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AssigneeUniversity and Community College System of Nevada
InventorsDean DellaPenna, David K. Shintani
Estimating the term…
Disclosed is are gene sequences encoding γ-tocopherol methyltransferases from photosynthetic organisms. The enzyme γ-tocopherol methyltransferase catalyzes the methylation of γ-tocopherol to yield α-tocopherol, the most bioactive species of tocopherol. γ-tocopherol methyltransferase is believed to be involved in regulating the relative amounts of the various tocopherols present in photosynthetic organisms. By introducing a genetic construct having a γ-tocopherol methyltransferase coding sequence placed under the control of a plant promoter into a plant, transgenic plants can be made having altered γ-tocopherol methyltransferase expression, to effect dramatic changes in the tocopherol profile of the plant. Transgenic plants can be made that have α-tocopherol as the predominant tocopherol in their seeds and oils.
An isolated DNA sequence consisting of SEQ ID NO:3.
An isolated DNA construct comprising an Arabidopsis γ-tocopherol methyltransferase coding sequence operably connected to a plant promoter not natively associated with the coding seguence.
A genetic construct comprising a γ-tocopherol methyltransferase coding sequence operably connected to a plant promoter not natively associated with the coding sequence, wherein the γ-tocopherol methyltransferase coding sequence is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1 and SEQ ID NO:3.
A transgenic plant having an altered relative proportion of tocopherols in its tissues as compared to non-transgenic plants of the same species, the transgenic plant comprising in its genome an inserted γ-tocopherol methyltransferase coding sequence, the γ-tocopherol methyltransferase coding sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1 and SEQ ID NO:3.
A method of producing α-tocopherol comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.