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This invention discloses a biologically safe process of causing amplification and/or expression of one or more nucleic acid sequences of interest in a plant, plant tissue, plant cell or cell culture, characterized in that a plant cell is provided with at least two precursor vectors designed for undergoing processing by site-specific recombination in said cell, whereby due to said processing said plant cell is endowed with at least one replicon which provide(s) for said amplification and/or expression.
1. A process of causing amplification and expression of one or more nucleic acid sequences of interest in a plant, plant tissue, plant cell or cell culture, comprising providing a plant cell with at least two precursor vectors designed for and undergoing processing by site-specific recombination between at least two of said precursor vectors in said cell, whereby due to said processing said plant cell is endowed with at least one replicon which provides(s) for said amplification and expression of said one or more nucleic acids sequences of interest from said at least one replicon.
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The present application is a 35 U.S.C. � 371 National Phase Application of International Application Serial No. PCT/EP02/03476, filed Mar. 27, 2002 and published in English as PCT Publication No. WO 02/088369 on Nov. 7, 2002, which claims priority to German Patent Application Serial No. 101 21 283.6, filed Apr. 30, 2001, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
The present invention relates to processes and vectors for causing amplification or expression of one or more nucleic acid sequences of interest in a plant cell.
Significant progress in plant biotechnology during the last two decades has opened the opportunities for commercial scale molecular farming in plants. The production of recombinant proteins in plants is an attractive alternative to more traditional systems based on bacteria and yeasts. It has an obvious advantage over the existing systems built on fermenters production due to its lower cost and the easiness of upscaling the production by simply increasing the harvesting of plant biomass.
In general, molecular farming in plants can be achieved by stable or transient expression of a recombinant protein of interest (Franken et al., 1997, Curr. Opin. Biotechnol., 8, 411-416; Fischer et al., 1999, Biotechnol. Appl. Biochem., Pt 2, 101-108; Herbers & Sonnewald, 1999, Curr. Opin. Biotechnol, 10 163-168). Stable transgenic plants can be used to produce vegetative tissues or seeds rich in recombinant protein. Vegetative tissue can be used directly for the processing while the seeds are more suitable for long-term storage. However, to reach high level of protein expression in plants is not an ordinary task, especially for the production of proteins compromising the plant growth. It requires the development of appropriately regulated expression systems, thus allowing to switch on the protein production at the right stage of plant development.
Existing technologies for controlling gene expression in plants are usually based on tissue-specific and inducible promoters and practically all of them suffer from a basal expression activity even when uninduced, i.e. they are �leaky�. Tissue-specific promoters (U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,361; WO09828431) present a powerful tool but their use is restricted to very specific areas of applications, e.g. for producing sterile plants (WO9839462) or expressing genes of interest in seeds (WO00068388; U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,152). Inducible promoters can be divided into two categories according to their induction conditions�those induced by abiotic factors (temperature, light, chemical substances) and those that can be induced by biotic factors, for example, pathogen or pest attack. Examples of the first category are heat-inducible (U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,287) and cold-inducible (U.S. Pat. No. 5,847,102) promoters, a copper-inducible system (Mett et al., 1993, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 90, 4567-4571), steroid-inducible systems (Aoyama & Chua, 1997, Plant J., 11, 605-612; McNellis et al., 1998, Plant J., 14, 247-257; U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,985), an ethanol-inducible system (Caddick et al., 1997, Nature Biotech., 16, 177-180; WO09321334), and a tetracycline-inducible system (Weinmann et al., 1994, Plant J., 5, 559-569). One of the latest developments in the area of chemically inducible systems for plants is a chimaeric promoter that can be switched on by glucocorticoid dexamethasone and switched off by tetracycline (Bohner et al., 1999, Plant J., 19, 87-95). For a review on chemically inducible systems see: Zuo & Chua, (2000, Current Opin. Biotechnol, 11, 146-151). Other examples of inducible promoters are promoters which control the expression of patogenesis-related (PR) genes in plants. These promoters can be induced by treatment of the plant with salicylic acid, an important component of plant signaling pathways in response to pathogen attack, or other chemical compounds (benzo-1,2,3-thiadiazole or isonicotinic acid) which are capable of triggering PR gene expression (U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,662).
There are reports of controllable transgene expression systems using viral RNA/RNA polymerase provided by viral infection (for example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,093,554; 5,919,705). In these systems, a recombinant plant DNA sequence includes the nucleotide sequences from the viral genome recognized by viral RNA/RNA polymerase. The effectiveness of these systems is limited because of the low ability of viral polymerases to provide functions in trans and their inability to control processes other than RNA amplification.
The systems described above are of significant interest as opportunities of obtaining desired patterns of transgene expression, but they do not allow tight control over the expression patterns, as the inducing agents (copper) or their analogs (brassinosteroids in case of steroid-controllable system) can be present in plant tissues at levels sufficient to cause residual expression. Additionally, the use of antibiotics and steroids as chemical inducers is not desirable for the large-scale applications. When using promoters of PR genes or viral RNA/RNA polymerases as control means for transgenes the requirements of tight control over transgene expression are also not fulfilled, as casual pathogen infection or stress can cause expression. The tissue or organ-specific promoters are restricted to very narrow areas of applications, since they confine expression to a specific organ or stage of plant development, but do not allow the transgene to be switched on at will.
One way of achieving high level of protein production is transient expression, where the transgene can be delivered and expressed at the desired stage of plant development, fully exploiting plant resources and allowing high yield of the desired product. The transient expression approach most suitable for medium to large-scale production include Agrobacterium-mediated (Kapila et al., 1996, Plant Sci., 122, 101-108) and plant viral vector-mediated systems (for review see: Porta & Lomonossoff, 1996, Mol. Biotechnol., 5, 209-221; Yusibov et al., 1999, Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol., 240, 81-94). Viral vector-based expression systems offer a significantly higher yield of transgene product compared to plant nuclear transgenes. For example, the level of transgenic protein can reach 5-10% of the total cellular plant protein content, when expressed from a viral vector (Kumagai et al., 2000, Gene, 245, 169-174; Shivprasad et al., 1999, Virology, 255, 312-323). RNA viruses are the most suitable as they offer a higher expression level compared to DNA viruses. There are several published patents which describe viral vectors suitable for systemic expression of transgenic material in plants (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,316,931; 5,589,367; 5,866,785). In general, these vectors can express a foreign gene as a translational fusion with a viral protein (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,491,076; 5,977,438), from an additional subgenomic promoter (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,466,788; 5,670,353; 5,866,785), or from polycistronic viral RNA using IRES elements for independent protein translation (German Patent Application No. 10049587.7, PCT application PCT/EP01/11629). The first approach�translational fusion of a recombinant protein with a viral structural protein (Hamamoto et al., 1993, BioTechnology, 11, 930-932; Gopinath et al., 2000, Virology, 267, 159-173; JP6169789; U.S. Pat. No. 5,977,438) gives significant yield. However, the use of such an approach is limited, as the recombinant protein cannot be easily separated from the viral one. One of the versions of this approach employs the translational fusion via a peptide sequence recognized by a viral site-specific protease or via a catalytic peptide (Dolja et al., 1992, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89, 10208-10212; Gopinath et al., 2000, Virology, 267, 159-173; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,162,601; 5,766,885; 5,491,076).
