Patent ID: 6906240

Claim:
A method of reducing lignification in cells adjacent to the dehiscence zone in a vascular plant, comprising suppressing both AGL1 and AGL5 expression in said vascular plant by antisense suppression and/or co-suppression, comprising, introducing a first exogenous nucleic acid encoding an AGL1-like gene product comprising a MADS box, an I domain at least 95% identical to the I domain of SEQ ID NO:4, a K domain at least 92% identical to the K domain of SEQ ID NO:4 and a C domain at least 72% identical to the C domain of SEQ ID NO:4 and introducing a second exogenous nucleic acid encoding an AGL5-like gene product comprising a MADS box, an I domain at least 95% identical to the I domain of SEQ ID NO:6, a K domain at least 92% identical to the K domain of SEQ ID NO:6 and a C domain at least 72% identical to the C domain of SEQ ID NO:6, wherein the first and second polynucleotides are expressed in cells adjacent to the dehiscence zone, thereby reducing lignification in the cells.