| abstract |
The present invention provides cytochrome P450s useful for producing genetically modified plants characterized as having the phenotypic trait of modulated brassinolide synthesis of signaling, for example, resulting in insect resistance, dwarfism and darker-green foliage compared with wild type plants. Such plants can be modified, for example, using 'bas1', or functional homologues thereof, a polypeptide encoded by bas1 that modulates brassinolide synthesis and/or signaling in plants. The invention also provides methods for modulating ecdysteroid activity in a plant and for assaying brassinosteroid function in a plant. The latter method can be used to create a gain-of-function allelic series of plants characterized by increasing levels of overexpression of a cytochrome P450 to screen for brassinolide activity in plant species. |