Expression processes utilizing viral vectors built on heterologous subgenomic promoters provide the highest level of protein production to date (U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,931). The most serious disadvantage of such vectors and many others is their limited capacity with regard to the size of DNA to be amplified. Usually, stable constructs accommodate inserts of not more than one kb. In some areas of plant functional genomics this may not be such a serious limitation as G. della-Cioppa et al. (WO993651) described the use of TMV-based viral vectors to express plant cDNA libraries with the purpose of silencing endogenous genes. Two-component amplification systems which make use of helper viruses may offer a slightly better capacity (U.S. Pat. No. 5,889,191). However, for most applications, including production of proteins or low-molecular weight compounds in plants, these limitations cannot be remedied within existing processes. For example, in order to produce biodegradable plastics in plants, up to four recombinant genes must be expressed (Hanley et al., 2000, Trends Plant Sci., 5, 45-46) and at least seven bacterial genes are required for modulation of the mevalonate biosynthetic pathway in plants (Dewick, P., 1999, Nat. Prod. Rep., 16, 97-130).
A further serious concern with prior art virus-based plant expression systems is biological safety. On the one hand, high infectivity of the recombinant virus is highly desired in order to facilitate spread of the virus throughout the plant and to neighboring plants thereby increasing the yield of the desired gene product. On the other hand, such a high infectivity compromises containment of the recombinant material since spread to undesired plants may easily occur. Consequently, safer virus-based plant expression systems are highly desired.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a process of amplification or expression of a nucleic acid sequence of interest in a plant cell, which does not have the above-mentioned shortcomings and notably does not have the size limitation of the sequence of interest.
It is another object of the invention to provide a new process which allows amplification or expression of more than one nucleic acid sequences of interest in a plant cell.
Further it is an object of the invention to provide a process of amplification or expression of nucleic acid sequence(s) of interest in a plant cell, which is of improved ecological and biological safety.
Here, we describe a system that is devoid of the above limitations: it has no detectable limit on the size of DNA to be expressed, it allows expressing multiple genes in the same cell and plant and it possesses high built-in biosafety parameters.
This invention provides a process of causing amplification and/or expression of one or more nucleic acid sequences of interest in a plant, plant tissue, plant cell or cell culture, characterized in that a plant cell is provided with at least one precursor vector designed for undergoing processing in said cell, whereby due to said processing said plant cell is endowed with at least one replicon which provides for said amplification and/or expression, whereby said at least one replicon is preferably structurally related to each of said at least one precursor vectors owing to said processing.
This invention further provides a process of causing amplification and/or expression of one or more nucleic acid sequences of interest in a plant, plant tissue, plant cell or cell culture, characterized in that a plant cell is provided with at least one precursor vector designed for undergoing processing in said cell, whereby due to said processing said plant cell is endowed with at least two replicons which
Further, the invention provides a process of causing amplification and/or expression of one or more nucleic acid sequences of interest in a plant, plant tissue, plant cell or cell culture, characterized in that a plant cell is provided with at least two precursor vectors designed for undergoing processing in said cell preferably by site-specific recombination, whereby due to said processing said plant cell is endowed with at least one replicon which provides for said amplification and/or expression. Preferably, said at least one replicon is structurally related to each of said at least two precursor vectors owing to said processing.
This invention further describes a process for the production of a biochemical product, a process for gene function determination, and a process for artificial or directed evolution, whereby each of these processes comprises one of the above processes of causing amplification and/or expression.
Moreover, vectors or precursor vectors and viral material for this process are provided and viral material, replicons and plant material obtained or obtainable by performing this process. Viral material comprises nucleic acids capable of replicating in a plant cell. It comprises infectious DNA or RNA. Viral material may be naked or coated with a coat protein.
Further, a kit-of-parts comprising (i) plant cells, seeds or plants and (ii) the above vectors, precursor vectors, viral material, or replicons are provided. A further kit-of-parts is provided comprising (i) plant cells, seeds or plants and (ii) Agrobacterium cells containing the above vectors, precursor vectors, viral material, or replicons.
The process of the invention causes amplification and/or expression of one or more nucleic acid sequences of interest in a plant cell. Amplification refers to the production of DNA or RNA (e.g. for anti-sense technology). Expression refers to the formation of a polypeptide or protein. In both cases, the ultimate goal may be a biochemical product the production of which may require amplification of said DNA or RNA and/or expression of a polypeptide or protein.
The process of the invention may be carried out in a plant, plant tissue, plant cell or cell culture. It is preferred to carry out said process in plant cells. Most preferably, said process is carried out in a plant.
According to the invention, providing a plant cell with a precursor vector may comprise viral transfection, Agrobacterium-mediated delivery, non-biological delivery, or conversion of a replicon pre-precursor DNA that was pre-integrated into a plant nuclear DNA to form a precursor vector or vectors. However, said providing a plant cell with a precursor vector may further comprise, in addition to transfection or transformation, cellular action, e.g. in the case of RNA virus-based precursor vectors, a primary transformed or transfected DNA may require transcription in order to produce the RNA precursor vector in the cell. In the case of Agrobacterium-mediated delivery, the precursor vector may have to be excised or transcribed from T-DNA delivered by Agrobacterium.
A replicon is a DNA or RNA molecule capable of autonomous replication in a cell of said plant. Examples include: bacterial and yeast plasmids, plastids and mitochondrial DNA, DNA and RNA viruses, viroids, phages. A replicon has to have an origin of replication. The origin of replication may be recognized by a DNA or RNA polymerase of the host plant cell, depending on whether the replicon is a DNA or an RNA replicon, or by a heterologous polymerase e.g. of viral origin. In this case, the plant cell has to be provided with said heterologous polymerase e.g. by one of said replicons. The autonomous replication of the replicons in the plant cell has presumably the effect that their concentration is increased, which may increase the expression level of the sequences of interest and support spread from cell-to-cell and throughout the plant. Preferably, replicons have an increased infectivity and ability to spread compared to precursor vectors.
