Abstract: A method is provided of regulating transcription in a plant cell from a DNA sequence comprising a target DNA operably linked to a coding sequence, which method comprises introducing an engineered zinc finger polypeptide in said plant cell which polypeptide binds to the target DNA and modulates transcription of the coding sequence.

Abstract: Chemically inducible promoters are described that may be used to transform plants, including tobacco and lettuce, with genes which are easily regulatable by adding the plants or plant cells to a medium containing an inducer of the promoter or by removing the plants or plant cells from such medium. The promoters described are ones that are inducible by a glucocorticoid or estrogen which is not endogenous to plants. Such promoters may be used with a variety of genes such as ipt, CKI1, or knotted1, to induce shoot formation in the presence of an appropriate inducer. The promoters may be used with genes which induce somatic embryos such as Lec1 or SERK to prepare somatic embryos which can be grown into seedlings and then into plants. The promoter may also be used with antibiotic or herbicide resistance genes which are then regulatable by the presence or absence of inducer rather than being constitutive. Other examples of genes which may be placed under the control of the inducible promoter are also presented.

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods for promoting somatic embryogenesis from a tissue or organ of a plant, by overexpressing a Wuschel gene in said tissue or organ. In one embodiment, such overexpression can be used as a silent selectable marker for transgenic plants. In another embodiment, such expression can be used to confer apomixis to a plant. In another embodiment, such overexpression can be used to create haploid plants, which can be used to produce dihaploid plants.

Abstract: The bZIP transcription factor ABI5 is shown to confer an enhanced response to exogenous abscisic acid during germination, seedling establishment and subsequent vegetative growth of plants. ABI5 is necessary, but not sufficient, to maintain germinated embryos in a quiescent state, abscisic acid also being required for maintaining the quiescent state. ABI5 production is enhanced by stress including high salt and drought. This protects plants from drought. Plants which overexpress ABI5 are hypersensitive to abscisic acid and retain water more efficiently than wild-type plants.

Abstract: A plant gene, Esr 1 , has been found which when overexpressed in plant cells results in cells which have cytokinin-independent cell growth. This feature allows the encoded protein ESR1 to be used as a selectable marker of transformed cells by growing the transformed cells on cytokinin-free media. It has also been found that overexpression of ESR1 in cells grown in the presence of cytokinins results in a higher regeneration of plants. This feature allows the gene to be used to obtain greater regeneration of plant cells.

Abstract: Chemically inducible promoters are described that may be used to transform plants, including tobacco and lettuce, with genes which are easily regulatable by adding the plants or plant cells to a medium containing an inducer of the promoter or by removing the plants or plant cells from such medium. The promoters described are ones that are inducible by a glucocorticoid or estrogen which is not endogenous to plants. Such promoters may be used with a variety of genes such as ipt, CKI1, or knotted1, to induce shoot formation in the presence of an appropriate inducer. The promoters may be used with genes which induce somatic embryos such as Lec1 or SERK to prepare somatic embryos which can be grown into seedlings and then into plants. The promoter may also be used with antibiotic or herbicide resistance genes which are then regulatable by the presence or absence of inducer rather than being constitutive. Other examples of genes which may be placed under the control of the inducible promoter are also presented.

Abstract: A plant gene, Esr2, has been found which when overexpressed in plant cells results in cells which have cytokinin-independent cell growth. This feature allows the encoded protein ESR2 to be used as a selectable marker of transformed cells by growing the transformed cells on cytokinin-free media. It has also been found that overexpression of ESR2 in cells grown in the presence of cytokinins results in a higher regeneration of plants. This feature allows the gene to be used to obtain greater regeneration of plant cells.

Abstract: A plant gene, Esr1, has been found which when overexpressed in plant cells results in cells which have cytokinin-independent cell growth. This feature allows the encoded protein ESR1 to be used as a selectable marker of transformed cells by growing the transformed cells on cytokinin-free media. It has also been found that overexpression of ESR1 in cells grown in the presence of cytokinins results in a higher regeneration of plants. This feature allows the gene to be used to obtain greater regeneration of plant cells.

Abstract: A method is provided of regulating transcription in a plant cell from a DNA sequence comprising a target DNA operably linked to a coding sequence, which method comprises introducing an engineered zinc finger polypeptide in said plant cell which polypeptide binds to the target DNA and modulates transcription of the coding sequence.

Abstract: The invention describes novel nucleotide sequences from genes which are produced upon induction with salicylic acid in tobacco plants. The genes can be used to confer resistance to pathogens in susceptible plants. Another part of the invention is formed by the promoters regulating expression of these genes. These promoters are switched on early in the response to pathogen attack and can be used as pathogen-inducible promoters.

Abstract: Plant growth habit is altered by causing either under-expression or over-expression of profilin in a plant cell. Under-expression of profilin can be achieved by transforming a plant or plant cell with a gene expressing an antisense mRNA complementary to the mRNA transcribed by the coding sequence of a profilin gene and expressing the gene in the plant or plant cell such that the antisense mRNA inhibits the production of the profilin in the plant or plant cell. Under-expression of profilins in plants can lead to such alterations in growth habit as a dwarf phenotype, a reduced root and root hair system, and delay in the onset of flowering. Over-expression of profilin can be achieved by transforming a plant or plant cell with a gene capable of expressing a profilin in the plant or plant cell and causing the transformed gene to be expressed in the plant or plant cell.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a promoter functional in plant cells and plasmid that can regulate efficient expression of a gene of interest in plant cells. The promoter comprises a G-Box element, which enhances expression of an operably linked gene of interest in plants or plant cells. A further object of the invention is the plasmid pGbox10 or pGbox11, as well as plants or plant cells transformed with said plasmid.

