Actual pending claims

Patent application filed by Novartis

Actual pending claims

EP 986 299 A2
Claim 1A method of transforming a plant cell with a gene of interest, comprising exposing said plant cell to Agrobacterium under conditions which inhibit Agrobacterium-induced necrosis (AIN), wherein said Agrobacterium comprises a vector comprising said gene of interest.
Claim 8A method of making a fertile, transgenic plant comprising: A) transforming plant tissue by exposing the tissue to Agrobacterium under conditions which inhibit Agrobacterium-induced necrosis (AIN); and B) regenerating tissue thus transformed, wherein said Agrobacterium comprises a vector comprising a gene of interest.
Claim 9A plant, plant tissue or plant cell comprising a nucleotide sequence of heterologous origin which inhibits AIN.
Claim 10A plant cell or tissue culture medium, comprising: A) a chemical inhibitor of AIN; B) an Agrobacterium comprising a plasmid comprising a gene of interest; and C) water and essential salts.
Claim 11A method of transforming a totipotent cell of a plant of the family Gramineae, comprising exposing a population of said totipotent cells to Agrobacterium comprising a plasmid comprising a gene of interest, wherein the Agrobacterium is of a strain which does not induce significant levels of necrosis in said population at an exposure duration and concentration sufficient to achieve transformation of said cell.
Claim 12A method for determining the suitability of an Agrobacterium strain for use in the transformation of a regenerable cell of a plant of the family Gramineae comprising: A) exposing a population of said regenerable cells of the plant to the Agrobacterium strain; and B) observing the necrosis in said cell population.
Claim 13An Agrobacterium strain which has been genetically modified to reduce or eliminate expression of the Agrobacterium necrosis factor or a derivative of such a modified strain.