TRANSGENIC PLANTS AND FUNGI CAPABLE OF METABOLIZING PHOSPHITE AS A SOURCE OF PHOSPHORUS

摘要

A nucleic acid, comprising: a chimeric gene including (a) a coding region that encodes an enzyme that catalyzes oxidation of phosphite to phosphate and (b) a transcription promoter operatively linked to the coding region, wherein the promoter is heterologous with respect to the coding region and is functional in plants, fungi, or both, and wherein the chimeric gene provides sufficient expression of the enzyme, in a plant or fungal cell containing the chimeric gene, to confer an ability on the cell to metabolize phosphite (Phi) as a phosphorus source for supporting growth, thereby enabling growth of the cell without an external source of phosphate (Pi).