METHOD TO PRODUCE STERILE MALE FLOWERS AND PARTENOCARPIC FRUITS BY GENETIC SILENCING, ASSOCIATED SEQUENCES AND VECTORS CONTAINING SAID SEQUENCES

摘要

Method to produce sterile male flowers and parthenocarpic fruits by genetic silencing, said method comprising the steps of: a) obtaining the codifying sequence of Pistillata (PI)-homologous genes from the target species; b) analyzing the expression of the sequence obtained in step (a) to test its expression according to the pattern described for Pistillata genes; c) analyzing the complementation of PI-gene mutant with the PI sequence obtained from the target species, to assess that the obtained sequence fulfills the function of a PI gene; d) making a genetic silencing construct that comprises a region of the codifying sequence of PI in a plant expression vector; e) incorporation of the constructed vector into Agrobacterium tumefaciens; f) transforming target plants with Agrobacterium tumefaciens modified with the silencing vector and selecting said transformed plants; g) checking the absence of Agrobacterium contamination and corroborating transgenic plants by transgene amplification. Genes VvPI from Vitis vinifera cv. Cabernet Sauvignon and LePI from Lycopersicon esculentum are also described; together with the use of these genes to produce sterile male flowers and seedless or parthenocarpic fruits. Furthermore, silencing vectors that comprise these sequences or a part thereof are disclosed.