Said at least one or said at least two replicons may retain additional viral capabilities such as viral particle assembly, infectivity, suppression of gene silencing, reverse transcription, integration into the host chromosome, cell to cell movement, or long distance movement. One of said replicons may essentially be a helper type virus which provides in trans functions necessary for replication of another replicon or replicons. Further, one of said replicons may essentially be a wild-type retrovirus or retrotransposon which provides in trans functions necessary for replication, reverse transcription, integration into a host chromosome of another replicon or replicons.
Said at least one or said at least two replicons provide, preferably together, for the amplification and/or expression of said nucleic acid sequences of interest. If one sequence of interest is amplified or expressed from one of said replicons another replicon may be required e.g. for a function necessary for the replication of said replicons or for spreading of at least one replicon to neighboring cells if said process is performed in cell culture or in a plant. In this case, the replicons cooperate functionally with each other.
If more than one sequence of interest is to be amplified or expressed, each sequence may preferably be expressed from one replicon, whereby the replicons provide (together) for said amplification or expression. Also in this case, the replicons preferably cooperate functionally with each other. As an example, a function for replication or spreading of said replicons may be expressed from one or some of said replicons which amplify or express said sequences of interest or from an additional replicon. Without functional cooperation, the amplification or expression level would be much lower or be limited to the cell(s) provided with said precursor vector(s), if amplification or expression is desired in plant cells or a plant.
Said at least one or said at least two replicons are functionally distinct from each other in that they provide different functions for amplification and/or expression of said sequence(s) of interest. Examples for such functions include, in addition to coding of said nucleic acid sequence(s) of interest, the expression of products necessary for replicating the replicons, expression of factors or products (preferably enzymes) which facilitate the processing of the precursor vector(s) to give said replicons, expression of products necessary for cell to cell or long distance or plant to plant movement of said replicons (e.g. movement protein or coat protein) etc. These products may function in trans or in cis. Functional distinctness does not include random mutations in the replicons which may occur in the course of the processing in the plant cell.
Owing to said processing, said at least replicons are structurally related to each other in that they share sequence portions with each other. The type of the relatedness depends on the type of processing (modification process). If one replicon is produced in said process, said replicon is structurally related to said at least one or to each of said at least two precursor vectors owing to said processing.
The precursor vectors of the invention undergo processing in the plant cell by one of the following DNA or RNA modification processes, which endows the plant cell with the replicon or replicons according to the invention. The processing in the plant cell may involve DNA modification such as DNA recombination, insertion or excision etc. Alternatively, it may involve RNA modification such as RNA splicing, ligation or recombination etc. Within this invention, said processing does not include transcription. The precursor vector may itself be a DNA or RNA molecule capable of autonomous replication in a cell of said plant.
The precursor vector(s) of this invention are preferably of plant viral origin, more preferably of an RNA virus or DNA virus origin. Examples of specific viruses are given below. Precursor vectors may be capable of autonomous replication in the plant cell as are replicons.
The plant cell may be provided with one or more precursor vectors. If the cell is provided with only one precursor vector, this precursor endows the plant cell with at least two replicons. If the cell is provided with two or more precursor vectors, the cell is preferably endowed with said at least one or said at least two replicons by a processing which involves interaction between said precursor vectors, e.g. recombination. Providing the plant cell with two or more precursor vectors greatly increases the possibilities for generating the replicon or replicons of the invention. Several different DNA or RNA modifications may occur in the plant cell depending on the design of the precursor vectors.
The process according of the invention is based on the use of a wild-type plant cell(s) or on a plant cell(s) that is (are) genetically engineered so as to provide functions necessary for said processing, or to provide in trans one or more functions necessary for infectivity, replicon replication, virus particle assembly, suppression of gene silencing by the host, integration into a host chromosome, reverse transcription, cell to cell or long distance movement of said resultant replicons. Said genetic engineering of said plant cell is done by transient expression, virus- or Agrobacterium-mediated transfection, stable integration into genomes of nuclei or organelles or into autonomously replicating plasmids of said plant cell. The plant cells and plants for the process of this invention are preferably higher plants or cells thereof. Crop plants are particularly preferred.
The process of causing amplification or expression according to the invention features several important advantages over the prior art. The size of the nucleic acid sequence(s) of interest to be amplified or expressed is far less limited than in the prior art, since functions necessary for amplification or expression are shared by at least two replicons, whereby the replicons are smaller than a prior art vector would be. Consequently, amplification or expression is more efficient.
Furthermore, the process of the invention allows the amplification and/or expression of more than one nucleic acid sequence of interest. Examples are provided for the expression of two genes of interest. However, the expression of three, four or even more nucleic acid sequence of interest is feasible within this invention. This allows the expression of a whole biochemical pathway or cascade or of a multi-subunit protein. Each sequence of interest may preferably be expressed from one replicon. Additional function(s) for efficient performance of the process like those listed below may be located on an additional replicon. Alternatively, a replicon may encode more than one of these functions.
A third important advantage of the invention is that there are several possibilities of improving the biological safety over prior art processes. In embodiments wherein more than one precursor vector is employed, the process is only functional when all precursors get into the plant cell. Alternatively, the processing in the cell to generate said at least one or said at least two replicons may be dependent on an additional component e.g. an enzyme which catalyses said processing. Then the system is only functional if the additional component is delivered into the cell or if a transgenic cell expressing said component is used. In one embodiment, the replicon which expresses a sequence of interest can spread throughout the plant from the primary infected cell, but spreading to other plants is not possible.
Examples for nucleic acid sequences of interest include coding sequences or parts thereof, or any genetic element. Herein, a genetic element is any DNA or RNA element that has a distinct genetic function other than coding for a structural part of a gene. Examples include: transcriptional enhancer, promoters, translational enhancers, recombination sites, transcriptional termination sequences, internal ribosome entry sites (IRESes), restriction sites. A preferred genetic element is a tobamoviral IRESmp75 used as translational enhancer operably linked to a heterologous nucleic acid sequence encoding a protein of interst.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, said plant cell is endowed with at least one (type of) replicon. Said one replicon is preferably formed by site-specific recombination between at least two precursor vectors. Said site-specific recombination preferably takes place on DNA level. Said one replicon may therefore be DNA. Alternatively, said one replicon may be RNA formed by transcription following said site-specific recombination. In this embodiment, said precursor vectors are preferably not capable of autonomous replication in said plant cell. This embodiment is particularly preferred from the point of view of biological safety.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, a plant cell is provided with the cDNA of a precursor vector (
In another preferred embodiment, a set of replicons of the type AB1, AB2, . . . , ABn or of the type B1A, B2A, . . . , BnA are generated in a cell by site-specific recombination of a primary precursor vector (A) with a set of at least two secondary precursor vectors (B1, B2, . . . , Bn) wherein n is an integer of ≧2. In the embodiment shown in
For performing the processes of the invention, precursor vectors may directly be used for transforming or transfecting a plant or plant cell. This is particularly true for DNA virus-based replicons. For RNA virus-based replicons, DNA vectors used for transformation or transfection require transcription for producing the precursor vectors inside the cell.
