# Patent

## Title
Gene capable of improving material productivity in seed and method for use thereof

## Abstract

An object of the present invention is to search for a gene having a novel function that can cause an increase or decrease in material productivity, and particularly, fat and oil content. In the present invention, a chimeric protein obtained by fusing a transcription factor consisting of a protein comprising an amino acid sequence shown in any of the even-numbered SEQ ID NOS: 1 to 158 and a functional peptide capable of converting an arbitrary transcription factor into a transcriptional repressor is expressed in a plant.

## Background
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/376,326, filed Dec. 5, 2011, which is a National Stage Entry of International Application No. PCT/JP2010/059543, filed Jun. 4, 2010, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-135321, filed Jun. 4, 2009, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.


TECHNICAL FIELD
Background Art
Plants are cultivated for the purpose of using some tissues thereof (e.g., seeds, roots, leaves, or stems) or for the purpose of producing various substances (materials), such as fats and oils. Examples of fats and oils produced from plants that have been heretofore known include soybean oil, sesame oil, olive oil, coconut oil, rice oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, safflower oil, palm oil, and rapeseed oil. Such fats and oils are extensively used for household and industrial applications. Also, fats and oils produced from plants are used as raw materials for biodiesel fuel or bioplastic, and the applicability thereof is increasing for alternative energy to petroleum.
Under such circumstances, it is necessary to improve productivity per unit area of cultivated acreage in order to succeed in the industrial production of fats and oils using plants. Here, assuming that the number of cultivated plant individuals per unit area of cultivated acreage is stable, it can be understood that the fat and oil production per plant individual needs to be improved. When fats and oils are collected from seeds obtained from plants, it is expected that the fat and oil production per plant individual can be improved by techniques for improving the seed yield per plant individual, techniques for improving the fat and oil content in seeds, and similar techniques.
Techniques for improving the fat and oil production in plant seeds are roughly divided into the improvement of cultivation and the development of varieties with increased fat and oil productivity. Methods for developing varieties with increased fat and oil productivity are roughly divided into conventional breeding methods mainly involving crossing technology and molecular breeding methods comprising gene recombination. The following are known techniques for increasing fat and oil productivity via gene recombination: (A): a technique for modifying a system for synthesizing triacylglycerol (TAG) contained in seeds as a main component of plant fat and oil; and (B): a technique for modifying various regulatory genes that regulate plant morphogenesis or metabolism and expression of genes involved plant morphogenesis or metabolism.
Regarding technique (A), the following methods can be used as a method for increasing the amount of TAG synthesized using, as a starting material, a sugar produced via photosynthesis: (1): a method for increasing activity of synthesizing fatty acid or glycerol that is a constitutive component of TAG from a sugar; (2): a method for enhancing a reaction of synthesizing TAG from glycerol and fatty acid. In relation to the above technique, the following have been reported as gene engineering techniques. In one example of method (1), the fat and oil content in seeds was reportedly improved by 5% by causing Arabidopsis thaliana cytoplasm acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase) to be overexpressed in rapeseed plastids (Non-Patent Document 1). In one example of (2), a technique for increasing fat and oil productivity by causing overexpression of DGAT (diacylglycerol acyltransferase) capable of transferring an acyl group at the sn-3 position of diacylglycerol (Non-Patent Document 2) was reportedly developed. Regarding the technique of Non-Patent Document 2, fat and oil content and seed weight were reported to have increased with an increase in DGAT expression level, which might cause an increase in the number of seeds per plant individual. By the use of this method, the fat and oil content in seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana was found to have increased by 46%, and the fat and oil amount per plant individual was found to have increased by up to approximately 125%.
Meanwhile, one possible example of technique (B) is a method for regulating the expression of a transcription factor gene involved in the regulation of expression of a biosynthetic enzyme gene. Patent Document 1 discloses such method. According to the technique used in Patent Document 1, a recombinant plant in which a transcription factor is exhaustively overexpressed or knocked out is prepared, followed by selection of a gene that causes an increase in the fat and oil content in seeds. Patent Document 1 describes that the fat and oil content in seeds was found to have increased by 23% as a result of overexpression of the ERF subfamily B-4 transcription factor gene. However, Patent Document 1 does not describe an increase or decrease in the fat and oil content per plant individual. Non-Patent Document 3 describes that the fat and oil content in seeds can be improved by causing the overexpression of WRINKLED1, which is a transcription factor having an AP2/EREB domain.
Meanwhile, when a hydrocarbon component such as cellulose contained in a plant is glycosylated and then alcohol is produced via fermentation, it can be predicted that fat and oil components contained in a plant become impurities and thus cause reduction of glycosylation efficiency in the glycosylation step. Therefore, if the fat and oil content can be reduced, the glycosylation efficiency in the glycosylation step can be improved. As a result, improvement of alcohol productivity can be expected. For example, Non-Patent Document 3 discloses that seeds of a WRI1/ASML1 (AP2 family transcription factor; AGI-code:AT3g54320)-deficient strain become wrinkled, resulting in reduction of the fat and oil content. In addition, Patent Document 2 discloses that overexpression of AT3g23250 (MYB15) resulted in a 13% decrease in the fat and oil content in seeds, overexpression of AT1g04550 (IAA12) resulted in a 12% decrease in the same, and overexpression of AT1g66390 (MYB90) resulted in a 16% decrease in the same.
In spite of the development of the above molecular breeding methods for the improvement of a variety of traits, there are still no practically available techniques to increase or decrease fat and oil productivity.
As reasons for the above, it is considered that truly excellent genes remain undiscovered, and that new recombinant varieties that have been confirmed to have desirable effects in the test phase cannot exhibit expected effects upon practical use in different natural environments. In addition, a number of genes are involved in the expression of quantitative traits such as productivity of a desired material in different steps in the regulation system, the metabolizing system, and other systems. Thus, it has been difficult to discover or develop truly excellent and useful genes capable of improving quantitative traits. In order to solve such problems, an object of the present invention is to find a novel gene exhibiting remarkably high effects. Another object of the present invention is to develop a gene capable of exerting effects in a practical environment to an extent comparable to the effects exerted in the test phase.
CITATION LIST
Patent Literature


    Patent Document 1: WO01/36597
    Patent Document 2: WO01/35727


Non-Patent Literature


    Non-Patent Document 1: Plant Physiology (1997) Vol. 11, pp. 75-81
    Non-Patent Document 2: Plant Physiology (2001), Vol. 126, pp. 861-874
    Non-Patent Document 3: Plant J. (2004) 40, 575-585


SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Technical Problem
In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for searching for a gene having a novel function that can cause an increase or decrease in material productivity so as to improve such feature of a plant.
Solution to Problem
As a result of intensive studies to achieve the above objects, the present inventors found that it is possible to improve various quantitative traits and particularly to increase or decrease material productivity via induction of expression of a chimeric protein obtained by fusing a particular transcription factor and a functional peptide capable of converting an arbitrary transcription factor into a transcriptional repressor (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a “repressor domain”). This has led to the completion of the present invention.
The plant of the present invention is obtained by inducing expression of a chimeric protein obtained by fusing a transcription factor consisting of any one of the following proteins (a) to (c) and a functional peptide capable of converting an arbitrary transcription factor into a transcriptional repressor.
(a) A protein comprising an amino acid sequence shown in any of the even-numbered SEQ ID NOS: 1 to 158
(b) A protein having transactivation activity and comprising an amino acid sequence that has a deletion, a substitution, an addition, or an insertion of one or a plurality of amino acids with respect to an amino acid sequence shown in any of the even-numbered SEQ ID NOS: 1 to 158.

(c) A protein having transactivation activity encoded by a polynucleotide that hybridizes under stringent conditions to a polynucleotide consisting of a nucleotide sequence complementary to a nucleotide sequence shown in any of the odd-numbered SEQ ID NOS: 1 to 158.

Preferably, the fusion of a functional peptide with a predetermined transcription factor causes repression of transcriptional regulatory activity, and particularly, transactivation activity, of the transcription factor in the plant of the present invention. Examples of the above functional peptide used herein include peptides expressed by the following formulae (1) to (8).
(1) X1-Leu-Asp-Leu-X2-Leu-X3 (SEQ ID NO: 520 with deletion of 0-10 residues from the N-terminus
(where X1 denotes a set of 0 to 10 amino acid residues, X2 denotes Asn or Glu, and X3 denotes a set of at least 6 amino acid residues.)
(2) Y1-Phe-Asp-Leu-Asn-Y2-Y3 (SEQ ID NO: 521 with deletion of 0-10 residues from the N-terminus
(where Y1 denotes a set of 0 to 10 amino acid residues, Y2 denotes Phe or Ile, and Y3 denotes a set of at least 6 amino acid residues.)
(3) Z1-Asp-Leu-Z2-Leu-Arg-Leu-Z3 (SEQ ID NO: 522 with deletion of 0-10 residues from the C-terminus and deletion of 0-2 residues from the N-terminus)
(where Z1 denotes Leu, Asp-Leu, or Leu-Asp-Leu, Z2 denotes Glu, Gln, or Asp, and Z3 denotes a set of 0 to 10 amino acid residues.)









(residues 4-9 of SEQ ID NO: 522)










(4)
Asp-Leu-Z4-Leu-Arg-Leu




(where Z4 denotes Glu, Gln, or Asp.)



 









(SEQ ID NO: 523)










(5)
α1-Leu-β1-Leu-γ1-Leu



 









(SEQ ID NO: 524)










(6)
α1-Leu-β1-Leu-γ2-Leu



 









(SEQ ID NO: 525)










(7)
α1-Leu-β2-Leu-Arg-Leu



 









(SEQ ID NO: 526)










(8)
α2-Leu-β1-Leu-Arg-Leu






(where α1 denotes Asp, Asn, Glu, Gln, Thr, or Ser, α2 denotes Asn, Glu, Gln, Thr, or Ser, β1 denotes Asp, Gln, Asn, Arg, Glu, Thr, Ser, or His, β2 denotes Asn, Arg, Thr, Ser, or His, γ1 denotes Arg, Gln, Asn, Thr, Ser, His, Lys, or Asp, and γ2 denotes Gln, Asn, Thr, Ser, His, Lys, or Asp in formulae (5) to (8).)

In addition, the plant of the present invention is characterized by significant improvement or reduction of material productivity per plant individual and particularly productivity of fat and oil contained in seeds. A specific tissue used in the present invention can be seed tissue. Here, the expression “significant improvement or reduction” indicates that the plant of the present invention allows an increase or decrease in the material productivity associated with a statistically significant difference when compared in terms of material productivity with a plant in which the above chimeric protein is not expressed.

Meanwhile, according to the present invention, the above chimeric protein, the gene encoding the chimeric protein, an expression vector comprising the gene, and a transformant comprising the gene can be provided.
This description includes part or all of the contents as disclosed in the description and/or drawings of Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-135321, which is a priority document of the present application.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
The material productivity per plant individual (and particularly the fat and oil content in seeds) is improved or reduced in the plant of the present invention. Therefore, the use of the plant of the present invention enables improvement of productivity of plant-derived fats and oils. Alternatively, for example, bioalcohol or the like can be produced with good efficiency using the plant of the present invention in which fats and oils contained as impurities can be reduced.


DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
The present invention will be described in detail as follows.
The plant of the present invention is a plant in which a chimeric protein obtained by fusing a predetermined transcription factor and a functional peptide capable of converting an arbitrary transcription factor into a transcriptional repressor is expressed. The plant of the present invention is found to exhibit significant improvement or reduction of the material productivity per plant individual (and particularly the fat and oil content in seeds) when compared with a wild-type plant. Specifically, the plant of the present invention is produced by causing a transcription factor to be expressed in the form of a chimeric protein with the functional peptide in a desired plant so as to significantly improve or reduce the material productivity of the desired plant.
In particular, preferably, the transactivation activity of a transcription factor is repressed in the plant of the present invention by fusing the factor with the above functional peptide. In other words, when a chimeric protein obtained by fusing a transcription factor with the functional peptide is expressed in the plant of the present invention, this preferably results in expression of transcription repression effects originally imparted to the functional peptide as a dominant trait.
Here, the term “material productivity per plant individual” refers to the content of an individual substance (material) produced per unit volume of a plant. Such substance is not particularly limited. It may be a substance originally produced by a plant. Alternatively, it may be a substance that is not originally produced in a plant but can be produced in the plant via genetic engineering or the like.
In particular, if the content of a desired product per tissue increases, purification cost or transport cost can be reduced. Thus, such plant is highly industrially applicable. A particularly desired product may be lignocellulose, which accounts for the substantially total weight of a plant. It may be a plant oil industrially available as a seed oil. A plant oil may be composed of simple lipid in the form of ester of fatty acid and alcohol or of complex lipid containing phosphorus, sugar, nitrogen, and other components. It may be fatty acid itself. Examples of alcohol that can be used for simple lipid include higher alcohol with a large molecular weight and polyalcohol such as glycerol (glycerine). Examples of fatty acid that can be used for simple lipid include saturated fatty acid, unsaturated fatty acid, and specialty fatty acid containing a hydroxyl group or an epoxy group. Examples of simple lipid that can be used in the form of ester of glycerol and fatty acid include monoacylglycerol, diacylglycerol, and triacylglycerol.
Meanwhile, certain substances contained in plants becomes impurities depending on the use of the plants. Therefore, if productivity of such a certain substance in a plant decreases, the impurity content decreases. Such plant is highly industrially applicable. For example, in the case of glycosylation of lignocellulose contained in a plant, fat and oil components contained in the plant might become impurities and thus negatively influence glycosylation efficiency. Therefore, if the fat and oil productivity decreases, the efficiency of the glycosylation step in the process of producing bioalcohol or the like using a plant can be improved.
Fats and oils are described below as examples of target substances for productivity improvement or reduction. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. The present invention can be applied to substances other than fat and oil that are produced by plants.
Plants used herein are not particularly limited, and thus any plant can be used as a target plant. Particularly preferably, a plant conventionally used for production of fat and oil is used. Examples of an available target plant include soybean, sesame, olive oil, coconut, rice, cotton, sunflower, corn, sugarcane, Jatropha, palm, tobacco, safflower, and rapeseed. Also, Arabidopsis thaliana, which has been widely used as an biological model for plant gene analysis and for which gene expression analysis methods have been established, can be used as a target plant.
In addition, transcription repression activity of a chimeric protein comprising a transcription factor is activity of recognizing a cis sequence that is recognized by the transcription factor or a cis sequence of a different transcription factor that is analogous to such a cis sequence so as to actively repress the expression of downstream genes. Thus, such chimeric protein can also be called a “transcriptional repressor.” A method for causing a chimeric protein comprising a transcription factor to have transcription repression activity is not particularly limited. However, in particular, the most preferable method may be a method for constructing a chimeric protein (fusion protein) by adding a repressor domain sequence or an SRDX sequence thereto.
In the above method, as a repressor domain sequence, a variety of amino acid sequences discovered by the present inventors, each of which constitutes a peptide capable of converting an arbitrary transcription factor into a transcriptional repressor, can be used. For example, the following can be referred to for a method using a repressor domain sequence: JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-269177 A; JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-269178 A; JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-292776 A; JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-292777 A; JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-269176 A; JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-269179 A; WO03/055903; Ohta, M., Matsui, K., Hiratsu, K., Shinshi, H. and Ohme-Takagi, M., The Plant Cell, Vol. 13, 1959-1968, August, 2001; and Hiratsu, K., Ohta, M., Matsui, K., or Ohme-Takagi, M., FEBS Letters 514(2002) 351-354. A repressor domain sequence can be excised from a Class II ERF (Ethylene Responsive Element Binding Factor) protein or a plant zinc finger protein (zinc finger protein such as Arabidopsis thaliana SUPERMAN protein). The sequence has a very simple structure.
Examples of a transcription factor constituting a chimeric protein to be expressed include transcription factors specified by AGI codes for Arabidopsis thaliana listed in tables 1 and 2. In addition, any transcription factor listed in table 1 causes a significant increase in fat and oil content in seeds when a chimeric protein comprising the transcription factor and a repressor domain is expressed in a plant. Meanwhile, any transcription factor listed in table 2 causes a significant decrease in fat and oil content in seeds when a chimeric protein comprising the transcription factor and a repressor domain is expressed in a plant.











