Multicellular living organisms and unmodified parts thereof and – Method of using a plant or plant part in a breeding process... – Method of breeding involving a genotypic or phenotypic marker
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-14
2003-10-28
Nelson, Amy J. (Department: 1638)
Multicellular living organisms and unmodified parts thereof and
Method of using a plant or plant part in a breeding process...
Method of breeding involving a genotypic or phenotypic marker
C435S418000, C800S260000, C800S300000, C800S314000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06639124
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Cotton, (i.e., plants of the genus Gossypium) long has been recognized to be an important crop which is being grown in many parts of the world. This crop is primarily grown for its lint. The seed may be used for planting or as a source of an edible oil with the seed residue serving as a livestock feed.
Modern agricultural practices are increasingly taking advantage of herbicides to eliminate unwanted weeds from cotton fields and to minimize the labor expense of tilling the fields to eliminate weeds. Presently, no selective herbicides that will kill only the major weed species are available for use in cotton fields. Accordingly, it has been necessary in the past to use genetic engineering to genetically modify the cotton plants so that they are resistant to herbicides that are normally non-selective and are effective in controlling the weeds that appear in the growing area. Such herbicide can be applied by spraying to the entire growing area at an appropriate time in the plant's life cycle. Representative weeds that are killed by herbicides in cotton fields include Amaranthis (Pigweed), Russian Thistle, Kochia, Mint Weed, Field Bindweed, Silver Leaf Nightshade, Lambs Quarters, Burr Ragweed, etc.
Genetic engineering has involved the incorporation of a foreign gene for herbicide resistance that is not naturally-occurring in cotton into a chromosome of the cotton plant. Such procedure requires special expertise and tends to be costly. It is necessary to use a promoter that is not naturally-occurring in cotton to be inserted so as to enable the foreign gene for herbicide resistance to be activated in the chromosomes of the cotton plant. A common promoter when incorporating herbicide resistance for glyphosate resistance into cotton is CaMV35S. Other available promoters include ACTIN, NOS, and PCSLV. Representative prior publications that concern the use of genetic engineering to produce such herbicide resistance include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,971,908; 5,145,783; 5,312,910; 5,352,605; 5,530,196; 5,633,435; and 5,858,742.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new route for providing genetically-controlled herbicide resistance in cotton plants in the absence of genetic engineering involving the insertion of a foreign gene in cotton plants.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cotton seed capable of forming a cotton plant having genetically-controlled herbicide resistance that is not attributable to genetic engineering involving the insertion of a foreign gene in cotton plants.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cotton plant having genetically-controlled herbicide resistance that is not attributable to genetic engineering involving the insertion of a foreign gene in cotton plants.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new isolated nucleic acid encoding for a protein which when expressed causes herbicide resistance that is naturally-occurring in cotton.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an isolated nucleic acid comprising HG
g
gene selected from R418ctHG
g
hg
g
having ATCC Accession No PTA-2132 which when expressed causes a cotton plant to be glyphosate herbicide resistant, as well as a to provide a vector and plant cell comprising the same.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cotton plant having genetically-controlled herbicide resistance that can be sprayed with a herbicide during all phases of the life cycle of the plant without any substantial harm.
These and other objects, as well as the scope, nature and utilization of the claimed invention will be apparent to those skilled in this area of technology from the following detailed description and appended claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A process is provided for selecting a cotton plant which exhibits genetically-controlled herbicide resistance that is not attributable to genetic engineering comprising:
(a) cold stressing cotton seeds in a humid atmosphere,
(b) planting the cotton seeds following step (a) to produce cotton plants,
(c) self-pollinating cotton plants produced in step (b) and forming cotton seeds thereon as the result of the self-pollination,
(d) maintaining the cotton seeds produced in step (c) for sufficient time to reach maturity,
(e) soaking the mature cotton seeds from step (d) in a liquid comprising a herbicide for a period of time sufficient for the herbicide to reach the embryos of the cotton seeds,
(f) planting the cotton seeds following the soaking of step (e) in a growing medium and producing at least one cotton plant that displays resistance to the herbicide,
(g) analyzing a portion of a plant from at least one cotton plant produced in step (f) or a descendant thereof to confirm the absence of a foreign gene for herbicide resistance introduced by genetic engineering, and
(h) selecting a cotton plant from step (g) which exhibits genetically-controlled herbicide resistance that is not attributable to a foreign gene for herbicide resistance introduced by genetic engineering.
A cotton seed is provided that is capable of forming a cotton plant having genetically-controlled glyphosate herbicide resistance that is attributable to the homozygous gene pair HG
g
HG
g
obtainable from cotton R418ctHG
g
hg
g
having ATCC Accession No. PTA-2132.
A cotton plant is provided having genetically-controlled glyphosate resistance that is attributable to the homozygous gene pair HG
g
HG
g
obtainable from cotton R418ctHG
g
hg
g
having ATCC Accession No. PTA-2132.
An isolated nucleic acid comprising a HG
g
gene derived from cotton R418ctHG
g
hg
g
having ATCC Accession No. PTA-2132 is made possible which when expressed in a cotton plant causes the cotton plant to be glyphosate herbicide resistant The isolated nucleic acid can be incorporated in a vector and the vector can be incorporated in a plant cell.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Normally cotton seeds are adversely influenced when subjected to cold temperatures below 55° F. for any appreciable period of time (e.g., over eight hours). When such cold temperatures are encountered, it is observed that the plants resulting from such seeds commonly exhibit retarded growth, spindly stems, root abnormalities, and failure to reach sexual maturity.
The cotton seeds that are used as the starting material in the process of the present invention are harvested from cotton plants which have not been previously rendered herbicide resistant by the use of genetic engineering through the insertion of a foreign gene for herbicide resistance. In preferred embodiments, the cotton seeds are derived from cotton plants of preexisting cotton varieties or lines which are recognized to display superior agronomic characteristics under conventional cotton growing conditions.
During the initial step of the process of the present invention, the cotton seeds are cold stressed in a humid atmosphere under conditions that normally would be deleterious to such seeds. Representative temperatures within the range of approximately 40 to 50° F. (most preferably approximately 42 to 49° F.) commonly are employed during the cold stressing. If the temperature is above 50° F., many more marginal plants commonly survive and commonly require an excessive number of cold-stressing cycles for removal from the population. If the temperature is below 40° F., there commonly are few surviving plants. During the cold stressing step of the process, day temperatures of approximately 49° F. and night temperatures of approximately 42° F. or a constant temperature of approximately 45° F. have been used to advantage. The duration of the cold stressing step of the process preferably is at least approximately 7 days, and most preferably at least approximately 18 days. Cold stressing of 7 to 18 days has commonly been utilized when practicing the process of the present invention. The desired results are not commonly achieved if the duration of the cold stressing is less than seven days. Colder temperatures for shorter periods of time have proven to be ineffective in research conduc
Kruse David H
Natural Genes, Inc.
Nelson Amy J.
LandOfFree
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