US007598429B2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 7,598.429 B2 Heard et al. (45) Date of Patent: *Oct. 6, 2009 (54) TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR SEQUENCES 6,329,567 B1 12/2001 Jofuku et al. FOR CONFERRING ADVANTAGEOUS 6,417,428 B1 7/2002 Thomashow et al. PROPERTIES TO PLANTS 6,664,446 B2 12/2003 Heard et al. 6,706,866 B1 3/2004 Thomashow et al. (75) Inventors: Jacqueline E. Heard, Stonington, CT 6,717,034 B2 4/2004 Jiang (US); Jose Luis Riechmann, Pasadena, 6.833,446 B1 12/2004 Wood et al. CA (US). Oliver Ratcliffe, Oakland, CA 6,835,540 B2 12/2004 Broun SS Omaira Pineda, Vero Beach, FL 6,846,669 B1 1/2005 Jofuku et al. (US) 6,946,586 B1 9, 2005 Fromm et al. (73) Assignee: Mendel Biotechnology, Inc., Hayward, 7,109,393 B2 9, 2006 Gutterson et al. CA (US) 7,135,616 B2 * 1 1/2006 Heard et al. ................ 800,278 7,196,245 B2 3/2007 Jiang et al. (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this 7,223,904 B2 5/2007 Heard et al. patent is extended or adjusted under 35 7,238,860 B2 7/2007 Ratcliffe et al. U.S.C. 154(b) by 170 days. 7,345,217 B2 3/2008 Zhang et al. 2002fOO40490 A1 4/2002 Gorlach et al. This patent is subject to a terminal dis- 2003/0093837 A1 5.2003 Keddie et al. claimer. 2003/O121070 A1 6/2003 Adam et al. (21) Appl. No.: 11/375,241 2003. O135888 A1 7/2003 Zhu et al. 2003/0217383 A1 11/2003 Reuber et al. (22) Filed: Mar 13, 2006 2003/0226,170 A1 12/2003 Lammers et al. 2003/0233680 A1 12/2003 Thomashow et al. (65) Prior Publication Data 2004/0010815 A1 1/2004 Kreps et al. US 2006/O195944 A1 Aug. 31, 2006 Related U.S. Application Data (Continued) (63) Continuation-in-part of application No. 10/225,067, filedon Aug.9, 2002, now Pat. No. 7,135,616, which is FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS a continuation-in-part of application No. 09/837,944, filed on Apr. 18, 2001, now abandoned, and a continu- AU 735715 2, 1998 ation-in-part of application No. 10/171.468, filed on Jun. 14, 2002, now abandoned, application No. 1 1/375,241, filed on Mar. 13, 2006, which is a continu- (Continued) ation-in-part of application No. 10/714,887, filed on Nov. 13, 2003, and a continuation-in-part of applica- OTHER PUBLICATIONS tion No. 10/666,642, filed on Sep. 18, 2003, now Pat. No. 7,196,245. Liu Q. et al. Two transcription factors, DREB1 and DREB2, with an EREBP/AP2 DNA binding domain separate two cellular signal (60) Provisional application No. 60/713,952, filed on Aug. transduction pathways in drought- and low-temperature-responsive 31, 2005, provisional application No. 60/336,049, gene expression, respectively, in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell. Aug. filed on Nov. 19, 2001, provisional application No. 1998; 10(8): 1391-406.* 60/310,847, filed on Aug. 9, 2001, provisional appli cation No. 60/338,692, filed on Dec. 11, 2001, provi- (Continued) sional application No. 60465,809, filed on Apr. 24. Primary Examiner Cynthia Collins 2003, provisional application No. 60/434,166, filed on (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm Jeffrey M. Libby Dec. 17, 2002, provisional application No. 60/411, 837, filed on Sep. 18, 2002. (57) ABSTRACT (51) Int. Cl. CI2N 5/82 (2006.01) The invention relates to plant transcription factor polypep (52) U.S. Cl. ........ grgrrr. 800/290; 800/289 tides, polynucleotides that encode them, homologs from a (58) Field of Classification Search ............... ... None variety of plant species, and methods of using the polynucle See application file for complete search history. otides and polypeptides to produce transgenic plants having (56) References Cited advantageous properties compared to a reference or control plant, including increased plant size, seed size, increased leaf U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS size, lignification, water deprivation tolerance, cold toler ance, or altered flowering time. Sequence information related 5,892,009 A 4/1999 Thomashow et al. to these polynucleotides and polypeptides can also be used in 5,981,729 A 11/1999 Chun et al. bioinformatic search methods and is also disclosed. 5,994,622 A 11/1999 Jofuku et al. 6,093,874 A 7/2000 Jofuku et al. 6,121,513 A 9/2000 Zhang et al. 21 Claims, 9 Drawing Sheets US 7,598.429 B2 Page 2 U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS WO WO2O06033708 A2 3, 2006 WO WO2006069201 A2 6, 2006 2004, OO16025 A1 1, 2004 Kreps et al. WO WO2006130156 A2 12/2006 2004/OO 19927 A1 1, 2004 Sherman et al. 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