TABLE 1







AGI code
Nucleotide sequence
Amino acid sequence









At5g47230
SEQ ID NO: 1
SEQ ID NO: 2



At1g22985
SEQ ID NO: 3
SEQ ID NO: 4



At1g80580
SEQ ID NO: 5
SEQ ID NO: 6



At1g25470
SEQ ID NO: 7
SEQ ID NO: 8



At1g67260
SEQ ID NO: 9
SEQ ID NO: 10



At4g36160
SEQ ID NO: 11
SEQ ID NO: 12



At5g64750
SEQ ID NO: 13
SEQ ID NO: 14



At4g01550
SEQ ID NO: 15
SEQ ID NO: 16



At1g24260
SEQ ID NO: 17
SEQ ID NO: 18



At5g09330
SEQ ID NO: 19
SEQ ID NO: 20



At2g31230
SEQ ID NO: 21
SEQ ID NO: 22





















TABLE 2







AGI code
Nucleotide sequence
Amino acid sequence









At2g30470
SEQ ID NO: 23
SEQ ID NO: 24



At2g17040
SEQ ID NO: 25
SEQ ID NO: 26



At5g07690
SEQ ID NO: 27
SEQ ID NO: 28



At3g15500
SEQ ID NO: 29
SEQ ID NO: 30



At2g30420
SEQ ID NO: 31
SEQ ID NO: 32



At3g09600
SEQ ID NO: 33
SEQ ID NO: 34



At1g36060
SEQ ID NO: 35
SEQ ID NO: 36



At1g01250
SEQ ID NO: 37
SEQ ID NO: 38



At1g25580
SEQ ID NO: 39
SEQ ID NO: 40



At3g20770
SEQ ID NO: 41
SEQ ID NO: 42



At1g12890
SEQ ID NO: 43
SEQ ID NO: 44



At2g18060
SEQ ID NO: 45
SEQ ID NO: 46



At4g18390
SEQ ID NO: 47
SEQ ID NO: 48



At5g08070
SEQ ID NO: 49
SEQ ID NO: 50



At1g76580
SEQ ID NO: 51
SEQ ID NO: 52



At4g28140
SEQ ID NO: 53
SEQ ID NO: 54



At5g60970
SEQ ID NO: 55
SEQ ID NO: 56



At2g42830
SEQ ID NO: 57
SEQ ID NO: 58



At1g30210
SEQ ID NO: 59
SEQ ID NO: 60



At1g71450
SEQ ID NO: 61
SEQ ID NO: 62



At1g09540
SEQ ID NO: 63
SEQ ID NO: 64



At3g10490
SEQ ID NO: 65
SEQ ID NO: 66



At1g62700
SEQ ID NO: 67
SEQ ID NO: 68



At1g49120
SEQ ID NO: 69
SEQ ID NO: 70



At1g44830
SEQ ID NO: 71
SEQ ID NO: 72



At1g30810
SEQ ID NO: 73
SEQ ID NO: 74



At1g74840
SEQ ID NO: 75
SEQ ID NO: 76



At5g18830
SEQ ID NO: 77
SEQ ID NO: 78



At1g72360
SEQ ID NO: 79
SEQ ID NO: 80



At1g32770
SEQ ID NO: 81
SEQ ID NO: 82



At5g14000
SEQ ID NO: 83
SEQ ID NO: 84



At2g23290
SEQ ID NO: 85
SEQ ID NO: 86



At2g02450
SEQ ID NO: 87
SEQ ID NO: 88



At1g27360
SEQ ID NO: 89
SEQ ID NO: 90



At1g33760
SEQ ID NO: 91
SEQ ID NO: 92



At3g27920
SEQ ID NO: 93
SEQ ID NO: 94



At3g18550
SEQ ID NO: 95
SEQ ID NO: 96



At1g52880
SEQ ID NO: 97
SEQ ID NO: 98



At5g07310
SEQ ID NO: 99
SEQ ID NO: 100



At4g26150
SEQ ID NO: 101
SEQ ID NO: 102



At1g19490
SEQ ID NO: 103
SEQ ID NO: 104



At1g52150
SEQ ID NO: 105
SEQ ID NO: 106



At3g04060
SEQ ID NO: 107
SEQ ID NO: 108



At4g32800
SEQ ID NO: 109
SEQ ID NO: 110



At5g66300
SEQ ID NO: 111
SEQ ID NO: 112



At5g13180
SEQ ID NO: 113
SEQ ID NO: 114



At1g71692
SEQ ID NO: 115
SEQ ID NO: 116



At1g27730
SEQ ID NO: 117
SEQ ID NO: 118



At3g49850
SEQ ID NO: 119
SEQ ID NO: 120



At3g02150
SEQ ID NO: 121
SEQ ID NO: 122



At5g47220
SEQ ID NO: 123
SEQ ID NO: 124



At5g43270
SEQ ID NO: 125
SEQ ID NO: 126



At5g52020
SEQ ID NO: 127
SEQ ID NO: 128



At1g69490
SEQ ID NO: 129
SEQ ID NO: 130



At4g38620
SEQ ID NO: 131
SEQ ID NO: 132



At2g45650
SEQ ID NO: 133
SEQ ID NO: 134



At5g02460
SEQ ID NO: 135
SEQ ID NO: 136



At1g12260
SEQ ID NO: 137
SEQ ID NO: 138



At5g13330
SEQ ID NO: 139
SEQ ID NO: 140



At4g01060
SEQ ID NO: 141
SEQ ID NO: 142



At2g46590
SEQ ID NO: 143
SEQ ID NO: 144



At1g69120
SEQ ID NO: 145
SEQ ID NO: 146



At1g77450
SEQ ID NO: 147
SEQ ID NO: 148



At2g23760
SEQ ID NO: 149
SEQ ID NO: 150



At2g02070
SEQ ID NO: 151
SEQ ID NO: 152



At1g22640
SEQ ID NO: 153
SEQ ID NO: 154



At5g22380
SEQ ID NO: 155
SEQ ID NO: 156



At5g62380
SEQ ID NO: 157
SEQ ID NO: 158










In addition, examples of a transcription factor constituting a chimeric protein are not limited to amino acid sequences (shown in the even-numbered SEQ ID NOS: 1 to 158) listed in tables 1 and 2. Also, it is possible to use a transcription factor having transactivation activity and comprising an amino acid sequence that has a deletion, a substitution, an addition, or an insertion of one or a plurality of amino acid sequences with respect to any of the amino acid sequences. Here, the term “a plurality of amino acids” refers to 1 to 20, preferably 1 to 10, more preferably 1 to 7, further preferably 1 to 5, and particularly preferably 1 to 3 amino acids, for example. In addition, amino acid deletion, substitution, or addition can be performed by modifying a nucleotide sequence encoding any of the above transcription factors by a technique known in the art. Mutation can be introduced into a nucleotide sequence by a known technique such as the Kunkel method or the Gapped duplex method or a method based thereon. For example, mutation is introduced with a mutagenesis kit using site-directed mutagenesis (e.g., Mutant-K or Mutant-G (both are trade names of Takara Bio)) or the like, or a LA PCR in vitro Mutagenesis series kit (trade name, Takara Bio). Also, a mutagenesis method may be: a method using a chemical mutation agent represented by EMS (ethyl methanesulfonate), 5-bromouracil, 2-aminopurine, hydroxylamine, N-methyl-N′-nitro-N nitrosoguanidine, or other carcinogenic compounds; or a method that involves radiation treatment or ultraviolet [UV] treatment typically using X-rays, alpha rays, beta rays, gamma rays, an ion beam, or the like.
Further, examples of a transcription factor constituting a chimeric protein are not limited to Arabidopsis thaliana transcription factors listed in tables 1 and 2. Examples of such transcription factor can include transcription factors that function in a similar manner in non-Arabidopsis thaliana plants (e.g., the aforementioned plants) (hereinafter referred to as homologous transcription factors). These homologous transcription factors can be searched for using the genomic information of a search target plant based on amino acid sequences listed in tables 1 and 2 or the nucleotide sequences of individual genes if the plant genomic information has been elucidated. Homologous transcription factors can be identified by searching for amino acid sequences having, for example, 70% or higher, preferably 80% or higher, more preferably 90% or higher, and most preferably 95% or higher homology to the amino acid sequences listed in tables 1 and 2. Here, the value of homology refers to a value that can be found based on default setting using a computer equipped with a BLAST algorithm and a database containing gene sequence information.
In addition, a homologous gene can be identified by, when the plant genome information remains unclarified, extracting the genome from a target plant or constructing a cDNA library for a target plant and then isolating a genomic region or cDNA hybridizing under stringent conditions to at least a portion of the gene encoding any one of the transcription factors listed in tables 1 and 2. Here, the term “stringent conditions” refers to conditions under which namely a specific hybrid is formed, but a non-specific hybrid is never formed. For example, such conditions comprise hybridization at 45° C. with 6×SSC (sodium chloride/sodium citrate), followed by washing at 50° C. to 65° C. with 0.2-1×SSC and 0.1% SDS. Alternatively, such conditions comprise hybridization at 65° C. to 70° C. with 1×SSC, followed by washing at 65° C. to 70° C. with 0.3×SSC. Hybridization can be performed by a conventionally known method such as a method described in J. Sambrook et al. Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2nd Ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (1989).
A feature of causing the fat and oil production in seeds to vary significantly (to be improved or reduced significantly) is imparted to the plant of the present invention by causing expression of the aforementioned chimeric protein comprising a transcription factor and a functional peptide in a plant. In particular, a feature of causing the fat and oil production in seeds to vary significantly (to be improved or reduced significantly) is imparted to the plant of the present invention by causing expression of a chimeric protein comprising a transcription factor of interest having repressed transactivation activity, further causing expression of transcription repression activity through recognition of a cis sequence homologous to a cis sequence recognized by the transcription factor of interest, or altering the specific affinity of the transcription factor of interest to that of another factor, nucleic acid, lipid, or carbohydrate. In the plant of the present invention, it is possible to create a chimeric protein by modifying an endogenous transcription factor. Alternatively, it is also possible to introduce a gene encoding a chimeric protein into the plant so as to cause the gene to be expressed therein.
For instance, it is preferable to use a method wherein a gene encoding a chimeric protein (fusion protein) obtained by fusing the aforementioned transcription factor and a functional peptide capable of converting an arbitrary transcription factor into a transcriptional repressor is introduced into a target plant to cause the chimeric protein (fusion protein) to be expressed in the plant.
The expression “transcription factor having repressed transactivation activity” used herein is not particularly limited. Such transcription factor has significantly lower transactivation activity than the original transcription factor. In addition, a “functional peptide capable of converting an arbitrary transcription factor into a transcriptional repressor” (sometimes referred to as a “transcription repressor converting peptide”) is defined as a peptide having the function of causing an arbitrary transcription factor to have significantly lower transactivation activity than the original transcription factor when the peptide is fused with the transcription factor to create a chimeric protein. Such “functional peptide capable of converting an arbitrary transcription factor into a transcriptional repressor” is not particularly limited. However, it is particularly preferable for the functional peptide to consist of an amino acid sequence known as a repressor domain sequence or an SRDX sequence. Examples of such transcription repressor converting peptide are described in detail in JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2005-204657 A. Any example disclosed in such document can be used.
For example, a transcription repressor converting peptide consists of an amino acid sequence expressed by any one of the following formulae (1) to (8).
(1) X1-Leu-Asp-Leu-X2-Leu-X3 (SEQ ID NO: 520 with deletion of 0-10 residues from the N-terminus
(where X1 denotes a set of 0 to 10 amino acid residues, X2 denotes Asn or Glu, and X3 denotes a set of at least 6 amino acid residues.)
(2) Y1-Phe-Asp-Leu-Asn-Y2-Y3 (SEQ ID NO: 521 with deletion of 0-10 residues from the N-terminus
(where Y1 denotes a set of 0 to 10 amino acid residues, Y2 denotes Phe or Ile, and Y3 denotes a set of at least 6 amino acid residues.)
(3) Z1-Asp-Leu-Z2-Leu-Arg-Leu-Z3 (SEQ ID NO: 522 with deletion of 0-10 residues from the C-terminus and deletion of 0-2 residues from the N-terminus)
(where Z1 denotes Leu, Asp-Leu, or Leu-Asp-Leu, Z2 denotes Glu, Gln, or Asp, and Z3 denotes a set of 0 to 10 amino acid residues.)









(residues 4-9 of SEQ ID NO: 522)










(4)
Asp-Leu-Z4-Leu-Arg-Leu




(where Z4 denotes Glu, Gln, or Asp.)



