Mogen International Nv

Rijksuniversiteit Te Leiden

Zeneca Mogen B.v.

Rijksuniversiteit Leiden

Bernardus Johannes Cornelissen

Leo Sjoerd Melchers

Marianne Beatrix Sela-Buurlage

Elisabeth J Meulenhoff

John Ferdinand Bol

Charles Peter Woloshuk

Hubertus J Linthorst

Petrus Josephus Van Den Elzen

Anne Silene Ponstein

Jeroen S Van Roekel

Marion Apotheker-De Groot

Alexandra Aleida Vloemans

Alexandra Aleida Bres-Vloemans

Johannes A Van Kan

There is provided (a) a process to discharge into an extracellular space of a plant an intracellular osmotin protein that naturally has a vacuolar targeting sequence at its C-terminal end which naturally targets the protein into a plant vacuole; and (b) a recombinant polynucleotide for use in the process. The recombinant polynucleotide includes a promoter that is functional in plants; an open reading frame encoding an intracellular osmotin protein under control of the promoter, the open reading frame having been modified to target the intracellular osmotin protein to an apoplast by creating a translation stop codon in the open reading frame at the 3' end resulting in deletion of the C-terminal amino acids of the intracellular osmotin protein necessary for intracellular osmotin targeting; and a terminator operably linked to the modified open reading frame.

Polynucleotide encoding osmotin modified for apoplast targeting

Plants are provided with improved resistance against pathogenic fungi. They are genetically transformed with one or more polynucleotides which essentially comprise one or more genes encoding plant chitinases and .beta.-1,3-glucanases. Preferred are the intracellular forms of the said hydrolytic enzymes, especially preferred are those forms which are targeted to the apoplastic space of the plant by virtue of the modification of the genes encoding the said enzymes. Particularly preferred are plants exhibiting a relative overexpression of at least one gene encoding a chitinase and one gene encoding a .beta.-1,3-glucanase.

Transgenic fungal resistant plants expressing chitinase and glucanase,

Plants are provided with improved resistance against pathogenic fungi. They are genetically transformed with one or more polynucleotides which essentially comprise one or more genes encoding plant and .beta.-1,3-glucanases. Preferred are the intracellular forms of the said hydrolytic enzymes, especially preferred are those forms which are targeted to the apoplastic space of the plant by virtue of the modification of the genes encoding the said enzymes. Particularly preferred are plants exhibiting a relative overexpression of at least one gene encoding a .beta.-1,3-glucanase.

Process for obtaining fungal resistant plants with recombinant

Chimeric genes encoding antifungal chitin binding proteins (antifungal CBPs) with very low chitinase activity (10% or less than that of the class-I chitinases from tobacco). Also substantially pure DNA sequences encoding antifungal CBP are provided for the obtention of transgenic plants producing antifungal CBP. Plants expressing an antifungal CBP gene, optionally in combination with a plant expressible glucanase gene, show reduced susceptibility to fungi.

Antifungal chitin binding proteins and DNA coding therefor

Chitinase, DNA coding therefor and plants containing same

A method for inhibiting the growth and/or germination of a fungus that is susceptible to an osmotin protein by contacting the fungus, or causing the fungus to be contacted with, an effective amount of an osmotin protein. The fungus can be, for example, a plant pathogenic fungus, such as an Oomycete. In one embodiment of the invention, the effective amount of the osmotin protein is produced by a plant having incorporated into its genome a chimeric gene having a) an open reading frame encoding the osmotin protein, or a precursor of the osmotin protein, and having operably linked thereto b) a regulatory region which causes the chimeric gene to be expressed in the plant.

Antifungal preparations containing osmotin

Fungal resistant plants, process for obtaining fungal resistant plants

Antifungal preparations, and process for making such preparations

This invention relates to recombinant DNA comprising vector-DNA and a DNA sequence corresponding with, or relates to, a salicylate-inducible promoter of a GRP gene of plants, such as tobacco plants. The invention also relates to microorganisms, plant cells and plants transformed using the recombinant DNA, to a process for introducing an inducible property in plants and to a process for producing a polypeptide or protein, using plant cells and plants transformed using the recombinant DNA.

Recombinant DNA: transformed microorganisms, plant cells and plants: a

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Warmond, Netherlands

Bernardus Johannes Cornelissen