The processes of the invention may be used for generating high amounts of one or more nucleic acid sequences in a plant, plant tissue, plant cell or cell culture in an environmentally safe way. Notably, said processes may be used for generating high amounts of said at least one or said at least two replicons. Said replicon(s) may be purified or enriched from the plant material. Said replicon(s) may be vectors or viral material that may be used, optionally after enrichment or purification, for transforming or transfecting a further plant, plant tissue, plant cells or cell culture. In this embodiment, the processes of the invention may be biologically safe processes of producing infectious viral material or vectors for transforming or transfecting plants on a large scale like on an agricultural or farming scale. Said infectious viral material or said vectors may be packaged or coated viral material. The protein material necessary for packaging said viral material may be expressed from said replicon(s).
The processes of the invention may be used for the production of a biochemical product. Said biochemical product is preferably a protein, more preferably a pharmaceutical protein. Said pharmaceutical protein may be a functional antibody.
The processes of the invention may further be used for gene function determination, notably for rapid gene function determination or for functional genomics analysis.
The processes of the invention may further be used for for artificial or directed evolution, notably for artificial or directed gene evolution or for artificial or directed evolution of genetic elements.
In the present invention an approach for amplification and/or expression of one or more nucleic acid sequences of interest is described which has all the potentials of viral vector systems, yet lacks their disadvantages such as limited capacity. Further, it offers better biosafety characteristics. Viruses belonging to different taxonomic groups can be used for the construction of virus-based vectors according to the principles of the present invention. This is true for both RNA- and DNA-containing viruses, examples for which are given in the following (throughout this document, each type species' name is preceded by the name of the order, family and genus it belongs to. Names of orders, families and genera are in italic script, if they are approved by the ICTV. Taxa names in quotes (and not in italic script) indicate that this taxon does not have an ICTV international approved name. Species (vernacular) names are given in regular script. Viruses with no formal assignment to genus or family are indicated):
DNA Viruses:
Mostly, vectors of plant viral origin are used as plasmids capable of autonomous replication in plants (replicons). However the principles necessary for engineering such plasmids using non-viral elements are known. For example, many putative origins of replication from plant cells have been described (Berlani et al., 1988, Plant Mol. Biol., 11, 161-162; Hernandes et al., 1988, Plant Mol. Biol., 10, 413-422; Berlani et al., 1988, Plant Mol. Biol., 11, 173-182; Eckdahl et al., 1989, Plant Mol. Biol., 12, 507-516). It has been shown that the autonomously replicating sequences (ARS elements) from genomes of higher plants have structural and sequence features in common with ARS elements from yeast and higher animals (Eckdahl et al., 1989, Plant Mol. Biol, 12, 507-516). Plant ARS elements are capable of conferring autonomous replicating ability to plasmids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Studies of maize nuclear DNA sequences capable of promoting autonomous replication of plasmids in yeast showed that they represent two families of highly repeated sequences within the maize genome. Those sequences have a characteristic genomic hybridization pattern. Typically there was only one copy of an ARS-homologous sequence on each 12-15 kb of genomic fragment (Berlani et al.,1988, Plant Mol. Biol., 11:161-162). Another source of replicons of plant origin are plant ribosomal DNA spacer elements that can stimulate the amplification and expression of heterologous genes in plants (Borisjuk et al., 2000, Nature Biotech., 18, 1303-1306).
Therefore, a replicon or precursor vector contemplated in this invention is not necessarily derived from a plant virus. Plant DNA viruses provide an easy way of engineering replicons (vectors) that could be especially useful for targeted DNA transformation, but vectors made entirely or partially of elements from plant RNA viruses or even non-plant viruses are possible. Plant virus-based replicons are evidently advantageous. Such replicons, in addition to replication, may provide additional useful functions e.g. for cell to cell and long distance movement. Further, they can frequently be removed more easily from the plant cell aposteriori by using known methods of virus eradication from infected plants.
The general principle of the invention is shown in
In one embodiment of the invention, we describe a pro-vector (precursor vector) system that is based on the splicing of the pro-vector RNA in the plant nucleus. This system comprises a DNA molecule of the pro-vector containing parts of plant virus genome cDNA, gene(s) of interest and splicing-sites functional in the plant cell (see for example
As an exemplification of this embodiment we constructed two pro-vectors (precursor vectors) based on two well-known plant viruses: potato virus X (PVX) and crucifer infecting tobamovirus (CrTMV). In both cases, the CP gene of the viruses was flanked with donor (upstream) and acceptor (downstream) splicing sites (SA and SD, respectively). GFP was cloned downstream of the acceptor site to be expressed only in the spliced transcript. The physiological roles of CP in PVX and CrTMV are different. In the case of PVX, CP is required for cell-to-cell movement of the virus. In CrTMV, CP participates mainly in long-distance spread of the virus (systemic infection) and is not crucial for infection of neighbor cells. These examples provide two different patterns of reporter gene (GFP) expression. In the case of the PVX-based system, viral spread is stalled in primary transfected cells until the required amount of CP is expressed from a less efficient replicon that was formed from unspliced RNA. This leads to super-production of much more rapidly synthesized GFP in the same cell. Finally, the necessary amount of CP accumulates and both replicons penetrate neighbor cells where the process repeats. On the contrary, in the case of the CrTMV-based pro-vector, viral spread is not limited to cell-to-cell movement. Both forms of the vector act independently, which leads to faster growth of the infected area.
Although specific examples describing RNA modification as a mechanism for generating replicons according to the invention are based on RNA splicing, other RNA modification mechanisms may be used for the process of this invention as well. These include inter alia modifications as RNA ligation or RNA recombination. Ligation of different RNA molecules by enzymes such as RNA ligase allows to produce a plurality of different RNA replicons within a cell based on the internal enzymatic activity of plant cells or based on the expression of well known ligases such as T4 RNA ligase (Nishigaki et al., 1998, Mol. Divers., 4, 187-190) or mitochondrial RNA ligase from Leishmania (Blanc et al., 1999, J. Biol. Chem., 274, 24289-24296). RNA-RNA recombination is a well researched phenomenon. It readily occurs in a plant host between viral RNA molecules with a certain degree of homology (Allison et al., 1990, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 87, 1820-1824; Rao et al., 1990, J. Gen. Virol., 71, 1403-1407; U.S. Pat. No. 5,877,401).
