Janssen Pharmaceutica Nv

Marianne Denise De Backer

Walter Herman Maria Louis Luyten

Bart Jozef Maria Nelissen

Roland Henri Contreras

Jorge Eduardo Vialard

Russell Tony Masell Poulter

Adam N Harris

Jasmine Elza Viaene

Marc George Logghe

The present invention relates to the field of synthesis of short double-stranded RNAs. An in vitro transcription method using bacteriophage polymerases and target sequence-specific single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides as templates is disclosed. The present invention finds particularly advantageous use in the synthesis of short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that have been shown to function as key intermediates in triggering sequence-specific RNA degradation during posttranscriptional gene silencing in plants and RNA interference in invertebrates and vertebrate systems.

Method for the in vitro synthesis of short double stranded RNAs

The present invention is concerned with the identification of genes or functional fragments thereof fromwhich are critical for growth and cell division and which genes may be used as selective drug targets to treatassociated infections. Novel nucleic acid sequences fromare also provided and which encode the polypeptides which are critical for growth of. Methods for the identification of anti-fungal compounds which inhibit fungal or yeast growth are also contemplated.

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TCa2 is a Tyl/copia retrotransposon from the pathogenic yeast. In contrast to other retrotransposons it can appear as an abundant, extrachromosomal double-stranded DNA molecule, called pCal. The invention relates to the isolation and characterisation of TCa2 and pCal together with its uses for inducing random mutagenesis in a genome, as a component of a transposable element and of an expression vector.

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Beerse, Belgium

Marianne Denise De Backer