Aspartate carbamyltransferase as herbicidal target
AssigneeBASF SE
InventorsThomas Ehrhardt, Jens Lerchl, Marc Stitt Nigel, Rita Zrenner, Tina Maria Ritter
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Abstract
The present invention relates to the use of DNA sequences of plant origin encoding a polypeptide with aspartate carbamyltransferase (E.C. 2.1.3.2) activity for generating an assay system for finding aspartate carbamyltransferase inhibitors. For the first time, it was shown, with the aid of antisense technology, that aspartate carbamyltransferase constitutes a herbicidal target.
Claims14
The use of a DNA sequence SEQ-ID No. 1, SEQ-ID No. 3 or SEQ-ID No. 5 comprising the coding region of a plant aspartate carbamyl transferase for generating an assay system for identifying plant aspartate carbamyl transferase inhibitors.
The use of a protein with aspartate carbamyl transferase activity for generating an assay system for identifying substances which inhibit plant aspartate carbamyl transferase.
A method for identifying herbicidally active substances which inhibit the aspartate carbamyl transferase activity in plants, which method comprises
- a) generating transgenic plants, plant tissues or plant cells which comprise an additional DNA sequence encoding an enzyme with aspartate carbamyl transferase activity and which are capable of overexpressing an enzymatically active aspartate carbamyl transferase;
- b) applying a substance to transgenic plants, plant cells, plant tissue or plant parts and to untransformed plants, plant cells, plant tissue or plant parts;
- c) determining the growth or the survival capacity of the transgenic and the untransformed plants, plant cells, plant tissue or plant parts after applying the chemical substance;
- and
- d) comparing the growth or the survival capacity of the transgenic and the untransformed plants, plant cells, plant tissue or plant parts after applying the chemical substance;
- where suppression of the growth or the survival capacity of the untransformed plants, plant cells, plant tissue or plant parts without, however, greatly suppressing the growth or the survival capacity of the transgenic plants, plant cells, plant tissue or plant parts, confirms that the substance of b) is herbicidally active and inhibits the aspartate carbamyl transferase enzyme activity in plants.
A plant aspartate carbamyl transferase inhibitor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.