Abstract: A cDNA clone (HEV1) encoding hevein was isolated via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using mixed oligonucleotides corresponding to two regions of hevein as primers and a Hevea brasiliensis latex cDNA library as a template. HEV1 is 1018 nucleotides long and includes an open reading frame of 204 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence contains a putative signal sequence of 17 amino acid residues followed by a 187 amino acid polypeptide. The amino-terminal region (43 amino acids) is identical to hevein and shows homology to several chitin-binding proteins and to the amino-termini of wound-induced genes in potato and poplar. The carboxyl-terminal portion of the polypeptide (144 amino acids) is 74-79% homologous to the carboxyl-terminal region of wound-inducible genes of potato. Wounding, as well as application of the plant hormones abscisic acid and ethylene, resulted in accumulation of hevein transcripts in leaves, stems and latex, but not in roots, as shown by using the cDNA as a probe.

Abstract: A chemically inducible promoter is described which may be used to transform plants with genes which are easily regulatable by adding plants or plant cells to a medium containing an inducer of the promoter or by removing the plants or plant cells from such medium. The promoter described is one which is inducible by a glucocorticoid which is not endogenous to plants. Such promoters may be used with a variety of genes such as ipt or knotted1 to induce shoot formation in the presence of a glucocorticoid. The promoter may also be used with antibiotic or herbicide resistance genes which are then regulatable by the presence or absence of inducer rather than being constitutive. Other examples of genes which may be placed under the control of the inducible promoter are also presented.

Abstract: A cDNA clone (HEV1) encoding hevein was isolated via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using mixed oligonucleotides corresponding to two regions of hevein as primers and a Hevea brasiliensis latex cDNA library as a template. HEV1 is 1018 nucleotides long and includes an open reading frame of 204 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence contains a putative signal sequence of 17 amino acid residues followed by a 187 amino acid polypeptide. The amino-terminal region (43 amino acids) is identical to hevein and shows homology to several chitin-binding proteins and to the amino-termini of wound-induced genes in potato and poplar. The carboxyl-terminal portion of the polypeptide (144 amino acids) is 74-79% homologous to the carboxyl-terminal region of wound-inducible genes of potato. Wounding, as well as application of the plant hormones abscisic acid and ethylene, resulted in accumulation of hevein transcripts in leaves, stems and latex, but not in roots, as shown by using the cDNA as a probe.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the use of DNA sequence motifs to regulate gene expression in a tissue- or developmental-specific manner in transgenic plants. The invention generally relates to the engineering and use of G-box related sequence motifs, specifically Iwt and PA motifs, which function as cis-elements of promoters, to regulate the expression of heterologous genes in transgenic plants. PA enhances high level expression in roots, low level expression in leaves and little or no expression in seeds. By contrast, Iwt confers preferential expression in seeds, but in a developmentally-regulated manner.

Abstract: Disclosed is a novel method of suppressing plant gene expression. The suppression is achieved by transforming a plant with a DNA construct encoding a processing-defective RNA (pd-RNA constructs). A pd-RNA construct comprises a plant active promoter operably linked to a pd-RNA encoding segment (pd-RNA segment), wherein the pd-RNA segment comprises a sequence substantially homologous to the target gene and a defective intron and/or a defective 3' termination and processing sequence (hereinafter 3' processing sequence). The pd-RNA constructs of the present invention are designed to express target-gene-homologous RNA transcripts that are defective for messenger RNA processing. Various types of pd-RNA constructs are disclosed, including those defective for endonucleolytic cleavage or polyadenylation at the 3' end of the pd-RNA transcript and/or intron splicing. A pd-RNA construct of the invention may used to suppress a single, specific target gene or multiple target genes.

Abstract: A cDNA clone (HEV1) encoding hevein was isolated via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using mixed oligonucleotides corresponding to two regions of hevein as primers and a Hevea brasiliensis latex cDNA library as a template. HEV1 is 1018 nucleotides long and includes an open reading frame of 204 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence contains a putative signal sequence of 17 amino acid residues followed by a 187 amino acid polypeptide. The amino-terminal region (43 amino acids) is identical to hevein and shows homology to several chitin-binding proteins and to the amino-termini of wound-induced genes in potato and poplar. The carboxyl-terminal portion of the polypeptide (144 amino acids) is 74-79% homologous to the carboxyl-terminal region of wound-inducible genes of potato. Wounding, as well as application of the plant hormones abscisic acid and ethylene, resulted in accumulation of hevein transcripts in leaves, stems and latex, but not in roots, as shown by using the cDNA as a probe.

Abstract: The active portion of a trans-activating factor, TAF-1, has been identified, isolated and characterized. This proteinaceous factor binds to motif-I-like sequences previously identified within numerous plant promoter elements. TAF-1 may be engineered into cell culture systems or transgenic plants to increase or modulate the expression of heterologous genes fused to promoter elements containing one or more copies of cis-acting sequences known to bind TAF-1.

Abstract: A transacting DNA binding factor is disclosed. The ASF 1 protein factor specifically binds to the sequence motif TGACG found upstream of the promoter in many plant genes. Coexpression of this protein factor augments the level of expression of the up-regulated promoter containing the TGACG motif.