Fungi
Summary
“Fungal” aspects
Fungi constitute one of the life kingdoms. Fungi are eukaryotic (eu=true; karyon=nucleus) organisms with a cell wall like plants, but they do not have chlorophyll. Fungi are not able to ingest their food like animals do, nor can they manufacture their own food the way plants do. Instead, fungi feed by absorption of nutrients from the surrounding environment. They accomplish this by growing through and within the substrate on which they are feeding.
Fungi are divided into two big groups: yeasts and moulds. Yeasts are solitary rounded forms that reproduce by making more rounded forms through mechanisms such as budding or fission. Moulds, on the other hand, have bodies composed of thread-like long cells called hyphae. Thus, moulds are also known as filamentous fungi. The filamentous cells are connected end-to-end and grow in a branching fashion forming a network called mycelium. The mycelium that grows over and within a substrate that is used as a source of nourishment is called vegetative mycelium. In the life cycle, the vegetative mycelium may give rise to a large organized reproductive structure called fruit body, which bears the reproductive cells or spores and is produced solely for the release of spores.
In taxonomic terms, moulds are present in all five divisions of Eumycota (Eu=true; mycota=fungus): Mastigomycotina (e.g. Phytophtora , Achlya), Zygomycotina (e.g. Rhizopus, Mucur), Ascomycotina (e.g. some species of Aspergillus, Neurospora ), Basidiomycotina (e.g. Agaricus, Pleurotus) and Deuteromycotina (e.g. Fusarium, Trichoderma).
Filamentous fungi or moulds are vital for the maintenance of ecosystems. By breaking down dead organic material, they continue the cycle of nutrients through ecosystems. Some of them act as plant pathogens causing severe crop losses from disease and post-harvest food spoilage. In the reagent industry and medicine areas, filamentous fungi are the source of commercial enzymes, organic acids, and numerous drugs such as antibiotics (e.g. penicillin, cefalosporin). Among filamentous fungi are highly appreciated edible fungi such asAgaricus bisporus, the popular cultivated mushroom; Pleurotus spp., the “oyster mushroom”, Tuber spp., “truffles”, and Morchella spp., “Morels”, among others. Thus, in many areas, the industrial production of genetically engineered fungi has tremendous potential.
IP aspects
The selected patents and patent applications presented in this section are directed to transformation of moulds or filamentous fungi with Agrobacterium.
There are two institutions that have filed patent applications related to Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of filamentous fungi: Unilever N.V., in The Netherlands, has a granted United States patent and several applications around the world, and The Penn State Research Foundation, in the United States, has a PCT and a United States patent application.
Unilever‘s invention is directed to a transformed mould with A. tumefaciens having a vector containing an expressible gene between T-DNA borders. Although the Penn State ‘s invention also refers to the transformation of a mould, which the inventors called filamentous fungi, they limit the invention to a particular tissue to be transformed: the fruit body tissue of a filamentous fungi. Unilever does not claim the transformation of any tissue in particular, and their claims are therefore broader in that respect. In addition, some of the claims filed in the Penn State’s applications are also directed to the transformation of a particular filamentous fungus: Agaricus bisporus , the cultivated mushroom.
In conclusion
- There is an overlap between the inventions as both refer to transformation of any filamentous fungi or mould with Agrobacterium. However, the invention disclosed by Penn State Research Foundation is more defined as it encompasses a particular fungal tissue to be transformed.
- It remains to be seen whether the claims as filed in the applications by Penn State Research Foundation are granted as filed. Unilever‘s United States patent is fairly broad, however, and may pose freedom to operate problems if the species A. tumefaciens is used for transforming any mould.
Granted patent and patent application filed by Unilever Patent Holdings B.V.
Unilever discloses in its applications a process for producing a transformed mould with A. tumefaciens. In the method, an A. tumefaciens vector containing at least one expressible gene is introduced into the mould.
Moulds are defined by the inventors to include fungi from all five subdivisions of the division Eumycota. The examples in the disclosures include fungi from the genera Aspergillus, Fusarium, Trichoderma, Neurospora and Colletotrichum. The first three genera contain species important in large scale fermentation and production of homologous and heterologous proteins. Other species within these genera are fungal pathogens and fungi that serve as important model organisms for basic research.
Specific Patent Information
Patent Number | Title, Independent Claims and Summary of Claims | Assignee | |
---|---|---|---|
US 6255115
|
Title – Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of moulds, in particular those belonging to the genus Aspergillus
The United States patent claims
Note that although the title of the patent refers to the genus Aspergillus, the independent claims are not limited to this genus or any other genera of filamentous fungi. |
Unilever Patent |
|
EP 973917 B1
|
Title – Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of moulds, in particular those belonging to the genus Aspergillus
The claims as filed in the granted EP patent are directed to the same subject matter as the granted claims of the United States patent. Designated contracting States at the time of grant are: Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Liechtenstein. * As the independent claims of the United States patent and the European patent application are worded slightly different, the claims are presented independently. However, the claims have practically the same scope. |
||
EP 973917 A1
|
Title – Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of moulds, in particular those belonging to the genus Aspergillus
|
||
Remarks |
|
Note: Patent information on this page was last updated on 9 February 2006.
Patent applications filed by the Penn State Research Foundation
The present PCT and United States patent applications relate to the transformation of the fruit body tissue of a filamentous fungus with Agrobacterium. The genetically modified fungi can serve as biofermentators for the mass production of commercial products. As examples of filamentous fungi, the applicant mentions fungi belonging to phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota such as Coprinus, Agaricus, Morchella , and Coriolus, among others. In particular, the invention contemplates the transformation of the cultivated mushroom Agaricus bisporus, which accounts for 38% of the world production of cultivated mushrooms.
Specific Patent Information
Patent Number | Specific Patent Information | Assignee | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
WO 2002/00896 A2
|
Title – Methods and compositions for highly effective transformation of filamentous fungi
The claims as filed in the PCT application recite:
Although these claims are fairly broad as they refer to the transformation of any filamentous fungus without specifying a method in one case and specifying Agrobacterium in another claim, an apparent limitation lies in the type of fungal tissue to be transformed. The invention recites only transformation of fruit body tissue. It remains to be seen whether granted claims will have the same breadth as the filed claims. |
Penn State Research Foundation |
||||
US 6964866
|
Title – Methods and compositions for highly efficient transformation of filamentous fungi
Granted United States patent US 6964866 recites an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method of Agaricus bisporus, where fruit body tissue cells of A. bisporus are introduced to a vir-induced Agrobacterium. |
|||||
US 2005/70007 A1
|
Title – Methods and compositions for highly efficient transformation of filamentous fungi
United States patent application US 2005/070007 is a divisional of now granted US 6964866 (see above). Independent claim 1 in this application recites a method of transforming any filamentous fungus by using fruit tissue body cells that is not limited to Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. |
|||||
Remarks |
|