Method of determining the presence of a trait in a plant by transfecting a nucleic acid sequence of a donor plant into a different host plant in an anti-sense orientation

摘要

The present invention provides a method of compiling a plant functional gene profile, a method of changing the phenotype or biochemistry of a plant, a method of determining a change in phenotype or biochemistry of a plant, and a method of determining the presence of a trait in plant. The methods comprise expressing transiently a nucleic acid sequence of a plant into a host plant to affect phenotypic or biochemical changes in the host plant. A viral vector functional genomic screen has been developed to identify nucleotide sequences in transfected plants by systemically knocking out endogenous gene expression in an antisense mechanism. Once the presence of a trait in a plant is identified by phenotypic or biochemical changes in the host plant, the nucleic acid insert in the cDNA clone or in the vector that results in the changes is then sequenced. The present invention exemplifies that genes encoding GTP binding proteins in one plant can silence endogenous gene expression in a different plant.