Provided are a gene combination used for controlling foreign gene expression in a specific plant tissue, and a method applying the gene combination to cultivate a transgenic plant. The method is used to cultivate, for example, an endosperm zero expression-type transgenic rice. i.e., rice grain endosperm produced by the rice does not contain any transgenic product protein synthesis and accumulation.

This disclosure provides genetically modified plants having desirable levels of sugar release, cellulose content and reduction of recalcitrance; methods of genetically modifying plants to modulate sugar release, cellulose and lignin contents; and uses of such plants. The inventors have determined that genetic modification of PdDUF266A from Populus, encoded by locus Potri.011G009500 resulted in transgenic Populus trees with changes in lignin and cellulose content as well as altered sugar release phenotypes. Plants with altered sugar release, cellulose and lignin content, based on modulation of the expression or activity of the PdDUF266A gene, have diverse uses including pulp and paper production, and biofuel and bioproducts production.

The invention provides methods of engineering plants having lignin deposition or xylan deposition that is substantially localized to the vessels of xylem tissue in the plant. The invention also provides methods of engineering plants to increase production of a desired biosynthetic product, e.g., to have increased secondary cell wall deposition or increased wax/cutin accumulation. The engineered plants of the present invention have use in bioenergy production, e.g., by improving the density and the digestibility of biomass derived from the plant and to improve water usage requirements.

A method is provided for expressing a foreign gene, comprising the steps of: (a) producing a plant which functionally expresses an RNA1 genome and/or an RNA2 genome of Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV); (b) introducing a nucleic acid vector into the plant, said nucleic acid vector comprising, arranged in this order: (i) a right border sequence (RB) derived from the Agrobacterium T-DNA sequence; (ii) an expression promoter sequence workable in the plant; (iii) a sequence corresponding to an RNA3 genome of CMV in which a 3b gene, which codes for a 3b protein (coat protein), of CMV has been prevented from being expressed and the foreign gene has been inserted downstream of, and operably linked with, a subgenomic promoter which otherwise promotes the expression of the 3b gene; and (iv) a left border sequence (LB) derived from the Agrobacterium T-DNA sequence; and (c) culturing the plant containing the nucleic acid vector such that the RNA1 and/or RNA2 genome(s) of CMV is functionally expressed by the plant while the foreign gene is expressed transiently from the nucleic acid vector along with the CMV RNA3 genome lacking a region corresponding to the 3b gene.

The object of the present invention is to, by analyzing PPR proteins that act to bind to DNA with a prediction that RNA recognition rules of PPR motifs can also be used for recognition of DNA, find a PPR protein showing such a characteristic. According to the present invention, it was revealed that, with a protein that can bind in a DNA base-selective manner or a DNA base sequence-specific manner, which contains one or more, preferably 2 to 30, more preferably 5 to 25, most preferably 9 to 15, of PPR motifs having a structure of the following formula 1 (wherein, in the formula 1, Helix A is a part that can form an ?-helix structure; X does not exist, or is a part consisting of 1 to 9 amino acids; Helix B is a part that can form an ?-helix structure; and L is a part consisting of 2 to 7 amino acids), and having a specific combination of amino acids corresponding to a DNA base or DNA base sequence as amino acids of three positions of No. 1 A.A., No. 4 A.A., in Helix A of the formula 1 and No. ii (?2) A. A. contained in L of the formula 1, the aforementioned object could be achieved.
(Helix A)-X-(Helix B)-L(Formula 1)

This disclosure concerns the use of endogenous plant RNAi machinery to preferentially or specifically reduce transgene expression. In some embodiments, the disclosure concerns specific reduction of transgene expression in male plant tissues, for example, to provide an economical male sterility system of hybrid seed production.

This disclosure describes, in one aspect, a cell that includes a biocontainment system. Generally, the biocontainment system includes a coding region whose overexpression decreases growth of the cell, a transcription regulatory region that includes a silent mutation and is operably linked upstream of the coding region, and a polynucleotide that encodes a programmable transcription activator engineered to bind to the transcription regulatory region in the absence of the silent mutation. Thus, in the absence of the silent mutation, the programmable transcription activator induces overexpression of the coding region; in the presence of the silent mutation, the programmable transcription activator does not initiate overexpression of the coding region.

The disclosure describes promoter sequences, specifically S-Adenosyl-Homocysteine Hydrolase promoter sequences from maize and sorghum, which are useful for expression of transgenes in plants. The disclosure further describes isolated polynucleotides, recombinant DNA constructs, transformed host cells, transgenic plants and transgenic seeds, and corresponding methods of use of the promoter sequences.

This invention provides molecular constructs and methods for the temporally specific control of gene expression in plants or in plant pests or pathogens. More specifically, this invention provides plant miRNA genes having novel circadian expression patterns that are useful for designing recombinant DNA constructs for temporally specific expression of at least one gene. Also provided are non-natural transgenic plant cells, plants, and seeds containing in their genome a recombinant DNA construct of this invention.

The present invention relates to the targeted regulation of gene expression and more specifically to synthetic transcription factors (STFs) comprising at least one highly target specific engineered recognition domain and further comprising at least one activation or silencing domain to modulate the expression of a gene of interest, preferably to modulate the transcription of a morphogenic gene of a eukaryote. Further disclosed are methods using the STFs to enhance transformation frequencies, to optimize successful genome editing approaches, to provide haploid or double haploid organisms, and/or to provide compositions suitable for general transformation, but also for breeding purposes.