Elimination of aflatoxin via aflatoxin-degrading enzyme expression in crops
AssigneeArizona Board of Regents on Behalf of the University of Arizona
InventorMonica Schmidt
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Abstract
Maize is vital to both US agriculture and the economy. The US provides over half of the maize global market. In the US, field maize production is a $75B endeavor and comprises 95% of the total US grain production. Worldwide there is a net loss of 16 million tons of maize due to aflatoxin contamination. In the US alone, aflatoxin contamination of food/feed results in an estimated $52M-$1.68B agricultural loss every year. Aflatoxin contamination in crops, and subsequently livestock, threatens greater agricultural development, food security and human health. Elimination of aflatoxin is a critical economic and health issue in the US. The present invention features composition and methods for the degradation of aflatoxin in crops post-harvest.
Claims26
An expression cassette comprising a gene for an aflatoxin-degrading enzyme and a selectable marker, both operatively linked to a plant-specific promoter.
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A transgenic plant engineered to degrade Aspergillus aflatoxin, the transgenic plant expressing an expression cassette comprising a gene for an aflatoxin-degrading enzyme and a selectable marker both operatively linked to a plant-specific promoter.
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A method of producing a transgenic plant capable of degrading aflatoxin after harvesting, the method comprising:
- a) introducing an expression cassette into a plant cell, the expression cassette comprising:
- i. a plant specific promoter,
- ii. a ER-signal sequence operatively linked to the plant specific promoter,
- iii. an aflatoxin-degrading enzyme operatively linked to the ER-signal sequence;
- iv. an ER-retention sequence operatively linked to the aflatoxin-degrading enzyme;
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- v. a selectable marker linked to the ER-retention sequence;
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- b) regenerating the plant cell to produce a plant such that the plant degrades aflatoxin.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.