Approximate scope of protection
The claimed isolated nucleotide sequence of the Act-1 promoter construct extends 2.1 kb in the 5′ direction from the translation initiation codon. The construct contains:
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- 1.3 kb of 5′ untranscribed sequence
- the 5′ transcribed but untranslated exon
- the 5′ intron, and
- a part of the first coding exon of the gene.
From the description of the invention it can be concluded that the presence of the 5′ intron is vital for the efficient performance of the promoter construct.
Specific patent information
Patent number | Title, Independent Claims and Summary of Claims | Assignee | ||
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US 5641876
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Title – Rice actin gene and promoter
The claims are directed to:
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Cornell Research Foundation, Inc. |
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Remarks |
The PCT application WO 91/09948 was not converted into national applications. The patent application in Australia ( AU 71827/91) lapsed. |
Note: Patent information was last updated on 22 May 2006. Search terms: “actin” in abstract and “cornell” in applicant. Patent database: PatentLens in combination with INPADOC.
2. Elements of the 5′ region of the rice Act-1 gene.
As mentioned before, apart from the promoter region itself (5′ upstream of the transcription start site) of the rice Act-1 gene, there are elements of the 5′ region of the gene that play an important regulatory role in driving expression of a downstream linked gene.
The regulatory elements are used in a modular way, in conjunction with other promoters or regulatory transcriptional regions. Patents and patent applications directed to the use of rice Act-1 derived elements have claims that include:
- the intron 1 of the rice Act-1 gene, and
- the exon 1 of the same gene.
A. Intron 1
- as part of a wound-inducible promoter construct for monocots. A U.S. patent granted to Cornell Research Foundation protects:
- the use of a 5′ intron sequence of the rice Act-1 gene linked to a wound-inducible potato proteinase inhibitor II gene promoter to form a promoter region and
- a construct, a monocot plant and a rice plant containing a foreign gene of interest under the control of the mentioned promoter region.
- as part of a chimeric promoter for driving the expression of a gene of interest in transformed monocots. There is a European patent application and an Australian patent application filed by Rhone Poulenc disclosing a chimeric regulatory region comprising the first intron of the rice Act-1 gene and a promoter derived from the maize histone H3C4 gene. In some of the filed independent claims, the gene of interest encodes an optimized transit peptide-calcium-dependent protein kinase (OTP/CP4).
B. Exon 1
Granted Australian, European and U.S. patents assigned to the Max-Planck Institute (Gottingen, DE) are directed to a modular promoter construct for plant transformation having a DNA sequence from exon 1 of the rice Act-1 gene regulatory region and a promoter. The promoter of the modular construct is any but the rice Act-1 gene promoter. Derivatives of the modular promoter construct are also covered.
The U.S. patent also claims a vector for plant cell transformation containing the modular promoter construct, a transformed plant and its descendants, and a method for preparing plants with an elevated gene expression level by transforming the plant with a vector comprising the claimed modular promoter construct.
Specific patent information
Patent number |
Title, Independent Claims and Summary of Claims |
Assignee | |||||
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US 5684239
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Title – Monocot having dicot wound-inducible promoter
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Cornell Research Foundation, Inc. |
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Remarks |
The related European application EP 666921 was withdrawn. Application also filed in Japan (JP 7503126 T2). | ||||||
US 6750378
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Title – Maize H3C4 promoter combined with the first intron of rice actin, chimeric gene comprising it and transformed plant
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Rhone-Poulenc Agrochimie (then named Aventis CropScience SA and now Bayer cropScience ) |
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US 2002/104117 A1
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Title – Maize H3C4 promoter combined with the first intron of rice actin, chimeric gene comprising it and transformed plant
This patent application is a Continuation of US 6750378.
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US 2004/199944 A1
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Title – Maize H3C4 promoter combined with the first intron of rice actin, chimeric gene comprising it and transformed plant
This patent application is a Continuation of US 6750378.
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AU 759003 B2
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Title – Maize H3C4 promoter associated with first rice actin intron, chimeric gene containing it and transformed plant
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Aventis CropScience SA (FR) (now Bayer CropScience) |
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Remarks |
Related patents were granted in Europe (EP 1042491 B1) and China (CN 98813783). A patent application in Canada (CA 2315677) is still pending. Both the European patent and the Canadian patent application are in French with an abstract in English. | ||||||
US 5859331
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Title – Modular promoter construct
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Max-Planck Institute |
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EP 651812 B1
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Title – Modular promoter construct
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Remarks |
The European patent was converted in Austria (AT), France (FR), Germany (DE), Italy (IT), Spain (ES), and the Netherlands (NL). The European patent has abstract and claims in English and the description of the invention is in German. The granted Australian patent (AU 687004 B2)and the Canadian patent (CA 2139846) were both lapsed. Application also filed in Japan (JP 7508653 T2). |
Note: Patent information was last updated on 22 May 2006. Search terms: “Rice actin” in abstract. Patent database: PatentLens in combination with INPADOC.
3. Promoter region derived from the rice Act-2 gene
Cornell Research Foundation and Dekalb Genetics have jointly filed patent applications on the regulatory elements from the rice Act-2 gene. The promoter region is referred to as the region that directs the transcriptional activity of the coding region. As in the rice Act-1 patent, the intron is deemed essential for promoter efficacy and, in combination with the promoter, is required for the efficient expression of a gene.
A PCT application (WO 2000/070067) was filed containing 120 claims, 15 of them independent. The application discloses an isolated sequence of the 5′ region of the rice Act-2 gene. The region comprises:
- the promoter sequence of about 743 bp,
- exon 1 of the gene,
- intron 1,
- exon 2, and
- the translation initiation codon.
The claims of the PCT application recite:
- isolated rice Act-2 promoter and intron from the 5′ region described above,
- an expression vector comprising the rice Act-2 promoter,
- an expression vector comprising the rice Act-2 intron,
- a fertile transgenic plant stably transformed with the rice Act-2 promoter,
- methods to prepare crossed fertile transgenic plants comprising selected DNA comprising Act-2 promoter and the intron, and
- methods for expressing an exogenous gene in a plant by transforming the plant with a construct having the gene of interest linked to a rice Act-2 promoter and a rice Act-2 intron.
Note that claims of PCT applications do not provide enforceable rights and the claim scope may vary in countries that ultimately grant a patent.
The granted United States patent have similar claim elements but methods for preparing crossed fertile transgenic plants were excluded.
Specific patent information
Patent number |
Title, Independent Claims and Summary of Claims |
Assignee |
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US 6429357
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Title – Rice actin 2 promoter and intron and methods for use thereof
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Dekalb Genetics Corp. and Cornell Research Foundation Inc. |
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EP 1179081
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Title – Rice actin 2 promoter and intron and methods for use thereof
The claims are from the corrsponding PCT application WO 2000/070067.
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CA 2372859
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Title – Rice actin 2 promoter and intron and methods for use thereof
The claims are the same as EP 1179081. |
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Remarks |
The patent application in Australia ( AU 57231/00) lapsed. |
Note: Patent information was last updated on 23 May 2006. Search terms: “Rice actin” in abstract. Patent database: PatentLens and esp@cenet in combination with INPADOC.