Large Scale Biology Corporation

Ceres, Inc.

Biosource Technologies, Inc.

Jonathan Donson

Laurence K Grill

Monto H Kumagai

Kenneth A Feldmann

Nickolai Alexandrov

Roger I Pennell

Richard Schneeberger

Shing Kwok

Nestor Apuya

Jack K Okamuro

Yiwen Fang

Emilio Margolles-Clark

Leonard Medrano

Chuan-Yin Wu

Tatiana Tatarinova

Michael F Portereiko

Noah Theiss

Guy R Della-Cioppa

Yu-Ping Lu

David Van-dinh Dang

Zhihong Cook

Edward A Kiegle

Danielle Grizard

Dennis Robles

Diane K Jofuku

Shawna Davis

Damon A Harvey

Thomas H Turpen

Stephen J Garger

William O Dawson

Guy Richard della-Cioppa

Ann Myers Turpen

George L Grantham

Damon Alan Harvey

The present invention is directed to promoter sequences and promoter control elements, polynucleotide constructs comprising the promoters and control elements, and methods of identifying the promoters, control elements, or fragments thereof. The invention further relates to the use of the present promoters or promoter control elements to modulate transcript levels.

Promoter, promoter control elements, and combinations, and uses thereof

The present invention relates to a recombinant viral nucleic acid selected from a (+) sense, single stranded RNA virus possessing a native subgenomic promoter encoding for a first viral subgenomic promoter, a nucleic acid sequence that codes for a viral coat protein whose transcription is regulated by the first viral subgenomic promoter, a second viral subgenomic promoter and a second nucleic acid sequence whose transcription is regulated by the second viral subgenomic promoter. The first and second viral subgenomic promoters of the recombinant viral nucleic acid do not have homologous sequences relative to each other. The recombinant viral nucleic acid provides the particular advantage that it systemically transcribes the second nucleic acid in the host. Host organisms encompassed by the present invention include procaryotes and eucaryotes, particularly animals and plants. The present invention also relates to viruses containing the viral vectors which are infective, production cells which are capable of producing the viruses or parts thereof, a host infected by the viruses of the invention, the gene products produced by expression of the viral nucleic acids and a process for the production of a desired product by growing the infected hosts.

Recombinant viral nucleic acids

The invention provides novel genetic constructions for the expression of inhibitory RNA in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells. The inhibitory RNA may be an anti-sense RNA or a co-suppressor RNA, and functions to reduce the expression of a gene of interest in the target cell. The genetic constructions of the invention are capable of replicating in the cytoplasm of a eukaryotic cell and comprise a promoter region in functional combination with an encoding polynucleotide. The genetic constructions may be designed so as to replicate in the cytoplasm of plant cells, yeast cells, and mammalian cells. When the eukaryotic cell of interest is a plant cell, the genetic construction is preferably derived from a plant RNA virus. Plant RNA virus derived genetic constructions may employ a plant virus subgenomic promoter, including subgenomic promoters from tobamoviruses in functional combination with the RNA encoding region. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, plant cells are induced to produce elevated levels of the carotenoid phytoene. The elevated levels of phytoene are achieved by inhibiting the expression of the enzyme phytoene desaturase using the vectors of the invention.

Cytoplasmic inhibition of gene expression

Cytoplasmic inhibition of gene expression by viral RNA

Cytoplasmic inhibition of gene expression in a plant

Growing community of inventors

Oak Park, CA, United States of America

Jonathan Donson