In another embodiment, the precursor vectors are processed by site-specific DNA recombination producing a replicon or partially different replicons or assembling one viral replicon in vivo. In this case, molecular rearrangements proceed on the DNA level. Several molecules (pro-vectors) are shuffled by means of recombination to produce one or several vector molecules (replicons). The first DNA-component of the system may contain a plant promoter (Arabidopsis Actin 2) fused to the main part of CrTMV genome�the polymerase gene plus the MP gene followed by a specific recombination site. Secondary components are plasmid DNAs comprising the same recombination site followed by a gene(s) of interest (any reporter gene) or viral CP gene. The 3′-UTR of CrTMV should be cloned downstream of the gene of interest. The last component of the system may be Cre-recombinase or integrase expressing DNA. These enzymes promote reorganization of pro-vector components into active vector molecules (replicons). It must be stressed that none of the pro-vector components is infectious alone, which is important in terms of the biological safety of the system.
After providing a plant cell with all the components of the described multi-component system, recombination occurs and one or several replicons can be formed (see FIGS. 8A,B,C). These rearranged DNA molecules can be transcribed (since they carry Arabidopsis Actin 2 promoter) in the nucleus and exported to the cytoplasm. Finally, like in the case involving RNA splicing, several replicating vector RNAs appear in the cytoplasm of the transfected cell. In this embodiment, we describe the system where all of these vectors contain a functional MP gene and a gene positioned downstream. This allows each vector RNA to express both a functional MP gene and a gene positioned downstream and to penetrate into neighbor cells. One has to state that other combinations are also possible and are contemplated as being within the scope of this invention.
Two different approaches of recombinase delivery are exemplified in the invention. The recombinase may be delivered into the cell in a process of co-bombardment or by Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression together with other DNA-components of the system. As another approach, a transgenic plant expressing cre-recombinase has been obtained. This reduces the number of components the cell has to be provided with and as a result raises the overall efficiency of the system. Additionally, this further improves the safety of the process as it cannot occur outside of a plant that was genetically manipulated to support the process.
During the cloning of pro-vector components, a LoxP recombination site was cloned upstream of the gene(s) of interest. A LoxP site contains two small inverted repeats spaced by several nucleotides and it forms stem-and-loop structure in RNA. The stem contains only 4 GC pairs so it is not very stable. However, this stem can reduce the efficiency of translation of a downstream gene. To solve this problem, any translational enhancer can be cloned between LoxP and the gene of interest. In the examples with Cre recombinase we used an omega leader of TMV U1. However any other translation-enhancing sequence can be used (e.g. IRESmp75 from CrTMV or TMV U1) as well as plant IRESes. IRESmp75 elements may preferably be used as translational enhancers as in the examples with integrase of phage PhiC31. In this case, in a set of provectors the LoxP recombination sites were replaced by att-sites (attachment-sites) from the Streptomyces phage PhiC31 (Thorpe & Smith, 1998, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 95, 5505-5510; Groth et al., 2000, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 97, 5995-6000) which are the target sequences for the recombination enzyme integrase. Two different att-sites were cloned into the provectors: Whereas attP was inserted in the vectors of the type polymerase-MP-LoxP, an attB-recombination site was cloned into the provectors, which carry the gene of interest followed by a 3′NTR sequence and a nos-terminator. Similar to the Cre system, the att-recombination-sites limit the efficiency of translation of a gene, which is located downstream. Hence, also in this system translational enhancer sequences were cloned between the attB-sites and the genes of interest. It was shown that IRESmp75 sequences have comparable or even better effect as translational enhancers in comparison with the omega leader of TMV U1.
Suitable recombinases/recombination site systems include inter alia the Cre-Lox system from bacteriophage P1 (Austin et al., 1981, Cell, 25, 729-736), the FIp-Frt system from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Broach et al., 1982, Cell, 29, 227-234), the R-Rs system from Zygosaccharomyces rouxii (Araki et al., 1985, J. Mol. Biol., 182, 191-203), the integrase from the Streptomyces phage PhiC31 (Thorpe & Smith, 1998, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 95, 5505-5510; Groth et al., 2000, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 97, 5995-6000), and resolvases. In addition, other methods of DNA rearrangement are contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention. Other DNA modification enzyme systems can all be used to generate related but functionally distinct replicons inside of a wild-type or a genetically engineered plant cell: restriction endonuclease, transposase, general or specific recombinase, etc.
Different methods may be used for providing a plant cell with precursor vectors. DNA may be transformed into plant cells by a Ti-plasmid vector carried by Agrobacterium (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,591,616; 4,940,838; 5,464,763) or particle or microprojectile bombardment (U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,792; EP 00444882B1; EP 00434616B1). Other plant transformation methods can also be used like microinjection (WO 09209696; WO 09400583A1; EP 175966B1), electroporation (EP00564595B1; EP00290395B1; WO 08706614A1) or PEG-mediated transformation of protoplasts etc. The choice of the transformation method depends on the plant species to be transformed. For example, microprojectile bombardment is generally preferred for monocot transformation, while for dicots, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation gives better results in general. Agrobacterium-mediated delivery of precursor vectors is preferred.
Construction of plant viral vectors for the expression of non-viral genes in plants has been described in several papers (Dawson et al., 1989, Virology, 172, 285-293; Brisson et al., 1986, Methods in Enzymology, 118, 659; MacFarlane & Popovich, 2000, Virology, 267, 29-35; Gopinath et al., 2000, Virology, 267, 159-173; Voinnet et al., 1999, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 96, 14147-14152) and can be easily performed by those skilled in the art.
The current invention has a number of advantages compared to existing viral vector-based strategies to express foreign genes in plants.
Most importantly, the process can be used for the expression of more than one nucleic acid sequence of interest and can thus be used for the expression of multiple genes of a biochemical pathway or cascade. In this regard, the process of the invention is the only available method that can be effectively used for the expression of genes for the purpose of gene function determination or for the purpose of biochemical production.
The invention also opens up a wide range of opportunities for any kind of biological cascade construction. One example is presented in
The proposed process is inherently more safe as it is operable only in the presence of all the precursor vectors. If both of the replicons described above are present in the same cell, they complement each other and both components are able to move to neighbor cells. However only vector A can be coated with CP to form viral particles and therefore only this component will be exported from the infected leaf into the whole plant. If such viral particles penetrate uninfected leaves, they deliver only the infectious component A, but not B. This leads to the systemic spread of infection in the whole plant but the virus cannot infect other plants because viral particles can be formed only in primary inoculated leaves and these particles contain only one replicon component, which is not enough for systemic infection of another plant. This system represents a unique example of highly efficient expression of a transgene in the whole plant via a noncontagious viral vector.