 









(SEQ ID NO: 523)










(5)
α1-Leu-β1-Leu-γ1-Leu



 









(SEQ ID NO: 524)










(6)
α1-Leu-β1-Leu-γ2-Leu



 









(SEQ ID NO: 525)










(7)
α1-Leu-β2-Leu-Arg-Leu



 









(SEQ ID NO: 526)










(8)
α2-Leu-β1-Leu-Arg-Leu






(where α1 denotes Asp, Asn, Glu, Gln, Thr, or Ser, α2 denotes Asn, Glu, Gln, Thr, or Ser, β1 denotes Asp, Gln, Asn, Arg, Glu, Thr, Ser, or His, β2 denotes Asn, Arg, Thr, Ser, or His, γ1 denotes Arg, Gln, Asn, Thr, Ser, His, Lys, or Asp, and γ2 denotes Gln, Asn, Thr, Ser, His, Lys, or Asp in formulae (5) to (8).)

Transcription Repressor Converting Peptide of Formula (1)

The number of amino acid residues in the set denoted by “X1” may be 0 to 10 for the transcription repressor converting peptide of formula (1). In addition, types of specific amino acids corresponding to amino acid residues in the set denoted by X1 are not particularly limited. Any amino acid can be used. In view of ease of synthesis of the transcription repressor converting peptide of formula (1), it is preferable to minimize the length of the set of amino acid residues denoted by X1. Specifically, the number of amino acid residues in the set denoted by X1 is preferably not more than 5.
Similarly, the number of amino acid residues in the set denoted by X3 may be at least 6 for the transcription repressor converting peptide of formula (1). In addition, types of specific amino acids corresponding to amino acid residues in the set denoted by X3 are not particularly limited, and thus any amino acid may be used.
Transcription Repressor Converting Peptide of Formula (2)
As in the case of X1 for the transcription repressor converting peptide of formula (1), the number of amino acid residues in the set denoted by Y1 for the transcription repressor converting peptide of formula (2) may be 0 to 10. In addition, types of specific amino acids corresponding to amino acid residues in the set denoted by Y1 are not particularly limited, and thus any amino acid may be used. The number of specific amino acid residues in the set denoted by Y1 is preferably not more than 5.
Similarly, as in the case of X3 for the transcription repressor converting peptide of formula (1), the number of amino acid residues in the set denoted by Y3 for the transcription repressor converting peptide of formula (2) may be at least 6. In addition, types of specific amino acids corresponding to amino acid residues in the set denoted by Y3 are not particularly limited, and thus any amino acid may be used.
Transcription Repressor Converting Peptide of Formula (3)
For the transcription repressor converting peptide of formula (3), the set of amino acid residues denoted by Z1 contains 1 to 3 “Leu” amino acids. When it contains a single amino acid, Z1 denotes Leu. When it contains two amino acids, Z1 denotes Asp-Leu. When it contains 3 amino acids, Z1 denotes Leu-Asp-Leu.
Meanwhile, for the transcription repressor converting peptide of formula (3), the number of amino acid residues in the set denoted by Z3 may be 0 to 10. In addition, types of specific amino acids corresponding to amino acid residues in the set denoted by Z3 are not particularly limited, and thus any amino acid may be used. Specifically, the number of amino acid residues in the set denoted by Z3 is preferably not more than 5. Specific examples of an amino acid residue in the set denoted by Z3 include, but are not limited to, Gly, Gly-Phe-Phe, Gly-Phe-Ala, Gly-Tyr-Tyr, and Ala-Ala-Ala.
In addition, the number of amino acid residues consisting of a transcription repressor converting peptide as a whole of formula (3) is not particularly limited. However, in view of ease of synthesis, it is preferably not more than 20 amino acids.
Transcription Repressor Converting Peptide of Formula (4)
The transcription repressor converting peptide of formula (4) is a hexamer (timer) consisting of 6 amino acid residues. In addition, if the amino acid residue denoted by Z4 in the transcription repressor converting peptide of formula (4) is Glu, the amino acid sequence of the peptide corresponds to a region ranging from position 196 to position 201 of the amino acid sequence of the Arabidopsis thaliana SUPERMAN protein (SUP protein).
A chimeric protein (fusion protein) is created through fusion of any of the different transcription repressor converting peptides described above and any of the transcription factors described above so as to modify characteristics of the transcription factor. Specifically, a chimeric protein (fusion protein) is created through fusion of the transcription factor and the transcription repressor converting peptide, making it possible to modify the transcription factor into a transcriptional repressor or a negative transcriptional coactivator. In addition, it is possible to further convert a non-dominant transcriptional repressor into a dominant transcriptional repressor.
In addition, a chimeric protein (fusion protein) can be produced by obtaining a fusion gene of a polynucleotide encoding any transcription repressor converting peptide described above and a gene encoding a transcription factor. Specifically, a fusion gene is constructed by linking a polynucleotide encoding the transcription repressor converting peptide (hereinafter referred to as a “transcription repressor converting polynucleotide”) and the gene encoding a transcription factor. The fusion gene is introduced into plant cells, thereby allowing production of a chimeric protein (fusion protein). The specific nucleotide sequence of the transcription repressor converting polynucleotide is not particularly limited. It is only necessary for the transcription repressor converting polynucleotide to comprise a nucleotide sequence corresponding to the amino acid sequence of the transcription repressor converting peptide in accordance with the genetic code of the peptide. In addition, if necessary, the transcription repressor converting polynucleotide may have a nucleotide sequence that serves as a linking site via which the transcription repressor converting polynucleotide is linked to a transcription factor gene. Further, if the amino acid reading frame of the transcription repressor converting polynucleotide does not match the reading frame of the transcription factor gene, the transcription repressor converting polynucleotide can comprise an additional nucleotide sequence that allows matching of both reading frames. Furthermore, the transcription repressor converting polynucleotide may comprise a variety of additional polypeptides such as a polypeptide having a linker function to link a transcription factor and a transcription repressor converting peptide and a polypeptide such as His, Myc, or Flag used for epitope labeling of a chimeric protein (fusion protein). Moreover, if necessary, the chimeric protein (fusion protein) may have a construct such as a sugar chain, an isoprenoid group, or the like as well as such polypeptide.
A method for producing a plant is not particularly limited as long as it comprises a step of producing the above chimeric protein comprising a transcription factor and a transcription repressor converting peptide in a plant. However, for example, a production method comprising steps such as an expression vector construction step, a transformation step, and a selection step can be used. Each step is specifically described below.
Expression Vector Construction Step
The expression vector construction step is not particularly limited as long as it includes a step of constructing a recombinant expression vector containing the gene encoding a transcription factor, a transcription repressor converting polynucleotide, and a promoter. As a vector serving as a mother body for a recombinant expression vector, various conventionally known vectors can be used. For example, plasmids, phages, cosmids, or the like can be used and such vector can be appropriately selected depending on plant cells into which it is introduced and introduction methods. Specific examples of such vector include pBR322, pBR325, pUC19, pUC119, pBluescript, pBluescriptSK, and pBI vectors. Particularly, when a method for introduction of a vector into a plant uses Agrobacterium, a pBI binary vector is preferably used. Specific examples of such pBI binary vector include pBIG, pBIN19, pBI101, pBI121, and pBI221.
A promoter used herein is not particularly limited as long as it can cause gene expression in plants. Any known promoter can be appropriately used. Examples of such promoter include a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter (CaMV35S), various actin gene promoters, various ubiquitin gene promoters, a nopaline synthase gene promoter, a tobacco PR1a gene promoter, a tomato ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase.oxidase small subunit gene promoter, a napin gene promoter, and an oleosin gene promoter. Of these, a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter, an actin gene promoter, or a ubiquitin gene promoter can be more preferably used. The use of each of the above promoters enables strong expression of any gene when it is introduced into plant cells. The specific structure of a recombinant expression vector itself is not particularly limited as long as the promoter is linked to a fusion gene obtained by linking a gene encoding a transcription factor or a transcriptional coactivator and a transcription repressor converting polynucleotide so as to cause expression of the gene and introduced into the vector.
In addition, a recombinant expression vector may further contain other DNA segments, in addition to a promoter and the fusion gene. Such other DNA segments are not particularly limited and examples thereof include a terminator, a selection marker, an enhancer, and a nucleotide sequence for enhancing translation efficiency. Also, the above recombinant expression vector may further have a T-DNA region. A T-DNA region can enhance efficiency for gene introduction particularly when the above recombinant expression vector is introduced into a plant using Agrobacterium. 
A transcription terminator is not particularly limited as long as it has functions as a transcription termination site and may be any known transcription terminator. For example, specifically, a transcription termination region (Nos terminator) of a nopaline synthase gene, a transcription termination region (CaMV35S terminator) of cauliflower mosaic virus 35S, or the like can be preferably used. Of them, the Nos terminator can be more preferably used. In the case of the above recombinant vector, a phenomenon such that an unnecessarily long transcript is synthesized and that a strong promoter decreases the number of copies of a plasmid after introduction into plant cells can be prevented by arranging a transcription terminator at an appropriate position.
As a transformant selection marker, a drug resistance gene can be used, for example. Specific examples of such drug resistance gene include drug resistance genes against hygromycin, bleomycin, kanamycin, gentamicin, chloramphenicol, and the like. Transformed plants can be easily selected by selecting plants that can grow in medium containing the above antibiotics.
An example of a nucleotide sequence for increasing translation efficiency is an omega sequence from tobacco mosaic virus. This omega sequence is arranged in an untranslated region (5′UTR) of a promoter, so that the translation efficiency of the fusion gene can be increased. As such, the recombinant expression vector can contain various DNA segments depending on purposes.
A method for constructing a recombinant expression vector is not particularly limited. To an appropriately selected vector serving as a mother body, the above promoter, a gene encoding a transcription factor, a transcription repressor converting polynucleotide, and, if necessary, the above other DNA segments may be introduced in a predetermined order. For example, a gene encoding a transcription factor and a transcription repressor converting polynucleotide are linked to construct a fusion gene, and then the fusion gene and the promoter (e.g., a transcription terminator according to need) are then linked to construct an expression cassette and then the cassette may be introduced into a vector.
In construction of a chimeric gene (fusion gene) and an expression cassette, for example, cleavage sites of DNA segments are prepared to have protruding ends complementary to each other and then performing a reaction with a ligation enzyme, making it possible to specify the order of the DNA segments. In addition, when an expression cassette contains a terminator, DNA segments may be arranged in the following order from upstream: a promoter, the chimeric gene, and a terminator. Also, reagents for construction of an expression vector (that is, types of restriction enzymes, ligation enzymes, and the like) are also not particularly limited. Hence, commercially available reagents can be appropriately selected and used.
Also, a method for replicating (a method for producing) the above expression vector is not particularly limited and conventionally known replication methods can be used herein. In general, such expression vector may be replicated within Escherichia coli as a host. At this time, preferred types of Escherichia coli may be selected depending on the types of vector.
Transformation Step
The transformation step carried out in the present invention is a step of introducing the fusion gene into plant cells using the above recombinant expression vector so as to cause the expression of the gene. A method for introducing such gene into plant cells (transformation method) using a recombinant expression vector is not particularly limited. Conventionally known appropriate introduction methods can be used depending on plant cells. Specifically, a method using Agrobacterium or a method that involves direct introduction into plant cells can be used, for example. As a method using Agrobacterium, a method described in the following can be employed, for example: Bechtold, E., Ellis, J. and Pelletier, G. (1993), In Planta Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer by infiltration of adult Arabidopsis plants. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris Sci. Vie, 316, 1194-1199; or Zyprian E, Kado Cl, Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation by novel mini-T vectors in conjunction with a high-copy vir region helper plasmid, Plant Molecular Biology, 1990, 15(2), 245-256.
As a method for directly introducing DNA comprising a recombinant expression vector and a target gene into plant cells, microinjection, electroporation, a polyethylene glycol method, a particle gun method, protoplast fusion, a calcium phosphate method, or the like can be employed.
Also, when a method for directly introducing DNA into plant cells is employed, DNA that can be used herein contains transcriptional units required for the expression of a target gene, such as a promoter and a transcription terminator, and a target gene. Vector functions are not essential in such case. Moreover, a DNA that contains a protein coding region alone of a target gene having no transcriptional unit may be used herein, as long as it is integrated into a host's transcriptional unit and then the target gene can be expressed.
Examples of plant cells into which DNA comprising the above recombinant expression vector and a target gene or DNA containing no expression vector but a target gene DNA is introduced include cells of each tissue of plant organs such as flowers, leaves, and roots, calluses, and suspension-cultured cells. At this time, according to the plant production method of the present invention, an appropriate expression vector may be constructed as the above recombinant expression vector according to the type of plant to be produced or a versatile expression vector may be constructed in advance and then introduced into plant cells. That is to say, the plant production method of the present invention may or may not comprise a step of constructing a DNA for transformation using the recombinant expression vector.
Other Steps and Methods
The plant production method of the present invention needs to comprise at least the transformation step, and the method may further comprise a step of constructing the DNA for transformation using the recombinant expression vector. The method may further comprise other steps. Specifically, for example, a step of selecting an appropriate transformant from among transformed plants can be employed.
A selection method is not particularly limited. For example, selection may be carried based on drug resistance such as hygromycin resistance. Alternatively, selection may be carried out based on the fat and oil content in seeds collected from cultivated transformants (plants). For example, a method comprising collecting plant seeds, determining the fat and oil content in the seeds according to a standard method, and comparing the fat and oil content with the fat and oil content in non-transformed plant seeds can be employed in a case in which selection is carried out based on the fat and oil content (see the Examples described below).
According to the plant production method of the present invention, the fusion gene is introduced into a plant. This makes it possible to obtain an offspring plant having a significantly improved fat and oil content in comparison with the plant via sexual reproduction or asexual reproduction. Also, plant cells or reproductive materials, such as seeds, fruits, stocks, calluses, tubers, cut ears, or lumps, may be obtained from the plant or an offspring plant thereof. The plant can be mass-produced therefrom based on such materials. Therefore, the plant production method of the present invention may comprise a reproduction step (mass production step) for reproducing a selected plant.
In addition, the plant of the present invention may include a matter comprising at least any one of an adult plant, plant cells, plant tissue, callus, and seeds. That is, according to the present invention, any matter in a state that allows it to eventually grow to become a plant can be regarded as a plant. In addition, plant cells include plant cells in various forms. Examples of such plant cells include suspension-cultured cells, protoplasts, and leaf sections. As a result of proliferation/differentiation of such plant cells, a plant can be obtained. In addition, a plant can be reproduced from plant cells by a conventionally known method depending on the types of plant cells. Therefore, the plant production method of the present invention may comprise a regeneration step of regenerating a plant from plant cells or the like.
In addition, the plant production method of the present invention is not limited to a method of transformation using a recombinant expression vector. A different method may be used. Specifically, for example, the chimeric protein (fusion protein) itself can be administered to a plant. In this case, the chimeric protein (fusion protein) can be administered to a young plant such that the fat and oil content can be improved at a part of a plant that is eventually used. In addition, a method of administration of a chimeric protein (fusion protein) is not particularly limited, and a different known method can be used.
As described above, according to the present invention, it becomes possible to provide a plant for which the material productivity has been caused to vary (to be improved or reduced) relative to the material productivity of a wild-type plant by inducing expression of a chimeric protein comprising a predetermined transcription factor and any functional peptide described above. When the chimeric protein is expressed in a plant, it might cause repression of transactivation activity of a target transcription factor or it might cause exhibition of transcription repression effects upon a sequence homologous to a cis sequence recognized by a target transcription factor. Further, in some cases, such chimeric protein functions to change the specific affinity of another factor, DNA, RNA, lipid, or carbohydrate having affinity to a target transcription factor or transcriptional coactivator. Alternatively, in some cases, it functions to cause a substance having no affinity to a target transcription factor to have improved affinity thereto. The following factors can be expressed in a similar manner in the plant of the present invention: a transcription factor that constitutes a chimeric protein; a transcription factor capable of recognizing a cis sequence homologous to a cis sequence recognized by the transcription factor; a transcription factor homologous to a transcription factor that constitutes a chimeric protein; other factors each having affinity to a transcription factor that constitutes a chimeric protein; and the like. However, the above effects of a chimeric protein allow suppression of gene expression to be controlled in a dominant-negative manner. Accordingly, the expression levels of gene groups involved in plant growth and the expression levels of gene groups involved in fat and oil production in seeds and/or gene groups involved in decomposition of produced fats and oils would vary in the plant of the present invention. This is thought to cause significant variation in fat and oil content.
Here, significant variation in the fat and oil content exists in a case in which the plant of the present invention exhibits an improvement of fat and oil content over a wild-type plant while the single seed mass remains stable, a case in which the plant of the present invention is found to exhibit improvement of fat and oil content with a significantly higher or lower level of single seed mass than that of a wild-type plant, or a case in which the plant of the present invention is found to exhibit improvement or reduction of fat and oil content in seeds when compared with a wild-type plant. In any case, it corresponds to a variation in the content of fat and oil produced by a single individual plant.
More specifically, if a chimeric protein comprising any transcription factor listed in table 1 is expressed in a plant, the fat and oil content in the plant would be improved. Among the plants of the present invention, a plant confirmed to have increased fat and oil content can be used for a method for producing plant-derived fats and oils. For example, fat and oil can be produced by cultivating the plant of the present invention, taking seeds therefrom, and collecting fat and oil components from the obtained seeds. In particular, it can be said that the fat and oil production method using the plant of the present invention is a method whereby high fat and oil content in a single plant individual can be achieved, resulting in excellent productivity. In other words, assuming that the number of cultivated plant individuals per unit area of cultivated acreage is stable, the amount of fat and oil produced per unit area of cultivated acreage can be remarkably improved with the use of the plant of the present invention. Therefore, cost necessary for fat and oil production can be significantly reduced with the use of the plant of the present invention.
Further, it can be said that the method for producing fat and oil using a plant of the present invention is a method excellent in terms of productivity. This is because high fat and oil contents per unit weight can be achieved thereby. In addition, fats and oils produced by the method for producing fat and oil using a plant of the present invention are not particularly limited. Examples of such fats and oils include plant-derived fats and oils such as soybean oil, sesame oil, olive oil, coconut oil, rice oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, safflower oil, and rapeseed oil. In addition, produced fat and oil can be extensively used for household and industrial applications. Also, such fat and oil can be used as raw materials for biodiesel fuel. That is, the above fats and oils used for household and industrial applications, biodiesel fuel, and the like can be produced at low cost with the use of the plant of the present invention.
Meanwhile, when a chimeric protein comprising any transcription factor listed in table 2 is expressed in a plant, the fat and oil content in the plant decreases. The plant of the present invention in which the fat and oil content is reduced can be used for a method for producing bioalcohol using lignocellulose contained in plants. That is, bioalcohol can be produced with excellent glycosylation efficiency and low impurity contents because the contents of fat and oil components that become impurities in a step of glycosylation of lignocellulose are low in such plant.
Concerning At5g22380
As described above, when a chimeric protein comprising a repressor domain and any transcription factor listed in table 1 is expressed in a plant, the fat and oil content in seeds is significantly improved. When a chimeric protein comprising a repressor domain and any transcription factor listed in table 2 is expressed in a plant, the fat and oil content in seeds is significantly reduced. Therefore, if any transcription factor listed in table 1 that is originally not fused with a repressor domain is introduced as is into a plant, it is highly probable that the fat and oil content in seeds will be significantly reduced. In addition, if any transcription factor listed in table 2 that is originally not fused with a repressor domain is introduced as is into a plant, it is highly probable that the fat and oil content in seeds will be significantly improved. Here, each transcription factor can be obtained by techniques described in the above paragraphs about “the expression vector construction step,” “the transformation step,” and “the other step or method.”
In particular, as demonstrated in the Examples below, when a chimeric protein comprising At5g22380, which is one of the transcription factors listed in table 2, and a repressor domain is expressed in a plant, the fat and oil content in seeds is significantly reduced. However, when At5g22380 (used as a transcription factor that is originally not fused with a repressor domain in a plant) is expressed as is in a plant, it exhibits a characteristic feature of causing the fat and oil content in seeds to be significantly improved. That is, productivity of fat and oil in seeds can be improved by causing At5g22380 to be expressed in a plant as an Arabidopsis-thaliana-derived transcription factor.
In order to cause a transcription factor (At5g22380) to be expressed in a plant, techniques described in the above paragraphs about “the expression vector construction step,” “the transformation step,” and “the other step or method” can be employed. In addition, a transcription factor that is expressed to improve the fat and oil content in seeds is not limited to an Arabidopsis-thaliana-derived transcription factor (At5g22380). It may be a homologous transcription factor defined as above. These homologous transcription factors can be searched for using the genomic information of a search target plant based on the amino acid sequence of At5g22380 shown in SEQ ID NO: 156 or the nucleotide sequence of the At5g22380 gene shown in SEQ ID NO: 155. Homologous transcription factors can be identified by searching for amino acid sequences having, for example, 70% or higher, preferably 80% or higher, more preferably 90% or higher, and most preferably 95% or higher homology to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:156. Here, the value of homology refers to a value that can be found based on default setting using a computer equipped with a BLAST algorithm and a database containing gene sequence information.
In addition, a homologous gene can be identified by, when the plant genome information remains unclarified, extracting the genome from a target plant or constructing a cDNA library for a target plant and then isolating a genomic region or cDNA hybridizing under stringent conditions to at least a portion of the gene comprising the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 155. Here, the term “stringent conditions” is defined as the same as the above conditions.
EXAMPLE
The present invention is hereafter described in greater detail with reference to the following examples, although the technical scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.
Example 1
Transcription Factor Gene Amplification
Each of the following transcription factors was subjected to PCR amplification of a coding region DNA fragment excluding a termination codon using the Arabidopsis thaliana cDNA library and primers described below: At1g01010, At1g01250, At1g09540, At1g10200, At1g12260, At1g12890, At1g12980, At1g14510, At1g15360, At1g17520, At1g18330, At1g18570, At1g19490, At1g22640, At1g22985, At1g24260, At1g24590, At1g25470, At1g25580, At1g27360, At1g27370, At1g27730, At1g28160, At1g28520, At1g30210, At1g30810, At1g32770, At1g33760, At1g34190, At1g36060, At1g43160, At1g43640, At1g44830, At1g49120, At1g52150, At1g52880, At1g52890, At1g53230, At1g56010, At1g56650, At1g60240, At1g61110, At1g62700, At1g63040, At1g63910, At1g64380, At1g67260, At1g67780, At1g68800, At1g69120, At1g69490, At1g71030, At1g71450, At1g71692, At1g72360, At1g72570, At1g74840, At1g74930, At1g76580, At1g77200, At1g77450, At1g78080, At1g79180, At1g80580, At2g02070, At2g02450, At2g17040, At2g18060, At2g22200, At2g23290, At2g23760, At2g26060, At2g28550, At2g30420, At2g30470, At2g31230, At2g33480, At2g33710, At2g35700, At2g40220, At2g41710, At2g42400, At2g42830, At2g44840, At2g44940, At2g45650, At2g45680, At2g46310, At2g46590, At2g47520, At3g01530, At3g02150, At3g02310, At3g04060, At3g04070, At3g04420, At3g05760, At3g09600, At3g10490, At3g11280, At3g14230, At3g15500, At3g15510, At3g18550, At3g20770, At3g23220, At3g23230, At3g23240, At3g25890, At3g27920, At3g28910, At3g29035, At3g45150, At3g49850, At3g54320, At3g61910, At4g01060, At4g01550, At4g18390, At4g18450, At4g23750, At4g26150, At4g27950, At4g28140, At4g28530, At4g31060, At4g31270, At4g32800, At4g34410, At4g35580, At4g36160, At4g37750, At4g38620, At4g39780, At5g02460, At5g06100, At5g07310, At5g07580, At5g07680, At5g07690, At5g08070, At5g08790, At5g09330, At5g13180, At5g13330, At5g13910, At5g14000, At5g18270, At5g18560, At5g18830, At5g22290, At5g22380, At5g23260, At5g24520, At5g24590, At5g25190, At5g25390, At5g25810, At5g35550, At5g39610, At5g40330, At5g41030, At5g43270, At5g47220, At5g47230, At5g47390, At5g51190, At5g52020, At5g53290, At5g54230, At5g58900, At5g60970, At5g61600, At5g62380, At5g64530, At5g64750, At5g66300, At5g67000, At5g67300 and At5g67580. Note that a DNA fragment of a region including a termination codon was amplified for At5g22380. PCR was carried out under conditions of 94° C. for 1 minute, 47° C. for 2 minutes, and elongation reaction at 74° C. for 1 minute for 25 cycles. Next, each PCR product was isolated by agarose gel electrophoresis and collected.











