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Method for Increasing Fruiting Body Size and Controlling Seed Release in Commercially Important Plants

Technology Benefits

There are several varieties of important commercial crops that could benefit from enhanced size. Plants such as cotton, wheat, linseed, coffee beans, cocoa beans, cherries, apples, and grapes may have several commercial advantages such as ease of harvest. For example, fewer coffee beans would need to be picked for the same yield. High value fruiting bodies such as avocado, figs, dates, blueberries, and kiwis may yield more edible fruit for the same sized seeds. In the control of shattering, substantial losses of yield occur every year from premature seed dispersal, so delaying or halting seed release could allow for much greater seed recovery, to boost yields.

Detailed Technology Description

A  scientist at UC San Diego has discovered a transgenic construct that increases fruiting body size in the laboratory by constitutively expressing a gene in arabidopsis thaliana that appears to be necessary and sufficient in regulating fruiting body elongation. The gene is fully expressible in other species. Additionally, for the first time, seed release (shattering) can be delayed or stopped completely by altering the expressions of this gene.

Supplementary Information

Patent Number: US6229068B1
Application Number: US1998105652A
Inventor: Yanofsky, Martin F. | Martienssen, Robert | Ferrandiz, Cristina | Gu, Qing
Priority Date: 27 Jun 1997
Priority Number: US6229068B1
Application Date: 26 Jun 1998
Publication Date: 8 May 2001
IPC Current: C07K0014415 | C12N001529 | C12N001582
US Class: 800290 | 4350691 | 4353201 | 435419 | 435468 | 5360236 | 800287 | 800298 | 800306
Assignee Applicant: Cold Spring Harbor Labs.,CSH | The Regents of the University of California,Oakland
Title: Method of increasing fruit size in a plant
Usefulness: Method of increasing fruit size in a plant
Summary: USE The products and methods can be used for producing seed or fruit of increased or decreased size. They can be used with plants such as, e.g. canola, soybean, pea, broad bean, peanut, coconut, sunflower, cotton, coffee, cacao, citrus, grape, apples, strawberry, olive or tomato.
Novelty: Use of agamous-like 8 related nucleic acids useful for producing transgenic seed plants which can produce seed or fruit of increased or decreased size

Industry

Biomedical

Sub Category

DNA/Gene Engineering

Application No.

6229068

Others

Additional Technologies by these Inventors

• Control Premature Seed-Pod Breakage in Crop Species
• Use of AGLI I Gene to Suppress Seed Pod Shatter in Commercially Important Plants
• Plant Dehiscence Zone-Specific Promoter and Methods of Using Same
• Improved Pod Shattering and Controlled Seed Release Properties
• Selective Control of Lignin Biosynthesis in Transgenic Plants
• Transgenic Plants Having Improved Pod Shattering and Controlled Seed Release Properties

Tech ID/UC Case

19401/1997-105-0

Related Cases

1997-105-0

*Abstract

Prior to this invention, if increased fruiting body size was desired, multiple generations of plants had to be carefully bred to produce larger fruits with success far from certain. Research at UC San Diego regarding the regulation of flowering genes has uncovered a control point in fruiting body expression. When under the control of a constitutive or regulated promoter for this gene, a transgenic plant with greatly enlarged fruit results. Many kinds of significant commercial crops may now be induced to produce far larger than normal fruiting bodies, apparently, with no loss in fruit quality.

*IP Issue Date

May 8, 2001

*Principal Investigator

Name: Cristina Maria Ferrandiz

Department:

Name: QING GU

Department:

Name: ROBERT MARTIENSSEN

Department:

Name: Martin Yanofsky

Department:

Country/Region

USA