) comprises the nucleic acid.