TABLE 3







Nucleotide

Nucleotide


AGI code
Fowerd primer
sequence
Reverse primer
sequence







At1g01010
GATGGAGGATCAAGTTGGGTTTGGG
SEQ ID NO: 159
ACCAACAAGAATGATCCAACTAATG
SEQ ID NO: 160


 


At1g01250
ATGTCACCACAGAGAATGAAGC
SEQ ID NO: 161
CAGACACGCCATGAACTGATAC
SEQ ID NO: 162


 


At1g09540
GATGGGGAGACATTCTTGCTGTTACAAACA
SEQ ID NO: 163
AAGGGACTGACCAAAAGAGACGGCCATTCT
SEQ ID NO: 164


 


At1g10200
GGGATGGCGTTCGCAGGAACAACCCAGAAA
SEQ ID NO: 165
AGCAGCGACGACTTTGTCCTTGGCG
SEQ ID NO: 166



TG





 


At1g12260
GATGAATTCATTTTCCCACGTCCCTCCGGG
SEQ ID NO: 167
CTTCCATAGATCAATCTGACAACTCGAAGA
SEQ ID NO: 168


 


At1g12890
ATGTTGAAATCAAGTAACAAGAG
SEQ ID NO: 169
CATAAGAAACTGTGGAGCATC
SEQ ID NO: 170


 


At1g12980
AATGGAAAAAGCCTTGAGAAACTTC
SEQ ID NO: 171
TCCCCACGATCTTCGGCAAGTACA
SEQ ID NO: 172


 


At1g14510
ATGGAAGGAATTCAGCATCC
SEQ ID NO: 173
GGCTTTCATTTTCTTGCTGG
SEQ ID NO: 174


 


At1g15360
ATGGTACAGACGAAGAAGTTCAG
SEQ ID NO: 175
GTTTGTATTGAGAAGCTCCTCTATC
SEQ ID NO: 176


 


At1g17520
GATGGGAAATCAGAAGCTCAAATGGACGGC
SEQ ID NO: 177
ATTCAAGTACATAATCTTTCCCTGACTACA
SEQ ID NO: 178


 


At1g18330
GATGGCCGCTGAGGATCGAAGTGAGGAACT
SEQ ID NO: 179
GCATATACGTGCTCTTTGGCTTTTCTTTTC
SEQ ID NO: 180


 


At1g18570
GATGGTGCGGACACCGTGTTGCAAAGCTGA
SEQ ID NO: 181
TCCAAAATAGTTATCAATTTCGTCAAACAA
SEQ ID NO: 182


 


At1g19490
GATGGAGTTGGAGCCTATATCATCGAGTTG
SEQ ID NO: 183
TCCGACCTGCATCCGACATTGACGGCCATG
SEQ ID NO: 184


 


At1g22640
GATGGGAAGATCACCATGCTGCGAGAAAGC
SEQ ID NO: 185
ATGAGTTCTAACATCAGAAACCCGACAATT
SEQ ID NO: 186


 


At1g22985
ATGAAACGAATTGTTCGAATTTCATTC
SEQ ID NO: 187
AACAACTTCTTCAGAAGCACCAC
SEQ ID NO: 188


 


At1g24260
GATGGGAAGAGGGAGAGTAGAATTGAAGAG
SEQ ID NO: 189
AATAGAGTTGGTGTCATAAGGTAACCAACC
SEQ ID NO: 190


 


At1g24590
ATGGAAGAAGCAATCATGAGAC
SEQ ID NO: 191
ATAATCATCATGAAAGCAATACTG
SEQ ID NO: 192


 


At1g25470
ATGTCGGCTGTGTCTGAATCG
SEQ ID NO: 193
AACCAAACCGAGAGGCGGTG
SEQ ID NO: 194


 


At1g25580
GATGGCTGGGCGATCATGGCTGATC
SEQ ID NO: 195
CAGCAGCGTGGCAGTGTGTTGCC
SEQ ID NO: 196


 


At1g27360
GATGGACTGCAACATGGTATCTTCGTCCCA
SEQ ID NO: 197
TTTTGGTACAACATCATATGAACAGAGTAG
SEQ ID NO: 198


 


At1g27370
GATGGACTGCAACATGGTATCTTCGTTCCC
SEQ ID NO: 199
GATGAAATGACTAGGGAAAGTGCCAAATAT
SEQ ID NO: 200


 