Additionally, the process of assembly of one viral replicon from at least two replicon precursors through site-specific DNA recombination guaranties a higher level of safety in comparison with convenient viral vector being used for infecting plant cells. Said process of viral replicon assembly from at least two components requires the presence of said two components and a site-specific recombinase to be present in the same plant cell. Said recombinase can be delivered in cis together with one of said components. Preferably, the recombinase can be delivered separately. More preferably, the host plant can be engineered to expresses said recombinase. In the latter case, assembly of functional vector from provector elements will be restricted specifically to engineered host plant.
The described technology allows for higher efficiency of gene expression compared to conventional systems. This is achieved by reducing the size of the replicon or the replicons that express the gene. In our system, the size is significantly reduced compared to other viral vectors since the precursor vector can afford to express some viral gene(s) required for the function of the system from additional components or vectors (replicons) in trans. As mentioned above, the size of viral RNA does dramatically affect the level of transgene(s) expression.
Another technical advantage of the system is that its users do not have to clone anything into full-length cDNA copy of the virus This difficult and time-consuming process is avoided because one can use a pre-made construct (similar to pIC3461,
Construction of Spliceable PVX-based Provector
Two 35-PVX based provectors have been constructed. Plasmid PVX-201 was used as a basic construct for cloning (Chapman S et al., 1992, Plant J 1992 July;2(4):549-57). This plasmid contains the full-length cDNA of the potato virus X (PVX) genome (Gene Bank Accession Numbers NC 001455; AF172259) fused to the 35S promoter and the nos terminator. The CP subgenomic promoter region is duplicated and a few cloning sites are inserted between the duplicated regions in PVX-201 (see
At the first step an intermediate construct pIC2518 was obtained. This plasmid contains consequently: the C-terminus of CP (62 bp) from the XhoI site to the terminator with a HindIII site introduced right after the termination codon, enhanced GFP (sGFP) gene (starting codon included into NcoI site) and the 3′-terminus of PVX virus including the C-terminus of CP (62 nt), 3′-UTR and s poly (A) sequence followed by a SacI site (
Two sets of oligonucleotides were synthesized to clone 2 different pairs of donor/acceptor splicing sites:
Plasmid PVX-201 described above (
Plasmid pIC2518 (
Two variants of a spliceable PVX provector plasmid were obtained by cloning of the XhoI-SacI fragment from pIC3041 into pIC3033 and of the XhoI-SacI fragment from pIC3068 into pIC3053. The resulting plasmids were named pIC3242 (splice sites D1+A1) and pIC3258 (splice sites D2+A2) (
Microprojectile Bombardment
Microprojectile bombardment was performed with the Biolistic PDS-1000/He Particle Delivery System (Bio-Rad). Separate N. benthamiana leaves were bombarded at 900 psi with 15 mm distance from a macrocarrier launch point to the stopping screen and 60 mm distance from the stopping screen to a target tissue. The distance between the rupture disk and a launch point of the macrocarrier was 12 mm. The cells were bombarded after 4 hours of osmotic pretreatment.
The DNA-gold coating procedure (PEG/Mg) was performed as follows: 25 μl of gold suspension (60 mg/ml in 50% glycerol) was mixed with 10 μl of plasmid DNA (up to 1 μg/μl) in an Eppendorf tube and supplemented subsequently by 10 μl of 40% PEG in 1.0 M MgCl2. The mixture was vortexed for 2 min and than incubated for 30 min at room temperature without mixing. After centrifugation (2000 rpm, 1 min), the pellet was washed twice with 1 ml of 70% ethanol, once by 1 ml of 99.5% ethanol and finally it was dispersed in 30 μl of 99.5% ethanol. Aliquots (6 μl) of DNA-gold suspension in ethanol were loaded onto macrocarrier disks and allowed to dry up for 5-10 min.
Plasmid DNA Preparation
Plasmids were transformed into E. coli strains DH10B and JM109, maxi preps were grown in LB medium and DNA was purified using the Qiagen kit.
Mechanical inoculation of slants with provector plasmid DNA
Fully developed leaves of five to seven weeks old Nicotiana benthamiana plants were inoculated with plasmid DNA by mechanical wounding. For this purpose, 10-50 μg of DNA was mixed with 3�GKP-buffer (50 mM glycine, 30 mM K2HPO4, 3% celite, 3% benthonite) and scratched gently on the upper side of the leaves.
Expression of a Reporter Gene in Plant Leaves by Converted (Spliced) PVX-Based Provector
Fully developed N. benthamiana leaves were bombarded with plasmids pIC3242 and pIC3258. It was expected that two different RNA transcripts can be synthesized in plant cell from each of these plasmids�complete form and spliced form (see
The presence of the second transcript can be detected by the GFP fluorescence in a cell transfected with the provector.
Strong GFP fluorescence has been observed in numerous leave cells bombarded with pIC3242 (48 hours after bombardment). No GFP expression was detected in the case of pIC3258�so this construct may serve as a negative control in this experiment. This difference occurred due to the different donor/acceptor sites used in the constructs (see example 1). In the case of pIC3258, a 9-nt sequences that represents splice-site consensus of Arabidopsis thaliana was used. In the case of pIC3242, donor and acceptor sites were designed as described in Nussaume et al. Mol. gen. genet, 1995, 249:91-101 where they were tested and proved to be active in plants.
According to several investigations (Fedorkin et al., J Gen Virol 2001; 82(Pt 2):449-58, Cruz et al., Plant Cell 1998; 10(4):495-510), the CP of PVX is required for viral cell-to-cell transport. In case of the construct pIC3242, the CP gene must be spliced out of RNA. This means that the spliced form of the transcript (
Generating Transcenic N. benthamiana Plants Expressing Cre Recombinase
The actin2 promoter-LoxP-Cre Orf-Nos terminator fragment from pIC1321 was subcloned as a Not1 blunt-Sac fragment into the SmaI and SacI sites of the binary vector pBIN19, resulting in construct pIC1593 (
The plasmid pIC1593 was introduced in Agrobacterium strain Agl1 by electroporation and transformed agrobacteria were used to transform N. benthamiana. DNA extracted from 10 transformants was used to test for the presence of the transgene by PCR. All plants were found positive when PCR was performed with primers for the kanamycin transformation marker or for the Cre gene.
