The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to polypeptides, polynucleotides encoding same, transgenic plants expressing same and methods of producing and using same, and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to methods of increasing oil content, seed yield, growth rate, biomass and/or yield of a plant.
Vegetable or seed oils are the major source of energy and nutrition in human and animal diet. They are also used for the production of industrial products, such as paints, inks and lubricants. In addition, plant oils represent renewable sources of long-chain hydrocarbons which can be used as fuel. Since the currently used fossil fuels are finite resources and are gradually being depleted, fast growing biomass crops may be used as alternative fuels or for energy feedstocks and may reduce the dependence on fossil energy supplies. However, the major bottleneck for increasing the consumption of plant oils as bio-fuel is the oil price, which is still higher than fossil fuel [Hypertext Transfer Protocol://World Wide Web (dot) eia (dot) doe (dot) gov/oiaf/analysispaper/biodiesel/; Hypertext Transfer Protocol://World Wide Web (dot) njbiz (dot)com/weekly_article.asp?aID=19755147 (dot) 6122555 (dot) 957931 (dot) 7393254 (dot) 4337383 (dot) 561&aID2=73678]. In addition, the production rate of plant oil is limited by the availability of agricultural land and water. Thus, increasing plant oil yields from the same growing area can effectively overcome the shortage in production space and can decrease vegetable oil prices at the same time.
Studies aiming at increasing plant oil yields focus on the identification of genes involved in oil metabolism as well as in genes capable of increasing plant and seed yields in transgenic plants.
Genes known to be involved in increasing plant oil yields include those participating in fatty acid synthesis or sequestering such as desaturase [e.g., DELTA6, DELTA12 or acyl-ACP (Ssi2; Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR; Hypertext Transfer Protocol://World Wide Web (dot) arabidopsis (dot) org/), TAR No. AT2G43710)], OleosinA (TAR No. AT3G01570) or FAD3 (TAR No. AT2G29980), and various transcription factors and activators such as Lec 1 [TAIR No. AT1G21970, Lotan et al. 1998. Cell. 26; 93(7):1195-205], Lec2 [TAIR No. AT1G28300, Santos Mendoza et al. 2005, FEBS Lett. 579(20:4666-70], Fus3 (TAIR No. AT3G26790), ABI3 [TAIR No. AT3G24650, Lara et al. 2003. J Biol. Chem. 278(23): 21003-11] and Wri1 [TAIR No. AT3G54320, Cernac and Benning, 2004. Plant J. 40(4): 575-85].
Zabrouskov V., et al., 2002 (Physiol Plant. 116:172-185) demonstrated that upregulation of endoplasmic reticulum (FAD3) and plastidal (FAD7) fatty acid desaturases in potato increases the total lipid fraction in transgenic clones.
Wang H W et al., 2007 (Plant J. 52:716-29. Epub 2007 Sep. 18) found that transgenic plant seeds over-expressing the GmD of4 and GmD of11 transcription factors exhibit increased content of total fatty acids and lipids.
Vigeolas H, et al. [Plant Biotechnol J. 2007, 5(3):431-41] and U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 20060168684 disclose increased seed oil content in oil-seed rape (Brassica napus L.) by over-expression of a yeast glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase under the control of a seed-specific promoter.
Katavic V, et al., 2000 (Biochem Soc Trans. 28:935-7) describe the use of the Arabidopsis FAE1 and yeast SLC1-1 genes for improvements in erucic acid and oil content in rapeseed.
U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 20080076179 discloses an isolated moss nucleic acid encoding a lipid metabolism protein (LMP) and transgenic plants expressing same with increased lipid levels.
U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 20060206961 discloses a method of increasing oil content in plants (e.g., in plant seeds), by expressing in the plant the Ypr140w polypeptide.
U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 20060174373 discloses a method of increasing oil content in plants by expressing a nucleic acid encoding a triacylglycerols (TAG) synthesis enhancing protein (TEP) in the plant.
U.S. Pat. Appl. Nos. 20070169219, 20070006345, 20070006346 and 20060195943, disclose transgenic plants with improved nitrogen use efficiency which can be used for the conversion into fuel or chemical feedstocks.