At1g27730
GATGGCGCTCGAGGCTCTTACATCACCAAG
SEQ ID NO: 201
AAGTTGAAGTTTGACCGGAAAGTCAAACCG
SEQ ID NO: 202


 


At1g28160
ATGGAGTTCAATGGTAATTTGAATG
SEQ ID NO: 203
TTGGTAGAAGAATGTGGAGGG
SEQ ID NO: 204


 


At1g28520
GATGACGGGGAAGCGATCAAAGAC
SEQ ID NO: 205
GGGGATATAATAGTCGCTTAGATTTC
SEQ ID NO: 206


 


At1g30210
ATGGAGGTTGACGAAGACATTG
SEQ ID NO: 207
TCTCCTTTCCTTTGCCTTGTC
SEQ ID NO: 208


 


At1g30810
GATGGAAAATCCTCCATTAGAATCTGAGAT
SEQ ID NO: 209
CATCAAATCTACTCCGAAAAGTTTTCCTTT
SEQ ID NO: 210


 


At1g32770
GATGGCTGATAATAAGGTCAATCTTTCGAT
SEQ ID NO: 211
TACAGATAAATGAAGAAGTGGGTCTAAAGA
SEQ ID NO: 212


 


At1g33760
ATGGAAAACACTTACGTTGGCC
SEQ ID NO: 213
ATTATTAGAATTCCATATGGACTG
SEQ ID NO: 214


 


At1g34190
GATGGCGGATTCTTCACCCGATTCG
SEQ ID NO: 215
GTCTTTCAAGAGAAGACTTCTACC
SEQ ID NO: 216


 


At1g36060
ATGGCGGATCTCTTCGGTGG
SEQ ID NO: 217
CGATAAAATTGAAGCCCAATCTATC
SEQ ID NO: 218


 


At1g43160
ATGGTGTCTATGCTGACTAATG
SEQ ID NO: 219
ACCAAAAGAGGAGTAATTGTATTG
SEQ ID NO: 220


 


At1g43640
GATGTCGTTTCTGAGTATTGTTCGTGATGT
SEQ ID NO: 221
TTCACATGCCAATTTAGTATCAAAGGTGCT
SEQ ID NO: 222


 


At1g44830
ATGGTGAAAACACTTCAAAAGACAC
SEQ ID NO: 223
GCAGAAGTTCCATAATCTGATATC
SEQ ID NO: 224


 


At1g49120
ATGATCAGTTTCAGAGAAGAGAAC
SEQ ID NO: 225
TAAAAACTTATCGATCCAATCAGTAG
SEQ ID NO: 226


 


At1g52150
GATGGCAATGTCTTGCAAGGATGGTAAGTT
SEQ ID NO: 227
CACAAAGGACCAATTGATGAACACAAAGCA
SEQ ID NO: 228


 


At1g52880
GATGGAGAGTACAGATTCTTCCGGTGGTCC
SEQ ID NO: 229
AGAATACCAATTCAAACCAGGCAATTGGTA
SEQ ID NO: 230


 


At1g52890
GATGGGTATCCAAGAAACTGACCCGTTAAC
SEQ ID NO: 231
CATAAACCCAAACCCACCAACTTGCCCCGA
SEQ ID NO: 232


 


At1g53230
GATGAAGAGAGATCATCATCATCATCATCA
SEQ ID NO: 233
ATGGCGAGAATCGGATGAAGC
SEQ ID NO: 234


 


At1g56010
GATGGAGACGGAAGAAGAGATGAAG
SEQ ID NO: 235
GCAATTCCAAACAGTGCTTGGAATAC
SEQ ID NO: 236


 


At1g56650
GGGATGGAGGGTTCGTCCAAAGGGCTGCGA
SEQ ID NO: 237
ATCAAATTTCACAGTCTCTCCATCGAAAAG
SEQ ID NO: 238



AAAGG

ACTCC



 


At1g60240
GATGAAGTCAAGACGTGAACAATCAATCGA
SEQ ID NO: 239
TTTATAGTAACCTCGAATGTGCTGGGCCAA
SEQ ID NO: 240


 


At1g61110
GATGGAAAACATGGGGGATTCGAGCATAG
SEQ ID NO: 241
TGAGTGCCAGTTCATGTTAGGAAGCTG
SEQ ID NO: 242


 


At1g62700
GATGAATTCGTTTTCACAAGTACCTCCTGG
SEQ ID NO: 243
GAGATCAATCTGACAACTTGAAGAAGTAGA
SEQ ID NO: 244


 


At1g63040
ATGGCTGACCCTAACAATCCTATC
SEQ ID NO: 245
ATAGCTCCACAAGCTCTCTCC
SEQ ID NO: 246


 


At1g63910
GATGGGTCATCACTCATGCTGCAACCAGCA
SEQ ID NO: 247
AAACGAAGAAGGGAAAGAAGAAGATAAGGC
SEQ ID NO: 248


 


At1g64380
ATGGAAGAAAGCAATGATATTTTTC
SEQ ID NO: 249
ATTGGCAAGAACTTCCCAAATCAG
SEQ ID NO: 250


 


At1g67260
ATGTCGTCTTCCACCAATGAC
SEQ ID NO: 251
GTTTACAAAAGAGTCTTGAATCC
SEQ ID NO: 252


 


At1g67780
GATGGCTATTGAGGGTGAGAAAGAGAAACC
SEQ ID NO: 253
TGCTACCACATTTGTGTTCTTCAATGTTTG
SEQ ID NO: 254


 


At1g68800
ATGTTTCCTTCTTTCATTACTCAC
SEQ ID NO: 255
ATTAGGGTTTTTAGTTAACACATTG
SEQ ID NO: 256


 


At1g69120
GATGGGAAGGGGTAGGGTTCAATTGAAGAG
SEQ ID NO: 257
TGCGGCGAAGCAGCCAAGGTTGCAGTTGTA
SEQ ID NO: 258


 


At1g69490
GATGGAAGTAACTTCCCAATCTACCCTCCC
SEQ ID NO: 259
AAACTTAAACATCGCTTGACGATGATGGTT
SEQ ID NO: 260


 


At1g71030
GATGAACAAAACCCGCCTTCGTGCTCTCTC
SEQ ID NO: 261
TCGGAATAGAAGAAGCGTTTCTTGACCTGT
SEQ ID NO: 262


 


At1g71450
ATGGCTGGTCTTAGGAATTCCG
SEQ ID NO: 263
AGGGTCCCAAAGAAAGTCACTC
SEQ ID NO: 264


 


At1g71692
GATGGCTCGTGGAAAGATTCAGCTTAAGAG
SEQ ID NO: 265
GAACTGAAATATTTCACTTGGCATTGTTAG
SEQ ID NO: 266


 


At1g72360
ATGTGCGGAGGAGCTGTAATTTC
SEQ ID NO: 267
GGACCATAGACCCATGTCATTG
SEQ ID NO: 268


 


At1g72570
ATGAAGAAATGGTTGGGATTTTCATTG
SEQ ID NO: 269
GTGGCCGGCGCCAGAGCTGGTG
SEQ ID NO: 270


 


At1g74840
GATGGCCGACGGTAGTACTAGTTCTTCGGA
SEQ ID NO: 271
AGCGACTCCAATCGTGTTGAATGCTGGATG
SEQ ID NO: 272


 


At1g74930
ATGGTGAAGCAAGCGATGAAGG
SEQ ID NO: 273
AAAATCCCAAAGAATCAAAGATTC
SEQ ID NO: 274


 


At1g76580
GATGGATGTTATGGCTTTGTTAACAGCTTT
SEQ ID NO: 275
ACTCTTTGCAAATCGTGGCATTGGCTCAAT
SEQ ID NO: 276


 


At1g77200
ATGACCGAGTCATCCATTATCTC
SEQ ID NO: 277
AGGAAAAAGGGGGCCAAAATTG
SEQ ID NO: 278


 


At1g77450
GATGATGAAATCTGGGGCTGATTTGC
SEQ ID NO: 279
GAAAGTTCCCTGCCTAACCACAAGTGG
SEQ ID NO: 280


 


At1g78080
GATGGCAGCTGCTATGAATTTGTAC
SEQ ID NO: 281
AGCTAGAATCGAATCCCAATCG
SEQ ID NO: 282


 


At1g79180
GATGGGGAAGGGAAGAGCACCTTGTTGTGA
SEQ ID NO: 283
ATGTATCATGAGCTCGTAGTTCTTCAAGAG
SEQ ID NO: 284


 


At1g80580
ATGGAAAACAGCTACACCGTTG
SEQ ID NO: 285
CTTCCTAGACAACAACCCTAAAC
SEQ ID NO: 286


 


At2g02070
GATGGCTGCTTCTTCATCCTCCGCTGCTTC
SEQ ID NO: 287
GAAACTCGCATGATGGATTCCATAAGGTGG
SEQ ID NO: 288


 


At2g02450
GATGGCGGCGATAGGAGAGAAAG
SEQ ID NO: 289
CTTAAAAGGAATATTAGTATAGTG
SEQ ID NO: 290


 


At2g17040
GATGGTTTACGGTAAGAGATCGAG
SEQ ID NO: 291
CCAATATATGTTAACTATTGGTG
SEQ ID NO: 292


 


At2g18060
GATGGAGCCAATGGAATCTTGTAGCGTTCC
SEQ ID NO: 293
ATTATCAAATACGCAAATCCCAATATCATA
SEQ ID NO: 294


 


At2g22200
ATGGAAACTGCTTCTCTTTCTTTC
SEQ ID NO: 295
AGAATTGGCCAGTTTACTAATTGC
SEQ ID NO: 296


 


At2g23290
GATGTCTGGTTCGACCCGGAAAGAAATGGA
SEQ ID NO: 297
CTCGATCCTACCTAATCCAATAAACTCTCT
SEQ ID NO: 298


 


At2g23760
GATGGGTTTAGCTACTACAACTTCTTCTAT
SEQ ID NO: 299
AAAATCTCCAAAGTCTCTAACGGAGAAAGA
SEQ ID NO: 300


 


At2g26060
GATGGATTTGATGGAGAAGAACTTGGAGTT
SEQ ID NO: 301
CGGTTTAGTTGCAAGCTGCCAAATCTTGAC
SEQ ID NO: 302


 


At2g28550
GATGTTGGATCTTAACCTCAACGC
SEQ ID NO: 303
AGGGTGTGGATAAAAGTAACCAC
SEQ ID NO: 304


 


At2g30420
GATGGATAATACCAACCGTCTTCGTCTTCG
SEQ ID NO: 305
CAATTTTAGATTTTCTTGGAGATTAAGAGG
SEQ ID NO: 306


 


At2g30470
GATGTTTGAAGTCAAAATGGGGTCAAAGAT
SEQ ID NO: 307
GCTTGAAACTCTCGGCTCTTCACGAACATT
SEQ ID NO: 308


 


At2g31230
ATGTATTCATCTCCAAGTTCTTGG
SEQ ID NO: 309
ACATGAGCTCATAAGAAGTTGTTC
SEQ ID NO: 310


 


At2g33480
GATGGAGAAGAGGAGCTCTATTAAAAACAG
SEQ ID NO: 311
TAGAAACAAACAAAACTTATTTTCCCGATA
SEQ ID NO: 312


 


At2g33710
ATGCATAGCGGGAAGAGACCTC
SEQ ID NO: 313
TTTTCGTCGTTTGTGGATACTAATG
SEQ ID NO: 314


 


At2g35700
ATGGAACGTGACGACTGCCGG
SEQ ID NO: 315
GTAACTTTGAGAGAGGAAGGGTTC
SEQ ID NO: 316


 


At2g40220
ATGGACCCTTTAGCTTCCCAAC
SEQ ID NO: 317
ATAGAATTCCCCCAAGATGGGATC
SEQ ID NO: 318


 


At2g41710
GATGGCGTCGGTGTCGTCGTC
SEQ ID NO: 319
TTTCTCTTGTGGGAGGTAGCTG
SEQ ID NO: 320


 


At2g42400
GATGAAGAGAACACATTTGGCAAGTTTTAG
SEQ ID NO: 321
GAGGTAGCCTAGTCGAAGCTCCAAATCAAG
SEQ ID NO: 322


 


At2g42830
GATGGAGGGTGGTGCGAGTAATGAAGTAGC
SEQ ID NO: 323
AACAAGTTGCAGAGGTGGTTGGTCTTGGTT
SEQ ID NO: 324


 


At2g44840
ATGAGCTCATCTGATTCCGTTAATAAC
SEQ ID NO: 325
TATCCGATTATCAGAATAAGAACATTC
SEQ ID NO: 326


 


At2g44940
ATGGCAAGACAAATCAACATAGAG
SEQ ID NO: 327
TTCAGATAGAAAAAACGGCTCTTC
SEQ ID NO: 328


 


At2g45650
GATGGGAAGAGGGAGAGTGGAGATGAAGAG
SEQ ID NO: 329
AAGAACCCAACCTTGGACGAAATTAGTCTC
SEQ ID NO: 330


 


At2g45680
ATGGCGACAATTCAGAAGCTTG
SEQ ID NO: 331
GTGGTTCGATGACCGTGCTG
SEQ ID NO: 332


 


At2g46310
ATGAAAAGCCGAGTGAGAAAATC
SEQ ID NO: 333
TTACTTATCCAACAAATGATCTTGG
SEQ ID NO: 334


 


At2g46590
GATGATGAACGTTAAACCAATGGAGCAGAT
SEQ ID NO: 335
CCATGAAGATCCTCCTCCTGTAGTACTGAA
SEQ ID NO: 336


 


At2g47520
ATGTGTGGGGGAGCTATCATTTC
SEQ ID NO: 337
ATTGGAGTCTTGATAGCTCC
SEQ ID NO: 338


 


At3g01530
GATGGAGACGACGATGAAGAAGAAAGGGAG
SEQ ID NO: 339
AATCACATGGTGGTCACCATTAAGCAAGTG
SEQ ID NO: 340


 


At3g02150
ATGAATATCGTCTCTTGGAAAGATG
SEQ ID NO: 341
ATTGGTGGAGAGTTTCCAAGCCGAGGTGGC
SEQ ID NO: 342


 


At3g02310
GATGGGAAGAGGAAGAGTAGAGCTCAAGAG
SEQ ID NO: 343
CAGCATCCAGCCAGGGATGTAGCCGTTTCC
SEQ ID NO: 344


 


At3g04060
GATGGTGGAAGAAGGCGGCGTAG
SEQ ID NO: 345
GCTAGTATATAAATCTTCCCAGAAG
SEQ ID NO: 346


 


