Compositions and methods comprising stinging capsules/cells for delivering a biologically active agent into a plant cell
AssigneeFuturagene Israel Ltd.
InventorZiv Shani
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to stinging cells or isolated capsules and to their use in compositions and methods for efficient delivery of biologically active agents into a plant cell or plant tissue. The biologically active agent to be delivered by the methods of the present invention is selected from a nucleic acid, a peptide, a polypeptide, a plant hormone, an enzyme, an herbicidal agent, an anti-viral agent, an anti-bacterial agent and an anti-fungal agent. Particularly, the invention is related to compositions and methods for the efficient transformation of polynucleotide construct into a plant cell or tissue, to obtain transgenic plants.
Claims43
A composition comprising at least one stinging capsule and at least one agent biologically active in a plant cell, wherein the stinging capsule is capable of delivering the at least one agent into a target plant cell or tissue and wherein said at least one agent is a polynucleotide construct capable of being expressed in the plant cell comprising at least one plant-specific regulatory element capable of functioning in said plant cell.
A method for transforming a plant cell or a plant tissue, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) applying at least one polynucleotide construct to an outer surface of the plant cell or plant tissue, wherein the polynucleotide construct is capable of being expressed in the plant cell and comprises at least one regulatory element capable of functioning in said plant cell;
- (b) applying at least one stinging capsule to the outer surface of said plant cell or said plant tissue;
- and (c) triggering a discharge of the at least one stinging capsule to thereby deliver the at least one polynucleotide construct into said plant cell or plant tissue to form a transformed plant cell or tissue.
A method of delivering at least one agent into a plant cell or plant tissue, wherein the agent is a polynucleotide construct capable of being expressed in the plant cell and comprises at least one regulatory element capable of functioning in said plant cell, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) applying the at least one polynucleotide construct to an outer surface of said plant cell or plant tissue;
- (b) applying at least one stinging capsule to the outer surface of said plant cell or plant tissue;
- and (c) triggering a discharge of the at least one stinging capsule to thereby deliver said at least one polynucleotide construct into said plant cell or plant tissue.
A method of producing transgenic plants, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) applying at least one polynucleotide construct to an outer surface of a plant cell or plant tissue, wherein the polynucleotide construct is capable of being expressed in the plant cell and comprises at least one regulatory element capable of functioning in said plant cell;
- (b) applying at least one stinging capsule to the outer surface of the plant cell or the plant tissue;
- (c) triggering a discharge of the at least one stinging capsule to thereby deliver said at least one polynucleotide construct into said plant cell or plant tissue to form a stably transformed plant cell or tissue;
- and (d) regenerating a transgenic plant from the stably transformed cell or tissue.
A method of screening for expression of a nucleic acid within a plant tissue, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) applying a composition comprising a plurality of stinging capsules comprising the nucleic acid onto a support in a predetermined pattern;
- (b) contacting the plant tissue with the plurality of stinging capsules;
- (c) triggering a discharge of said plurality of stinging capsules to thereby deliver said biologically active agent into said plant tissue;
- and (d) detecting the expression of said nucleic acid within said plant tissue.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.