Reference #: 00194
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for this method of generating tobacco plants that are less susceptible infection.
Invention Description:
This invention specifically provides an alternate use for the booster sequence in tobacco plants. The use of the booster sequence will suppress the immune system (post transcriptional gene silencing) but its supplication to plant material also induces general and induced resistance to plant pathogens such as viruses or fungi. (P1/HC-Pro lines have an enhanced Systemic Acquired Resistance response.) In other words, the presence of booster sequence gene products turns off the plant’s immune system and replaces the immune system with an enhanced response against viruses and fungi. For example, tobacco plants containing the booster sequence yield milder symptoms than normal tobacco plants when infected with the blue mold fungus. Similarly, the tomato black ring virus will be less prevalent in tobacco plants that contain the booster sequence. In summary, using common transformation techniques to provide the booster sequence (P1/HC-Pro only) to tobacco plants generates tobacco plants that are less susceptible to viral and fungal infection.
Advantages and Benefits:
Generalized resistance in tobacco plants to a broad range of pathogens (viral, bacterial and fungal) can be developed without an initial infection with the pathogen.
Potential Applications:
The technology can be applied to increase pathogen resistance in crop plants, including seed crops, horticultural plants, and grain plants. The current invention, however, only provides information for the use of the technology in tobacco plants.