At3g04070
GATGATAAGCAAGGATCCAAGATCGAGTTT
SEQ ID NO: 347
GCCTTGATATTGAAGGTGAGAACTCATCAT
SEQ ID NO: 348


 


At3g04420
GATGGAGAATCCGGTGGGTTTAAG
SEQ ID NO: 349
TGTTCTTGAGATAGAAGAACATTGG
SEQ ID NO: 350


 


At3g05760
GATGGCTTCGAGCAACACGACTACTGGGGT
SEQ ID NO: 351
TGATTTTTTTGAAGATCCAAAGCCCCCAAA
SEQ ID NO: 352


 


At3g09600
GATGAGCTCGTCGCCGTCAAGAAATCCAAC
SEQ ID NO: 353
TGCTGATTTGTCGCTTGTTGAGTTCTTGAC
SEQ ID NO: 354


 


At3g10490
GATGGGTCGCGAATCTGTGGCTGTTG
SEQ ID NO: 355
TTGTCCATTAGCATTGTTCTTCTTG
SEQ ID NO: 356


 


At3g11280
GATGGAGACTCTGCATCCATTCTCTCACCT
SEQ ID NO: 357
AGCTCCGGCACTGAAGACATTTTCTCCGGC
SEQ ID NO: 358


 


At3g14230
ATGTGTGGAGGAGCTATAATCTC
SEQ ID NO: 359
AAAGTCTCCTTCCAGCATGAAATTG
SEQ ID NO: 360


 


At3g15500
GATGGGTCTCCAAGAGCTTGACCCGTTAGC
SEQ ID NO: 361
AATAAACCCGAACCCACTAGATTGTTGACC
SEQ ID NO: 362


 


At3g15510
GATGGAGAGCACCGATTCTTCCGGTGGTCC
SEQ ID NO: 363
AGAAGAGTACCAATTTAAACCGGGTAATTG
SEQ ID NO: 364


 


At3g18550
ATGAACAACAACATTTTCAGTACTAC
SEQ ID NO: 365
ACTGTGTATAGCTTTAGATAAAACC
SEQ ID NO: 366


 


At3g20770
GATGATGTTTAATGAGATGGGAATGTGTGG
SEQ ID NO: 367
GAACCATATGGATACATCTTGCTGCTTCTG
SEQ ID NO: 368


 


At3g23220
ATGAAATACAGAGGCGTACGAAAG
SEQ ID NO: 369
GCGGTTTGCGTCGTTACAATTG
SEQ ID NO: 370


 


At3g23230
ATGGAGAGCTCAAACAGGAGC
SEQ ID NO: 371
TCTCTTCCTTTCTTCTGAATCAAG
SEQ ID NO: 372


 


At3g23240
CATGGATCCATTTTTAATTCAGTCC
SEQ ID NO: 373
CCAAGTCCCACTATTTTCAGAAG
SEQ ID NO: 374


 


At3g25890
ATGGCTGAACGAAAGAAACGC
SEQ ID NO: 375
TGGGCACGCGATATTAAGAGG
SEQ ID NO: 376


 


At3g27920
GATGAGAATAAGGAGAAGAGATGAAAAAGA
SEQ ID NO: 377
AAGGCAGTACTCAACATCACCAGAAGCAAA
SEQ ID NO: 378


 


At3g28910
GATGGTGAGGCCTCCTTGTTGTGACAAAGG
SEQ ID NO: 379
GAAGAAATTAGTGTTTTCATCCAATAGAAT
SEQ ID NO: 380


 


At3g29035
GATGGATTACAAGGTATCAAGAAG
SEQ ID NO: 381
GAATTTCCAAACGCAATCAAGATTC
SEQ ID NO: 382


 


At3g45150
ATGGATTCGAAAAATGGAATTAAC
SEQ ID NO: 383
AACTGTGGTTGTGGCTGTTGTTG
SEQ ID NO: 384


 


At3g49850
GATGGGAGCTCCAAAGCTGAAGTGGACACC
SEQ ID NO: 385
CCGAGTTTGGCTATGCATTCTATACTTCAC
SEQ ID NO: 386


 


At3g54320
ATGAAGAAGCGCTTAACCACTTC
SEQ ID NO: 387
GACCAAATAGTTACAAGAAACCGAG
SEQ ID NO: 388


 


At3g61910
GATGAACATATCAGTAAACGGACAGTCACA
SEQ ID NO: 389
TCCACTACCGTTCAACAAGTGGCATGTCGT
SEQ ID NO: 390


 


At4g01060
GATGGATAACCATCGCAGGACTAAGCAACC
SEQ ID NO: 391
ATTTTTCATGACCCAAAACCTCTCAATTTC
SEQ ID NO: 392


 


At4g01550
GATGGTGAAAGATCTGGTTGGG
SEQ ID NO: 393
TCTCTCGCGATCAAACTTCATCGC
SEQ ID NO: 394


 


At4g18390
ATGATTGGAGATCTAATGAAG
SEQ ID NO: 395
GTTCTTGCCTTTACCCTTATG
SEQ ID NO: 396


 


At4g18450
ATGGCTTTTGGCAATATCCAAG
SEQ ID NO: 397
AAAAGAAGATAATAACGTCTCC
SEQ ID NO: 398


 


At4g23750
ATGGAAGCGGAGAAGAAAATGG
SEQ ID NO: 399
AACAGCTAAAAGAGGATCCGAC
SEQ ID NO: 400


 


At4g26150
GATGGGTTCCAATTTTCATTACACAATAGA
SEQ ID NO: 401
CCCGTGAACCATTCCGTGCGATAGAGCCAT
SEQ ID NO: 402


 


At4g27950
ATGATGATGGATGAGTTTATGGATC
SEQ ID NO: 403
CACAAGTAAGAGATCGGATATC
SEQ ID NO: 404


 


At4g28140
ATGGACTTTGACGAGGAGCTAAATC
SEQ ID NO: 405
AAAGAAAGGCCTCATAGGACAAG
SEQ ID NO: 406


 


At4g28530
GATGGGTTTGAAAGATATTGGGTCC
SEQ ID NO: 407
TTGGAAAGCGAGGATATTTTCGGTC
SEQ ID NO: 408


 


At4g31060
ATGCCACCCTCTCCTCCTAAATC
SEQ ID NO: 409
GTTTATCCAATCAATGTCCATCATG
SEQ ID NO: 410


 


At4g31270
GATGGAGGAAGGAACTTCAGGTTCACGGAG
SEQ ID NO: 411
CTCGATTTCTTGTGGAACTTCATGAAGCCT
SEQ ID NO: 412


 


At4g32800
ATGGCGGATTCGTCTTCCGAC
SEQ ID NO: 413
GGGAAAATGTTTCCAAGATTCG
SEQ ID NO: 414


 


At4g34410
ATGCATTATCCTAACAACAGAACC
SEQ ID NO: 415
CTGGAACATATCAGCAATTGTATTTC
SEQ ID NO: 416


 


At4g35580
GATGCTGCAGTCTGCAGCACCAGAG
SEQ ID NO: 417
TGAACTCACCAGTGTCCTCCATATAC
SEQ ID NO: 418


 


At4g36160
GATGGAATCGGTGGATCAATCATGTAGTGT
SEQ ID NO: 419
AACATGTAAATCCCTATATAAGTCATAGTC
SEQ ID NO: 420


 


At4g37750
ATGAAGTCTTTTTGTGATAATGATG
SEQ ID NO: 421
AGAATCAGCCCAAGCAGCGAAAACCGG
SEQ ID NO: 422


 


At4g38620
GATGGGAAGGTCACCGTGCTGTGAGAAAGC
SEQ ID NO: 423
TTTCATCTCCAAGCTTCGAAAGCCCAAAAG
SEQ ID NO: 424


 


At4g39780
ATGGCAGCCATAGATATGTTCAATAGC
SEQ ID NO: 425
AGATTCGGACAATTTGCTAATCGC
SEQ ID NO: 426


 


At5g02460
GATGGTTTTTTCTTCATTTCCTACTTATCC
SEQ ID NO: 427
TATATTGCTAGTAGAAGAAGAACTGAAATT
SEQ ID NO: 428


 


At5g06100
GATGAGTTACACGAGCACTGACAGTGACCA
SEQ ID NO: 429
ACAAACTATTTCAAGTGATGGTAAGGTGAA
SEQ ID NO: 430


 


At5g07310
ATGGCGAATTCAGGAAATTATGG
SEQ ID NO: 431
AAAACCAGAATTAGGAGGTGAAG
SEQ ID NO: 432


 


At5g07580
ATGGCGAGTTTTGAGGAAAGC
SEQ ID NO: 433
AAATGCATCACAGGAAGATGAAG
SEQ ID NO: 434


 


At5g07680
GATGGATTTGCCTCCTGGTTTTAG
SEQ ID NO: 435
GTAATTCCAGAAAGGTTCAAGATC
SEQ ID NO: 436


 


At5g07690
GATGTCAAGAAAGCCATGTTGTGTGGGAGA
SEQ ID NO: 437
TATGAAGTTCTTGTCGTCGTAATCTTGGCT
SEQ ID NO: 438


 


At5g08070
ATGGGAATAAAAAAAGAAGATCAG
SEQ ID NO: 439
CTCGATATGGTCTGGTTGTGAG
SEQ ID NO: 440


 


At5g08790
GATGAAGTCGGAGCTAAATTTACCAGCTGG
SEQ ID NO: 441
CCCCTGTGGAGCAAAACTCCAATTCAAGAA
SEQ ID NO: 442


 


At5g09330
GATGGGGAAAACTCAACTCGCTCCTGGATT
SEQ ID NO: 443
CATTTTTGGTCTATGTCTCATGGAAGCAGA
SEQ ID NO: 444


 


At5g13180
GATGGATAATGTCAAACTTGTTAAGAATGG
SEQ ID NO: 445
TCTGAAACTATTGCAACTACTGGTCTCTTC
SEQ ID NO: 446


 


At5g13330
ATGGTCTCCGCTCTCAGCCG
SEQ ID NO: 447
TTCTCTTGGGTAGTTATAATAATTG
SEQ ID NO: 448


 


At5g13910
ATGAACACAACATCATCAAAGAGC
SEQ ID NO: 449
GGAGCCAAAGTAGTTGAAACCTTG
SEQ ID NO: 450


 


At5g14000
GATGGAGGTGGAGAAGAGGATTGTAG
SEQ ID NO: 451
CTCATCAGCTGAGGTAGGAGGAG
SEQ ID NO: 452


 


At5g18270
GATGGCGGTTGTGGTTGAAGAAGG
SEQ ID NO: 453
GAAGTCCCACAAGTCCCCCCTC
SEQ ID NO: 454


 


At5g18560
ATGGGTTTTGCTCTGATCCACC
SEQ ID NO: 455
AAAGACTGAGTAGAAGCCTGTAG
SEQ ID NO: 456


 


At5g18830
GATGTCTTCTCTGTCGCAATCGCCACCACC
SEQ ID NO: 457
AATTTTGTGTACCAATCTCATTCGGATTGC
SEQ ID NO: 458


 


At5g22290
GATGGACACGAAGGCGGTTGGAGTTTC
SEQ ID NO: 459
TTCTAGATAAAACAACATTGCTATC
SEQ ID NO: 460


 


At5g22380
GATGGCCGATGAGGTCACAATCGGGTTTCG
SEQ ID NO: 461
AGGCCAAGTCAGCTGTTCCCAGTCCCACAT
SEQ ID NO: 462


 


At5g23260
GATGGGTAGAGGGAAGATAGAGATAAAGAA
SEQ ID NO: 463
ATCATTCTGGGCCGTTGGATCGTTTTGAAG
SEQ ID NO: 464


 


At5g24520
GATGGATAATTCAGCTCCAGATTCGTTATC
SEQ ID NO: 465
AACTCTAAGGAGCTGCATTTTGTTAGCAAA
SEQ ID NO: 466


 


At5g24590
GATGAAAGAAGACATGGAAGTACTATC
SEQ ID NO: 467
TGCGACTAGACTGCAGACCGACATC
SEQ ID NO: 468


 


At5g25190
ATGGCACGACCACAACAACGC
SEQ ID NO: 469
CAGCGTCTGAGTTGGTAAAACAG
SEQ ID NO: 470


 


At5g25390
ATGGTACATTCGAAGAAGTTCCG
SEQ ID NO: 471
GACCTGTGCAATGGATCCAG
SEQ ID NO: 472


 


At5g25810
ATGATAGCTTCAGAGAGTACCAAG
SEQ ID NO: 473
ATAATTATACAGTCCTTGAAGATCCC
SEQ ID NO: 474


 


At5g35550
GATGGGAAAGAGAGCAACTACTAGTGTGAG
SEQ ID NO: 475
ACAAGTGAAGTCTCGGAGCCAATCTTCATC
SEQ ID NO: 476


 


At5g39610
GATGGATTACGAGGCATCAAGAATC
SEQ ID NO: 477
GAAATTCCAAACGCAATCCAATTC
SEQ ID NO: 478


 


At5g40330
ATGAGAATGACAAGAGATGGAAAAG
SEQ ID NO: 479
AAGGCAATACCCATTAGTAAAATCCATCAT
SEQ ID NO: 480





AG



 


At5g41030
ATGGTCATGGAGCCCAAGAAG
SEQ ID NO: 481
TGAACCATTTTCCTCTGCACTC
SEQ ID NO: 482


 


At5g43270
GATGGAGTGTAATGCAAAGCCACCGTTTCA
SEQ ID NO: 483
GTTATAAAACTGGTTCAAGCTGAAGTAGTT
SEQ ID NO: 484


 


At5g47220
GATGTACGGACAGTGCAATATAGAATCCG
SEQ ID NO: 485
TGAAACCAATAACTCATCAACACGTGT
SEQ ID NO: 486


 


At5g47230
GGGGATGGCGACTCCTAACGAAGT
SEQ ID NO: 487
AACAACGGTCAACTGGGAATAACCAAACG
SEQ ID NO: 488


 


At5g47390
GATGACTCGTCGATGTTCTCACTGCAATCA
SEQ ID NO: 489
TAAAGCGTGTATCACGCTTTTGATGTCTGA
SEQ ID NO: 490


 


At5g51190
ATGGCTTCTTCACATCAACAACAG
SEQ ID NO: 491
AGTAACTACGAGTTGAGAGTGTC
SEQ ID NO: 492


 


At5g52020
ATGTCGAATAATAATAATTCTCCGAC
SEQ ID NO: 493
TTTATAACTCCAAAGATTATCTCCTTC
SEQ ID NO: 494


 


