| abstract |
This invention relates to the regulation and manipulation of sucrose and / or cell wall content in a plant, and in particular a sugar storing plant such as sugarcane, by regulating the activity of the UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (UGD) enzyme in the plant. Down regulation of the UGD enzyme by decreasing the concentration of the enzyme increases the sucrose, cellulosic and pectic content of the plant, and up-regulation of the UGD enzyme decreases the sucrose content of the plant. The activity of the UGD enzyme may be down regulated by the introduction of an untranslatable or antisense form of the UGD gene, or a fragment or portion thereof or an inverted repeat of any of these UGD sequences. |