dizzlekush
Member
We all knew it was happening...
Here's a patent published this year. Like most patents, it was HUGE, but this patent had this tiny fact that almost got buried (perhaps intentionally?) in the articles massiveness. They're patenting GMO 'illicit' crops now.
By the way, those 2 plants after Cannabis sativa are the Opium Poppy and a species of the Coca plant (cultivated for cocaine.) Just to show you how relevant this actually is, this is what the transgenic mutation that is disclosed in the patent does to tobacco (which you can also see listed in the patent above).
Here's a patent published this year. Like most patents, it was HUGE, but this patent had this tiny fact that almost got buried (perhaps intentionally?) in the articles massiveness. They're patenting GMO 'illicit' crops now.
http://www.sumobrain.com/patents/wipo/Improved-agronomic-traits-via-genetically/WO2012006622.htmlIMPROVED AGRONOMIC TRAITS VIA GENETICALLY INDUCED ELEVATION OF PHYTOHORMONE LEVELS IN PLANTS
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9. A transgenic plant that overexpresses Bgl1 relative to a corresponding wild-type plant, wherein said transgenic plant has increased biomass, increased height, increased trichome density or increased seed production relative to a wild type plant.
10. The transgenic plant of claim 9, which comprises a plastid stably transformed with a plastid transformation vector that comprises an expression cassette comprising, as operably linked components in the 5' to the 3' direction of translation, a promoter operative in said plastid, a selectable marker sequence, a heterologous polynucleotide sequence coding for Bgl gene, transcription termination functional in said plastid, and flanking each side of the expression cassette, flanking DNA sequences which are homologous to a DNA sequence of a plastid genome of said plastid, whereby stable integration of the heterologous coding sequence into the plastid genome of the target plant is facilitated through homologous recombination of the flanking sequence with the homologous sequences in said plastid genome.
11. The transgenic plant of claim 9 which is a monocotyledonous or dicotyledonous plant.
12. The transgenic plant of claim 9 which is maize, rice, grass, rye, barley, oat, wheat, soybean, peanut, grape, potato, sweet potato, pea, canola, tobacco, tomato or cotton.
13. The transgenic plant of claim 9 which is edible for mammals and humans.
14. The transgenic plant of claim 9, which is a plant selected from the group consisting of acacia, alfalfa, apple, apricot, artichoke, ash tree, asparagus, avocado, banana, barley, beans, beet, birch, beech, blackberry, blueberry, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, canola, cantaloupe, carrot, cassava, cauliflower, cedar, a cereal, celery, chestnut, cherry, Chinese cabbage, citrus, Clementine, clover, coffee, cotton, cowpea, cucumber, cypress, eggplant, elm, endive, eucalyptus, fennel, figs, fir, geranium, grape, grapefruit, groundnuts, ground cherry, gum hemlock, hickory, kale, kiwifruit, kohlrabi, larch, lettuce, leek, lemon, lime, locust, pine, maidenhair, maize, mango, maple, melon, millet, mushroom, mustard, nuts, oak, oats, okra, onion, orange, an ornamental plant or flower or tree, papaya, palm, parsley, parsnip, pea, peach, peanut, pear, peat, pepper, persimmon, pigeon pea, pine, pineapple, plantain, plum, pomegranate, potato, pumpkin, radicchio, radish, rapeseed, raspberry, rice, rye, sorghum, sallow, spinach, spmce, squash, strawberry, sugarbeet, sugarcane, sunflower, sweet potato, sweet corn, tangerine, tea, tobacco, tomato, trees, triticale, turf grasses, turnips, a vine, walnut, watercress, watermelon, wheat, yams, yew, and zucchini.
15. The transgenic plant of claim 9, wherein said transgenic plant is Cannabis sativa, Papaver somniferum or Erythorxylum coca.
16....(patent continues)
By the way, those 2 plants after Cannabis sativa are the Opium Poppy and a species of the Coca plant (cultivated for cocaine.) Just to show you how relevant this actually is, this is what the transgenic mutation that is disclosed in the patent does to tobacco (which you can also see listed in the patent above).
Release of Hormones from Conjugates: Chloroplast Expression of b-Glucosidase Results in Elevated Phytohormone Levels Associated with Significant Increase in Biomass and Protection from Aphids or Whiteflies Conferred by Sucrose Esters
Shuangxia Jin, Anderson Kanagaraj, Dheeraj Verma, Theo Lange, and Henry Daniell
Transplastomic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants expressing b-glucosidase (Bgl-1) show modified development. They flower 1 month earlier with an increase in biomass (1.9-fold), height (1.5-fold), and leaf area (1.6-fold) than untransformed plants. Trichome density on the upper and lower leaf surfaces of BGL-1 plants increase by 10- and 7-fold, respectively, harboring 5-fold more glandular trichomes (as determined by rhodamine B staining), suggesting that BGL-1 lines produce more sugar esters than control plants. Gibberellin (GA) levels were investigated because it is a known regulator of flowering time, plant height, and trichome development. Both GA1 and GA4 levels are 2-fold higher in BGL-1 leaves than in untransformed plants but do not increase in other organs. In addition, elevated levels of other plant hormones, including zeatin and indole-3-acetic acid, are observed in BGL-1 lines. Protoplasts from BGL-1 lines divide and form calli without exogenous hormones. Cell division in protoplasts is enhanced 7-fold in the presence of exogenously applied zeatin-O-glucoside conjugate, indicating the release of active hormones from their conjugates. Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) and aphid (Myzus persicae) populations in control plants are 18 and 15 times higher than in transplastomic lines, respectively. Lethal dose to kill 50% of the test population values of 26.3 and 39.2 mg per whitefly and 23.1 and 35.2 mg per aphid for BGL-1 and untransformed control exudates, respectively, confirm the enhanced toxicity of transplastomic exudates. These data indicate that increase in sugar ester levels in BGL-1 lines might function as an effective biopesticide. This study provides a novel strategy for designing plants for enhanced biomass production and insect control by releasing plant hormones or sugar esters from their conjugates stored within their chloroplasts.