At5g53290
ATGGACGAATATATTGATTTCCGAC
SEQ ID NO: 495
AGCAACTAATAGATCTGATATCAATG
SEQ ID NO: 496


 


At5g54230
GATGGGAAAATCTTCAAGCTCGGAGGAAAG
SEQ ID NO: 497
TGATAGATTCAAAGCATTATTATTATGATC
SEQ ID NO: 498


 


At5g58900
GATGGAGGTTATGAGACCGTCGACGTCACA
SEQ ID NO: 499
TAGTTGAAACATTGTGTTTTGGGCGTCATA
SEQ ID NO: 500


 


At5g60970
ATGAGATCAGGAGAATGTGATG
SEQ ID NO: 501
AGAATCTGATTCATTATCGCTAC
SEQ ID NO: 502


 


At5g61600
ATGGCAACTAAACAAGAAGCTTTAG
SEQ ID NO: 503
AGTGACGGAGATAACGGAAAAG
SEQ ID NO: 504


 


At5g62380
GATGGAAAGTCTCGCACACATTCCTCCCGG
SEQ ID NO: 505
CGTGTGTGTATTTTGAGCCCAAGAGTAGAA
SEQ ID NO: 506


 


At5g64530
GATGAATCTACCACCGGGATTTAGG
SEQ ID NO: 507
CGGTAAGCTTACTTCGTCAAGATC
SEQ ID NO: 508


 


At5g64750
ATGTGTGTCTTAAAAGTGGCAAATC
SEQ ID NO: 509
GGAGGATGGACTATTATTGTAG
SEQ ID NO: 510


 


At5g66300
GATGATGAAGGTTGATCAAGATTATTCGTG
SEQ ID NO: 511
GTCTTCTCCACTCATCAAAAATTGAGACGC
SEQ ID NO: 512


 


At5g67000
ATGGATAATTCAGAAAATGTTC
SEQ ID NO: 513
TCTCCACCGCCGTTTAATTC
SEQ ID NO: 514


 


At5g67300
GATGGCTGATAGGATCAAAGGTCCATGGAG
SEQ ID NO: 515
CTCGATTCTCCCAACTCCAATTTGACTCAT
SEQ ID NO: 516


 


At5g67580
GATGGGTGCACCAAAGCAGAAGTGGACACC
SEQ ID NO: 517
CCAAGGATGATTACGGATCCTGAACTTCAA
SEQ ID NO: 518









Production of Improved Transcription Factors

In order to add a repressor domain sequence to the 3′ terminal of a transcription factor gene encoded by the above DNA fragment, p35SSXG, which is a vector having an SmaI site and a repressor domain sequence (amino acid sequence: GLDLDLELRLGFA (SEQ ID NO: 519)) downstream of a CaMV35S promoter, was used. In order to link a transcription factor gene sequence and a repressor domain sequence, p35SSXG was cleaved with SmaI. Each PCR amplification fragment encoding the relevant transcription factor obtained above was separately inserted at the cleavage site. Thus, 180 types vectors (each denoted by p35SSXG(TFs)) were produced. Here, each vector is denoted by p35SSXG(TFs), provided that “TFs” represents the AGI code for each transcription factor. For example, a vector having the transcription factor specified by At3g04070 is denoted by p35SSXG(At3g04070). Also, in the descriptions below, “TFs” is used in a similar manner to denote vectors and the like.
Construction of Improved Transcription Factor Expression Vectors
pBCKH was used as a binary vector for gene introduction into plants with Agrobacterium. This vector was obtained by incorporating a cassette of the Gateway vector conversion system (Invitrogen) into the HindIII site of pBIG(Hygr) (Nucleic Acids Res. 18, 203 (1990)). In order to incorporate an improved transcription factor gene sequence into the vector, 180 types of p35SSXG(TFs) were each separately mixed with the vector, followed by a recombination reaction using GATEWAY LR clonase (Invitrogen). Thus, 180 types of vectors (each denoted by pBCKH-p35SSXG(TFs)) were produced.
Introduction of Improved Transcription Factor Gene Expression Vectors into Plants
Arabidopsis thaliana (Columbia (Col-0)) was used as a plant for introduction of an improved transcription factor. Gene introduction was carried out in accordance with “Transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana by vacuum infiltration” (http://www.bch.msu.edu/pamgreen/protocol.htm). Note that each plant was infected only by immersing it in an Agrobacterium bacterial liquid without conducting depressurization treatment. Specifically, an improved transcription factor expression vector (pBCKH-p35SSXG(TFs)) was introduced into the soil bacterium (Agrobacterium tumefaciens) strain (GV3101 (C58C1Rifr) pMP90 (Gmr), Koncz and Schell 1986)) by electroporation. For each vector, gene-transfected bacterial cells were cultured in 1 liter of a YEP medium containing antibiotics (kanamycin (Km): 50 μg/ml; gentamicin (Gm): 25 μg/ml; and rifampicin (Rif): 50 μg/ml)) until OD600 became 1. Subsequently, bacterial cells were recovered from each culture solution and suspended in 1 liter of an infection medium (an infiltration medium containing 2.2 g of an MS salt, 1×B5 vitamins, 50 g of sucrose, 0.5 g of MES, 0.044 μM of benzylaminopurine, and 400 μl of Silwet per litter (pH 5.7)).
Arabidopsis thaliana plants cultivated for 14 days were immersed in each solution for 1 minute for infection. Thereafter, the plants were continuously cultivated to result in seed setting. The collected seeds (T1 seeds) were sterilized in a solution containing 50% bleach and 0.02% Triton X-100 for 7 minutes, rinsed 3 times with sterilized water, and seeded on a sterilized hygromycin selection medium (containing a 4.3 g/1 MS salt, 0.5% sucrose, 0.5 g/1 MES (pH 5.7), 0.8% agar, 30 mg/1 hygromycin, and 250 mg/1 vancomycin). Five to ten lines of the transformed plants (T1 plants) growing on the hygromycin plate were selected for each improved transcription gene and transplanted into pots (each with a diameter of 50 mm) containing vermiculite mixed soil. Then, the plants were cultivated under conditions of 22° C. for 16 hours in the light and 8 hours in the dark at a light intensity ranging from about 60 to 80 μE/cm2. Thus, seeds (T2 seeds) were obtained.
Analysis of T2 Seeds
T2 seeds from 5 to 10 lines of transformants prepared via transfection with 180 types of TFs-SRDXs were analyzed for fat and oil content. Arabidopsis thaliana seeds (2 to 10 mg each) were subjected to quantitative analysis of fats and oils using MARAN-23 (Resonance Instruments Ltd., UK) H-NMR and analysis software (RI-NMR Ver. 2.0). Olive oil was used as a fat and oil reference substance to create a calibration curve for determination of the fat and oil content in seeds (% by weight).
Tables 4 to 6 summarize the analysis results of the fat and oil content in T2 seeds for the transformants obtained via transfection with the relevant TFs-SRDX genes.











TABLE 4







Fat and oil






content
Standard
P value


AGI code
Genes
(average)
deviation
(t-test)



















WT(Col-0)
WT(Col-0)
34.9%
3.8%



At1g56650
At1g56650-SRDX
41.3%
4.7%
0.00%


At5g47230
At5g47230-SRDX
40.5%
1.5%
0.00%


At1g22985
At1g22985-SRDX
39.3%
3.1%
0.05%


At1g80580
At1g80580-SRDX
39.1%
3.3%
0.14%


At1g25470
At1g25470-SRDX
39.0%
2.6%
0.04%


At1g67260
At1g67260-SRDX
38.7%
3.4%
0.39%


At5g24520
At5g24520-SRDX
38.3%
2.4%
0.15%


At1g71030
At1g71030-SRDX
38.3%
3.3%
0.57%


At4g36160
At4g36160-SRDX
37.9%
3.0%
1.34%


At3g15510
At3g15510-SRDX
37.9%
3.3%
2.11%


At5g64750
At5g64750-SRDX
37.1%
2.1%
2.03%


At5g07580
At5g07580-SRDX
37.1%
3.8%
11.48%


At5g61600
At5g61600-SRDX
37.0%
3.7%
13.06%


At1g74930
At1g74930-SRDX
37.0%
2.7%
5.61%


At2g31230
At2g31230-SRDX
36.7%
1.1%
1.81%


At4g01550
At4g01550-SRDX
36.7%
1.0%
1.97%


At1g68800
At1g68800-SRDX
36.6%
2.8%
12.64%


At5g51190
At5g51190-SRDX
36.6%
4.6%
29.97%


At5g47390
At5g47390-SRDX
36.5%
3.3%
18.20%


At1g24260
At1g24260-SRDX
36.5%
1.4%
4.63%


At5g09330
At5g09330-SRDX
36.5%
1.4%
4.97%


At5g40330
At5g40330-SRDX
36.5%
5.8%
41.64%


At3g04420
At3g04420-SRDX
36.4%
1.4%
5.24%


At3g23240
At3g23240-SRDX
36.3%
4.7%
37.70%


At5g18560
At5g18560-SRDX
36.3%
3.2%
24.67%


At3g23220
At3g23220-SRDX
36.3%
1.9%
13.44%


At1g10200
At1g10200-SRDX
36.1%
1.2%
16.57%


At5g25810
At5g25810-SRDX
36.0%
1.4%
16.19%


At5g24590
At5g24590-SRDX
35.9%
1.9%
23.99%


At1g15360
At1g15360-SRDX
35.8%
5.0%
60.12%


At4g31270
At4g31270-SRDX
35.8%
2.1%
33.95%


At3g11280
At3g11280-SRDX
35.7%
3.2%
48.17%


At2g40220
At2g40220-SRDX
35.7%
1.8%
32.94%


At2g46310
At2g46310-SRDX
35.6%
1.8%
39.17%


At1g72570
At1g72570-SRDX
35.6%
1.6%
37.63%


At2g44840
At2g44840-SRDX
35.6%
1.8%
43.45%


At3g45150
At3g45150-SRDX
35.5%
5.7%
75.03%


At5g67300
At5g67300-SRDX
35.4%
2.6%
59.92%


At3g14230
At3g14230-SRDX
35.4%
2.8%
63.53%


At4g27950
At4g27950-SRDX
35.3%
2.1%
65.97%


At5g25190
At5g25190-SRDX
35.3%
3.7%
77.19%


At2g42400
At2g42400-SRDX
35.3%
1.7%
64.86%


At5g06100
At5g06100-SRDX
35.2%
1.1%
68.48%


At5g67000
At5g67000-SRDX
35.2%
1.7%
72.40%


At5g64530
At5g64530-SRDX
35.2%
1.4%
70.59%


At3g05760
At3g05760-SRDX
35.1%
4.8%
89.74%


At1g63910
At1g63910-SRDX
35.1%
2.4%
82.95%


At5g35550
At5g35550-SRDX
35.0%
1.7%
86.61%


At3g61910
At3g61910-SRDX
35.0%
5.6%
94.10%


At4g37750
At4g37750-SRDX
34.8%
2.4%
98.10%


At1g24590
At1g24590-SRDX
34.8%
3.4%
96.18%


At5g23260
At5g23260-SRDX
34.8%
1.6%
94.23%


At1g78080
At1g78080-SRDX
34.8%
1.1%
92.81%


At2g22200
At2g22200-SRDX
34.8%
3.1%
92.51%


At5g08790
At5g08790-SRDX
34.7%
2.2%
89.22%


At1g43640
At1g43640-SRDX
34.7%
1.8%
86.52%


At1g79180
At1g79180-SRDX
34.7%
2.1%
84.04%


At5g25390
At5g25390-SRDX
34.7%
1.7%
81.22%


At2g28550
At2g28550-SRDX
34.6%
2.6%
82.85%


At4g39780
At4g39780-SRDX
34.6%
2.1%
79.62%


At5g39610
At5g39610-SRDX
34.5%
3.6%
80.18%




















TABLE 5







Fat and oil






content
Standard
P value


AGI code
Genes
(average)
deviation
(t-test)



















At4g23750
At4g23750-SRDX
34.5%
3.3%
77.60%


At4g35580
At4g35580-SRDX
34.5%
2.4%
67.37%


At2g33480
At2g33480-SRDX
34.4%
2.2%
64.16%


At3g02310
At3g02310-SRDX
34.4%
1.9%
57.72%


At4g34410
At4g34410-SRDX
34.3%
4.2%
71.90%


At5g58900
At5g58900-SRDX
34.3%
2.8%
59.57%


At5g53290
At5g53290-SRDX
34.2%
2.9%
52.74%


At1g01010
At1g01010-SRDX
34.1%
1.3%
34.04%


At3g25890
At3g25890-SRDX
34.1%
2.2%
43.34%


At1g67780
At1g67780-SRDX
34.1%
2.8%
48.95%


At1g63040
At1g63040-SRDX
34.1%
2.0%
38.51%


At1g52890
At1g52890-SRDX
34.0%
1.7%
29.38%


At4g31060
At4g31060-SRDX
33.9%
2.9%
40.19%


At1g53230
At1g53230-SRDX
33.9%
3.0%
40.84%


At1g27370
At1g27370-SRDX
33.9%
2.8%
37.54%


At1g12980
At1g12980-SRDX
33.9%
2.2%
29.35%


At5g67580
At5g67580-SRDX
33.9%
3.4%
42.60%


At1g17520
At1g17520-SRDX
33.8%
2.8%
34.90%


At2g33710
At2g33710-SRDX
33.8%
1.9%
23.88%


At3g28910
At3g28910-SRDX
33.8%
5.2%
54.42%


At2g26060
At2g26060-SRDX
33.8%
1.5%
17.87%


At1g77200
At1g77200-SRDX
33.7%
2.3%
25.47%


At3g23230
At3g23230-SRDX
33.7%
4.6%
47.57%


At1g64380
At1g64380-SRDX
33.6%
3.6%
34.06%


At1g43160
At1g43160-SRDX
33.6%
2.1%
17.39%


At1g28160
At1g28160-SRDX
33.6%
3.1%
27.37%


At2g35700
At2g35700-SRDX
33.5%
2.0%
14.13%


At3g29035
At3g29035-SRDX
33.5%
1.6%
10.20%


At2g44940
At2g44940-SRDX
33.5%
2.2%
15.44%


At1g14510
At1g14510-SRDX
33.5%
3.6%
29.60%


At1g56010
At1g56010-SRDX
33.4%
5.4%
43.55%


At5g41030
At5g41030-SRDX
33.4%
3.4%
25.95%


At2g41710
At2g41710-SRDX
33.4%
3.0%
20.11%


At1g34190
At1g34190-SRDX
33.3%
2.8%
15.19%


At1g61110
At1g61110-SRDX
33.3%
2.5%
12.63%


At2g45680
At2g45680-SRDX
33.2%
3.0%
16.92%


At1g28520
At1g28520-SRDX
33.2%
2.3%
9.64%


At5g13910
At5g13910-SRDX
33.2%
3.4%
18.79%


At3g01530
At3g01530-SRDX
33.2%
4.1%
24.65%


At5g22290
At5g22290-SRDX
33.1%
2.4%
7.40%


At5g18270
At5g18270-SRDX
33.0%
3.0%
11.81%


At2g30470
At2g30470-SRDX
33.0%
1.8%
3.80%


At1g18570
At1g18570-SRDX
33.0%
2.6%
8.10%


At5g07680
At5g07680-SRDX
33.0%
2.7%
8.13%


At2g17040
At2g17040-SRDX
33.0%
1.8%
3.26%


At5g07690
At5g07690-SRDX
32.9%
2.2%
4.47%


At3g54320
At3g54320-SRDX
32.9%
2.3%
5.12%


At3g15500
At3g15500-SRDX
32.9%
1.9%
2.97%


At2g30420
At2g30420-SRDX
32.9%
1.4%
1.51%


At3g09600
At3g09600-SRDX
32.8%
1.6%
1.71%


At1g36060
At1g36060-SRDX
32.8%
2.2%
3.25%


At1g01250
At1g01250-SRDX
32.7%
1.7%
1.53%


At1g25580
At1g25580-SRDX
32.7%
2.1%
2.46%


At5g54230
At5g54230-SRDX
32.7%
3.0%
6.49%


At3g20770
At3g20770-SRDX
32.7%
2.4%
3.36%


At1g12890
At1g12890-SRDX
32.7%
2.0%
2.03%


At1g60240
At1g60240-SRDX
32.6%
4.5%
15.84%




















TABLE 6







Fat and oil






content
Standard
P value


AGI code
Genes
(average)
deviation
(t-test)



