Generation of Functional Vectors from Provectors Using Site-Specific Recombination
a) General Description of the System
The system described consists of two core types of CrTMV based vectors which carry LoxP-recombination sites (
After recombination catalyzed by Cre-recombinase or integase (via coinfection of a Cre or integrase encoding viral construct) functional units (replions) are formed which are able to express a reporter gene efficiently and are capable of moving from cell-to-cell (
b) Plasmid Construction
A. Cloning of vector type Polymerase-MP-LoxP (
An EcORI-XhoI-fragment of MP was taken from plasmid pIC3312 (
B. Cloning of LoxPRreportergene-3′NTR-nos-Terminator Vectors
a) Construct LoxP-sGFP-3′NTR-nos (
The XhoI-NcoI-fragment which carries a LoxP-site next to an Ω-leader-sequence was taken from vector pIC2744. In order to place the sequences adjacent to a reporter gene, the fragment was cloned into plasmid pIC1721, which contains the appropriate restriction sites next to a gene for sGFP and a 3′NTR-sequence. Replacement of an IRES-sequence by the fragment let to the resulting plasmid pIC3421. In order to add a nos-terminator-sequence, plasmid pIC3421 was cut by KpnI and NotI. The fragment was introduced into the vector-containing part of plasmid pIC 3232 and the final construct pIC3441 could be obtained (see
b) Construct LoxP-CP-sGFP-3′NTR-nos (
Described above plasmids pIC3342 and pIC1212 were used as starting vectors. The PstI-SacI fragment of pIC3342 that contains the genes for CP and sGFP was cloned into pIC1212. As a result, a LoxP-site is located next to CP and sGFP in the product pIC3451. In order to add a nos-terminator sequence, a similar approach as in case a) was used: An EcORI-NotI-fragment of pIC3451 was introduced into the vector-containing part of pIC3232 resulting in plasmid pIC3491 (see
c) Construct LoxP-CP-GUS-3′NTR-nos (
Plasmid pIC751 is analogous to pIC1721 and carries a GUS reporter gene instead of sGFP. By cutting with NcoI and NotI the GUS-Gene and the 3′-untranslated region can be directly cloned into pIC3441 hence obtaining the final construct pIC3521 (
Expression of a Single Reporter Gene in Plant Leaves by Converted (Recombined) CrTMV-Based Provector
Separate N. benthamiana leaves were particle-bombarded with a mixture of three plasmids: pIC3441 (LoxP-GFP,
Expression of Several Genes in Plant Leaves by Converted (Recombined) CrTMV-Based Provector
Separate N. benthamiana leaves were particle-bombarded with a mixture of several plasmids:
Both reporter genes GFP and GUS were strongly expressed in bombarded leaves in case a). Viral particle formation and systemic movement of the virus are take place in case b).
Construction of Spliceable CrTMV-Based Provector
Spliceable provector based on CrTMV virus has certain advantages comparing to PVX-based one. Described in
A. Cloning of Intermediate Construct pIC3312
A PCR fragment was obtained using cloned cDNA of CrTMV and the following primers:
Another PCR fragment was obtained using the same template and the following primers.
The dsDNA fragments described in example 1 containing donor and acceptor splice sites were cloned into pIC3312 using ClaI and XhoI sites in the case of donor and HindIII and NcoI in case of acceptor splice sites (see
To obtain a negative control construct, pIC3401 EcOR1-NotI fragment from pIC3382 was cloned into pIC3301 (
The final construct pIC3393 was obtained in two-fragment cloning using the EcORI-PstI fragment from pIC3378 with the PstI-NotI fragment from pIC3382 and pIC3301 digested EcORI and NotI as a vector (
Expression of Reporter Gene in Plant Leaves by Converted CrTMV-Based Spliceable Provector
Separate N. benthamiana leaves were particle-bombarded with plasmids pIC3393 and pIC3401. GFP fluorescence was detected in several multi-cellular loci 48 hours after bombardment in case of pIC3393. No GFP fluorescence appeared in leaves bombarded with control construct pIC3401.
Expression of One Gene of Interest from Viral Vector Assembled from Two CrTMV-Based Provectors Through Site Specific att/Integrase-Based Recombination System
a) General Description of the System
The system described consists of two core types of CrTMV based vectors which carry attB- or attP-recombination sites (
After recombination catalyzed by the integrase-enzyme (via coinfection of a integrase-encoding viral construct), functional units (replicons) are formed which are able to express the gene of interest efficiently and are capable of cell-to-cell movement (
b) Plasmid Construction
A) Cloning of Vector Type: Polymerase-MP-attP (
An KpnI-XhoI-fragment fragment was taken from plasmid pIC3461 (
B. Cloning of the Vector-Type: attB-Gene of Interest-3′NTR-nos-Terminator (
a) Construct attB-sGFP-3′NTR-nos
Primer combination B was used on an Ω-sequence-containing template in order to create a PCR-product which contains the complete sequence of the Ω-leader, 20 Nt of the attB-recombination site and a NcoI-restriction-site at the 3′end.
After obtaining PCR products from primer combination A) and B), the isolated oligonucleotides were used together as templates for a PCR-reaction by using the primers attB XhoI (+) and Ω NcoI (−). As a final PCR-product, a fusion of the attB-recombination- and Ω-leader-sequence could be synthesized. This fragment contains XhoI- and a NcoI-restriction sites at its termini. The PCR-product was isolated, digested and cloned into the XhoI- and NcoI-sites of plasmid pICH3441 in order to replace the LoxP-Ω-fusion. The intermediate plasmid was treated with KpnI and HindIII. By inserting this fragment into the corresponding sites of the binary vector BV10, a attB-sGFP-3′NTR-nos vector could be obtained which is transformable into Agrobacterium (pICH5151, see
A similar approach was used for cloning an analogous provector with the reporter gene GUS. The above described PCR-fragment was cloned into the XhoI- and NcoI-sites of the GUS-containing plasmid pICH3521 resulting in plasmid pICH4061. Finally, a KpnI-HindIII-fragment of plasmid plasmid pICH4061 was ligated into the binary-vector BV0, resulting in the final vector pICH5161 which is capable of stable Agrobacterium-transformation (pICH5161, see
C) Construction of a attB-Ubiquitin-Interferon-Containing 3′-Provector
In order to clone a fusion of a ubiquitin-sequence and interferon αc2B into an attB-3′-provector, both sequences were synthesized as a fusion and cloned into pUC19 (obtaining plasmid pUC5760). The vector was digested with NcoI and PstI and the resulting fragment was ligated into the corresponding restriction-sites of plasmid pICH5781. The resulting plasmid pICH5951 contains an attB-recombination site, the ubiquitin-interferon fusion, an 3′ nontranslated region, a nos promoter and a Kanamycin-expression-cassette. All said sequences are flanked by T-DNA borders (LB and RB, see
D) In order to replace the Ω-sequence by different IRES-elements which can serve as translational enhancers, a ClaI/ApaI-fragment was taken from plasmid pIC1701 (that contains IRESmp75(U1)) or pICH1731 (contains IRESmp75(cr)), respectively. The fragments were cloned into the plasmid pICH5939 (similar to plasmid pICH5781, but without NcoI-restriction-site with ATG-sequence as transcription initiation-codon). In the final binary vectors (pICH6871, pICH6891), the attB-recombination-site is located adjacent to an IRES-sequence of 75 bp (6871: U1-origin, 6891: CrTMV-origin), a sGFP-reporter gene and the regulatory elements 3′NTR and nos.
