Rice
Summary
United States and Australian patents were granted to Japan Tobacco on methods for the transformation of Indica rice. Patents are pending in other jurisdictions. The patent specification discloses the use of immature embryo cells of Indica rice for transformation with Agrobacterium spp. The claims granted recite wide ranges for typical components of media used in the selection medium. Note that other varieties of rice, such as Japonica rice, are not covered by the claims as granted (Update July 2003).
- In 2001, the National Science Council of R.O.C. in Taiwan was granted a United States patent directed to a method for the transformation of immature rice embryos with Agrobacterium. The invention is not limited to any particular rice variety. A particular feature of the transformation method is that the rice embryos and Agrobacterium are co-cultivated with a dicot suspension culture. In one of the preferred embodiments, the dicot suspension culture is made of potato cells. According to the inventors, such culture is rich in phenolic compounds, which induce the vir genes of the Ti plasmid. Thus, the phenolic compounds of the culture assist the transformation process.
- Paradigm Genetics filed a PCT application disclosing the transformation of a rice panicle with Agrobacterium using vacuum infiltration. This method is carried out in planta (the transformed plant part is still attached to the whole plant) and avoids in vitro regeneration steps.
- The Indian company Avestha Gengraine Technologies has filed a PCT application disclosing a method of transformation of Indica rice using excised shoot tip tissue as a target for Agrobacterium.
Rice – Specific Patent Information – part 1
Patent Number | Title, Independent Claims and Summary of Claims | Assignee | |
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US 6329571
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Title – Method for Transforming Indica Rice
A method for transformation of Indica rice using immature embryo cells as target tissue for Agrobacterium. Ranges for the media components are disclosed in the independent claim. |
Japan Tobacco |
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AU 736027 B2
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Title – Method for Transforming Indica Rice
Transformation of immature embryo cells of Indica rice by Agrobacterium. The composition of the medium used to select the transformed cells is disclosed. |
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EP 897013 A1
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Title – Method for Transforming Indica Rice
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Remarks |
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Note: Patent information on this page was last updated on 8 February 2006.
Rice – Specific Patent Information – part 2
Patent Number | Title, Independent Claims and Summary of Claims | Assignee | ||||
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US 6215051
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Title – Aarobacterium-mediated method for transforming rice (note that Agrobacterium has the incorrect spelling, as shown above, on the patent)
Method for the production of transgenic rice plants by co-culturing an immature rice embryo and Agrobacterium with a dicot suspension culture. The transformed embryo grows into a callus that in turn regenerates roots and shoots. |
National Science Council of R.O.C. |
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Remarks |
Related Japanese applications and United States patents are not directed to transformation of rice with Agrobacterium. They refer to a gene expression system with a promoter region from the alpha amylase genes. | |||||
WO 2001/12828 A1
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Title – Methods and Apparatus for transformation of Monocotyledenous plants using Agrobacterium in combination with vacuum filtration
An in planta method for transforming rice panicles by contacting the panicle with Agrobacterium in a suspension containing a heterologous gene and subjecting the plant to vacuum so Agrobacterium enters the plant part. After the transformation the plant is cultivated into maturity and seeds express the heterologous gene. * Independent claims 1 and 40 recite use of vacuum infiltration to transform monocotyledonous plants, and are introduced in the General Monocot Transformation Methods section. |
Paradigm Genetics |
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Remarks |
National phase entry of WO 01/12828 in Australia (AU 67807/00 A) has lapsed. | |||||
WO 02/057407 A2
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Title – Novel Method for Transgenic Plants by Transformation and Regeneration of Indica Rice Plant Shoot Tips
A method of transformation of Indica rice using excised shoot tip tissue as a target for Agrobacterium. |
Avestha Gengraine Technologies Pty. Ltd. |
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Remarks |
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Note: Patent information on this page was last updated on 8 February 2006.