At4g28530
At4g28530-SRDX
32.5%
3.5%
7.11%


At4g18450
At4g18450-SRDX
32.4%
4.3%
8.56%


At2g47520
At2g47520-SRDX
32.4%
3.3%
5.10%


At2g18060
At2g18060-SRDX
32.4%
1.8%
0.61%


At4g18390
At4g18390-SRDX
32.3%
2.1%
1.03%


At5g08070
At5g08070-SRDX
32.3%
1.9%
0.59%


At1g76580
At1g76580-SRDX
32.2%
2.2%
0.84%


At4g28140
At4g28140-SRDX
32.2%
2.9%
2.15%


At5g60970
At5g60970-SRDX
32.1%
2.2%
0.69%


At2g42830
At2g42830-SRDX
32.1%
3.2%
2.52%


At1g30210
At1g30210-SRDX
32.1%
2.8%
1.61%


At1g71450
At1g71450-SRDX
32.1%
2.4%
0.89%


At1g09540
At1g09540-SRDX
32.1%
1.8%
0.26%


At3g10490
At3g10490-SRDX
32.0%
2.5%
0.72%


At1g62700
At1g62700-SRDX
32.0%
1.9%
0.21%


At1g49120
At1g49120-SRDX
31.9%
2.3%
0.44%


At1g44830
At1g44830-SRDX
31.9%
3.2%
1.84%


At1g30810
At1g30810-SRDX
31.8%
2.2%
0.31%


At1g74840
At1g74840-SRDX
31.8%
3.2%
1.35%


At5g18830
At5g18830-SRDX
31.8%
1.8%
0.09%


At1g72360
At1g72360-SRDX
31.4%
2.0%
0.04%


At1g32770
At1g32770-SRDX
31.3%
1.9%
0.03%


At5g14000
At5g14000-SRDX
31.3%
2.1%
0.05%


At2g23290
At2g23290-SRDX
31.3%
2.8%
0.21%


At2g02450
At2g02450-SRDX
31.1%
2.3%
0.04%


At1g27360
At1g27360-SRDX
31.0%
2.3%
0.03%


At1g33760
At1g33760-SRDX
31.0%
2.1%
0.02%


At3g27920
At3g27920-SRDX
30.9%
2.1%
0.01%


At3g18550
At3g18550-SRDX
30.8%
2.9%
0.08%


At1g52880
At1g52880-SRDX
30.8%
3.4%
0.23%


At5g07310
At5g07310-SRDX
30.7%
2.3%
0.01%


At4g26150
At4g26150-SRDX
30.6%
2.0%
0.00%


At1g19490
At1g19490-SRDX
30.6%
2.3%
0.01%


At1g52150
At1g52150-SRDX
30.6%
1.5%
0.00%


At3g04060
At3g04060-SRDX
30.5%
3.1%
0.07%


At4g32800
At4g32800-SRDX
30.5%
2.8%
0.03%


At5g66300
At5g66300-SRDX
30.5%
2.1%
0.00%


At5g13180
At5g13180-SRDX
30.5%
5.5%
2.41%


At1g71692
At1g71692-SRDX
30.5%
2.9%
0.03%


At1g27730
At1g27730-SRDX
30.4%
1.4%
0.00%


At3g49850
At3g49850-SRDX
30.1%
1.3%
0.00%


At3g02150
At3g02150-SRDX
30.1%
2.8%
0.02%


At5g47220
At5g47220-SRDX
30.0%
4.9%
0.60%


At5g43270
At5g43270-SRDX
29.7%
2.1%
0.00%


At5g52020
At5g52020-SRDX
29.7%
2.1%
0.00%


At1g69490
At1g69490-SRDX
29.6%
4.8%
0.28%


At4g38620
At4g38620-SRDX
29.4%
4.1%
0.05%


At2g45650
At2g45650-SRDX
29.2%
1.3%
0.00%


At5g02460
At5g02460-SRDX
29.0%
1.6%
0.00%


At1g12260
At1g12260-SRDX
28.9%
2.9%
0.00%


At5g13330
At5g13330-SRDX
28.7%
3.6%
0.00%


At4g01060
At4g01060-SRDX
28.5%
3.0%
0.00%


At2g46590
At2g46590-SRDX
28.5%
2.4%
0.00%


At1g69120
At1g69120-SRDX
28.3%
3.2%
0.00%


At1g77450
At1g77450-SRDX
28.1%
6.1%
0.17%


At2g23760
At2g23760-SRDX
28.0%
2.4%
0.00%


At2g02070
At2g02070-SRDX
27.9%
2.4%
0.00%


At1g22640
At1g22640-SRDX
27.8%
2.2%
0.00%


At1g18330
At1g18330-SRDX
27.6%
4.0%
0.00%


At5g22380
At5g22380-SRDX
27.5%
5.1%
0.01%


At5g62380
At5g62380-SRDX
26.0%
3.7%
0.00%


At3g04070
At3g04070-SRDX
25.2%
3.5%
0.00%









The fat and oil content in fructified seeds was found to be 34.9±3.8% for 33 untransfected control WT(Col-0) individuals. Meanwhile, the average fat and oil content in T2 seeds was found to be 25.2% to 41.3% for the transformants each overexpressing a chimeric protein comprising a different one of the 180 types of transcription factors fused with SRDX. For a comparison of the obtained average value with the average fat and oil content for the wild-type strain, a t-test was performed. Accordingly, T2 seeds expressing chimeric proteins from 15 lines (accounting for 8.3% of the analyzed transcription factors) were found to exhibit a significant increase in the fat and oil content (P<0.05). Meanwhile, T2 seeds expressing chimeric proteins from 70 lines (accounting for 38.9% of the analyzed transcription factors) were found to exhibit a significant decrease in fat and oil content (P<0.05). That is, expression of approximately 47.2% of chimeric proteins caused an increase or decrease in fat and oil content. In other words, about more than half of the transcription factors (e.g., At5g40330, At4g23750, and At5g18270) examined herein substantially do not influence the fat and oil content in seeds even when a chimeric protein comprising such a transcription factor and a repressor domain is expressed.
In this Example, each of the following 11 types of transcription factors was newly identified as a transcription factor capable of functioning to improve the fat and oil content in seeds when a chimeric protein comprising the transcription factor fused with a repressor domain was expressed: At5g47230, At1g22985, At1g80580, At1g25470, At1g67260, At4g36160, At5g64750, At4g01550, At1g24260, At5g09330, and At2g31230. Also in this Example, each of the following 68 types of transcription factors was newly identified as a transcription factor capable of functioning to reduce the fat and oil content in seeds when a chimeric protein comprising the transcription factor fused with a repressor domain was expressed: At2g17040, At5g07690, At3g15500, At2g30420, At3g09600, At1g36060, At1g01250, At1g25580, At3g20770, At1g12890, At2g18060, At4g18390, At5g08070, At1g76580, At4g28140, At5g60970, At2g42830, At1g30210, At1g71450, At1g09540, At3g10490, At1g62700, At1g49120, At1g44830, At1g30810, At1g74840, At5g18830, At1g72360, At1g32770, At5g14000, At2g23290, At2g02450, At1g27360, At1g33760, At3g27920, At3g18550, At1g52880, At5g07310, At4g26150, At1g19490, At1g52150, At3g04060, At4g32800, At5g66300, At5g13180, At1g71692, At1g27730, At3g49850, At3g02150, At5g47220, At5g43270, At5g52020, At1g69490, At4g38620, At2g45650, At5g02460, At1g12260, At5g13330, At4g01060, At2g46590, At1g69120, At1g77450, At2g23760, At2g02070, At1g22640, At5g22380, and At5g62380.
As described above, the Examples revealed that the fat and oil contents in seeds can be significantly modified by causing expression of a particular transcription factor fused with a repressor domain.
Production of a At5g22380-Expressing Strain and Analysis of Fat and Oil Content
As described above, a DNA fragment of At5g22380 was amplified such that the fragment contained a termination codon. Then, the DNA fragment was ligated downstream of a 35S promoter in the manner described above and the ligation product was introduced into Arabidopsis thaliana. Specifically, an Arabidopsis thaliana transformant capable of expressing At5g22380 (which was in its original state and thus was not fused with SRDX) under the regulation of a constitutive expression promoter was produced for experimentation. The produced Arabidopsis thaliana transformant was subjected to determination of the fat and oil content in T2 seeds in the manner described above. Accordingly, the fat and oil content in T2 seeds was found to be 37.6±1.8% for plant individuals expressing At5g22380. Meanwhile, the fat and oil content was found to be 36.3±0.4% for the wild-type strain that had been cultivated in the same period. As a result of a t-test, a significant increase in the fat and oil content was confirmed (P<0.05). The fat and oil content of the line with the highest fat and oil content was found to be 40.0%, which was 10.3% greater than that of the wild-type strain.
The above experimental results revealed that a transcription factor expressed in a state of being fused with a repressor domain can significantly reduce the fat and oil content in seeds. This strongly suggested that the fat and oil content in seeds can be significantly improved when such transcription factor, which is originally not fused with a repressor domain, is expressed as is (that is to say, expressed under expression regulation by a constitutive expression promoter). Also, the above experimental results revealed that a transcription factor expressed in a state of being fused with a repressor domain can significantly improve the fat and oil content in seeds. This strongly suggested that the fat and oil content in seeds can be significantly reduced when such transcription factor, which is originally not fused with a repressor domain, is expressed as is (that is to say, expressed under expression regulation by a constitutive expression promoter).
All publications, patents, and patent applications cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

## Claims

1. A method for significantly improving oil productivity in an individual seed, as compared to a seed from a plant not comprising the chimeric protein, by causing expression of a chimeric protein obtained by fusing a transcription factor consisting of any one of the following proteins (a) to (b) and a functional peptide capable of converting an arbitrary transcription factor into a transcriptional repressor in a plant:
(a) a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6; and
(b) a protein having transactivation activity and comprising an amino acid sequence that has a deletion, a substitution, an addition, or an insertion, of one to ten amino acids with respect to SEQ ID NO: 6.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein transactivation activity of the transcription factor is repressed.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the chimeric protein has transcriptional repressor activity.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the functional peptide has an amino acid sequence expressed by any one of the following formulae (1) to (8):
(1) X1-Leu-Asp-Leu-X2-Leu-X3 (SEQ ID NO: 520 with deletion of 0-10 residues from the N-terminus) (where X1 denotes a set of 0 to 10 amino acid residues, X2 denotes Asn or Glu, and X3 denotes a set of at least 6 amino acid residues);
(2) Y1-Phe-Asp-Leu-Asn-Y2-Y3 (SEQ ID NO: 521 with deletion of 0-10 residues from the N-terminus) (where Y1 denotes a set of 0 to 10 amino acid residues, Y2 denotes Phe or Ile, and Y3 denotes a set of at least 6 amino acid residues);
(3) Z1-Asp-Leu-Z2-Leu-Arg-Leu-Z3 (SEQ ID NO: 522 with deletion of 0-10 residues from the C-terminus and deletion of 0-2 residues from the N-terminus) (where Z1 denotes Leu, Asp-Leu, or Leu-Asp-Leu, Z2 denotes Glu, Gln, or Asp, and Z3 denotes a set of 0 to 10 amino acid residues);










(residues 4-9 of SEQ ID NO: 522)










(4)
Asp-Leu-Z4-Leu-Arg-Leu




(where Z4 denotes Glu, Gln, or Asp);



 









(SEQ ID NO: 523)










(5)
α1-Leu-β1-Leu-γ1-Leu;



 









(SEQ ID NO: 524)










(6)
α1-Leu-β1-Leu-γ2-Leu;



 









(SEQ ID NO: 525)










(7)
α1-Leu-β2-Leu-Arg-Leu;



and




 









(SEQ ID NO: 526)










(8)
α2-Leu-β1-Leu-Arg-Leu





(where α1 denotes Asp, Asn, Glu, Gln, Thr, or Ser, α2 denotes Asn, Glu, Gln, Thr, or Ser, β1 denotes Asp, Gln, Asn, Arg, Glu, Thr, Ser, or His, β2 denotes Asn, Arg, Thr, Ser, or His, γ1 denotes Arg, Gln, Asn, Thr, Ser, His, Lys, or Asp, and γ2 denotes Gln, Asn, Thr, Ser, His, Lys, or Asp in formulae (5) to (8)).

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plant is an angiosperm.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plant is a dicotyledon.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plant is a cruciferous plant.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plant is Arabidopsis thaliana.