In order to clone the polymerase-MP carrying LoxP-provector into a binary vector, a KpnI/XhoI and a XhoI/HindIII-fragment were ligated together into the vector pICBV10 which was digested with HindIII and KpnI. The resulting plasmid pICH4371 can be stably transformed into Agrobacterium (
F) Cloning of Vector Type Loxp-Gene of Interest-3′NTR-Nos-Terminator into Binary Vector
An analogous cloning strategy like in E) was used to clone the LoxP-reporter gene provector into a binary vector. Plasmid pICH3441 was digested with the enzymes KpnI and HindIII. The resulting fragment was inserted in the corresponding sides of pICBV10 resulting in the binary plasmid pICH4461 (see
Delivery of Viral Vector Constructs by Infiltration of Agrobacterium tumefaciens Suspension into Plant Leaves of N. benthamiana and N. tabacum
All provectors of the Cre/Lox and the integrase/att-system have been cloned into binary vectors which can be transformed stably into Agrobacteria. Hence, DNA-delivery methods alternative to the described techniques are available.
A very simple delivery method is the infiltration of Agrobacteria suspensions into intact leaves. This so called agroinfiltration was initially developed to analyze foreign gene expression and gene silencing in plants (Kaplia et al., 1997, Plant Science, 122, 101-108; Sch�b et al., 1997, Mol. Gen. Genet., 256, 581-588). Agroinfiltration of transgenic tobacco plants was performed according to a modified protocol described by Yang et al., 2000, The Plant Journal, 22(6), 543-551. Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain GV3101 was transformed with individual constructs (pICH4851, pICH5151, pICP1010,
Agroinfiltration was conducted on near fully expanded leaves that were still attached to the intact plant. A bacterial suspension was infiltrated using a 5 ml syringe. By infiltrating 100 μl of bacterial suspension into each spot (typically 3-4 cm2 in infiltrated area), 8 to 16 spots separated by veins could be arranged in a single tobacco leaf. After infiltration, plants were further grown under greenhouse conditions at 22� C. and 16 h light.
Leaves of N. benthamiana and N. tabacum that were infiltrated with the constructs show expanding sectors of strong GFP-expression 8-12 days after infiltration. The expression could be detected under UV-light directly on the infiltrated leaves. No GFP expression could be observed in case of controls (provector-combination without the integrase-clone).
Delivery of Viral Provectors by Infiltration of an Agrobacterium tumefaciens Suspension into Plant Leaves of Transgenic Tobacco Plants Expressing the Cre Recombinase (pICH1754)
Leaves of transgenic tobacco plants (transformed construct: pICH1754, species Nicotiana tabacum) infiltrated with construct pICH4371 and pICH4461 showed 16 days after infiltration growing sectors of strong GFP-expression which could be observed without microscope under UV-light on intact plants. No GFP-expression was visible on wild type leaves infiltrated with the same Agrobacteria suspension mix.
The Use of IRES Sequences of Viral Origin (IRESmp75 From CrTMV or U1) as Translational Enhancer Sequences
The presence of an att- or LoxP-recombination-site between promoter and a downstream located gene limits the efficiency of translation. Therefore, in most cases, it is necessary to use translational enhancing elements to reach an appropriative level of reporter gene-expression in the provector-system. Cloning of the viral IRES sequences IRESmp75(U1) or IRESmp75(cr) respectively between the attB-recombination site and GFP clearly increases the expression of the reportergene. Whereas plants, which have been infiltrated with GFP-containing provectors that carry no translational enhancer show nearly no detectable GFP-expression after 10 days, the use of said IRES-sequences led to expression of GFP, which can be detected under UV-light without using a microscope after 5 days. The expression level of gene of interest provided by IRESmp75-based translational enhancer activity is comparable or even higher than such provided by �omega� translational enhancer.
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Domestic Violence and HIV...threatened by the reaction you get, keep meetings public for a few weeks. Minimizing Risk There are no guarantees in this world, but you can help minimize your risk for domestic violence: Do your homework. To find out information on the person you are dating (such as if he or she has a criminal record), consider doing a background check. There are a number of companies that provide this service for a fee. For a more information, go...
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The Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation...Report, 1982: 31: 508-08. 18."Current trends revision of the case definition of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome for National Reporting -- United States," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 1985: 34: 373-5. 19."Revision of the CDC... Read more »
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The Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation...significantly. To say that it completely eliminates this risk is still premature in my opinion. The current report did not provide information about anal sex. Also how does one know with certainty that his HIV plasma viral load is suppressed to... Read more »
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Number of New HIV Cases Increases Worldwide, Many Concentrated in Asia, UNAIDS Report Says...girls, as much in Asia as in Africa, don't have the option to abstain [from sex] when they want to," adding, "Women who are the victims of violence are in no position to negotiate anything, nevermind faithfulness and condom use" (Nakashima, ... Read more »
At a Glance: Media Summary -- Towards Universal Access: Scaling Up Priority HIV/AIDS Interventions in the Health Sector -- Progress Report June 2008...designed to reduce the likelihood of HIV infection after potential exposure, is available in 35% of health facilities located in 50 reporting countries. Chapter 5: Scaling Up HIV Services for Women and Children Women represent approximately... Read more »
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William and Kate are due to have their baby any day now, and that's got us wondering how the whole "line to the throne" thing works.
How to become the British monarch
Recent Headlines
This weekend in entertainment history
A look back on some of Hollywood's most memorable headlines.
in Music
Taylor Swift, Joe Walsh surprise fans at Kenny Chesney concert
Taylor Swift and Joe Walsh surprised the crowd at a Kenny Chesney concert by appearing onstage for impromptu duets.
in Music
This week's top country tracks
LISTEN: This week's top country tracks, according to the latest Billboard chart.
Angelina Jolie crowned world's top feminist icon
Angelina Jolie and Emma Watson top the list of the world's foremost feminist icons.
Celebrities protest new Indiana law
Celebrities call for an Indiana boycott after the passing of a controversial law that could lead to discrimination against gay couples.


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- Age / Gender:
- 20, Male
- Location:
- Canada
- Joined:
- 5/15/07
- All Stats >
User Statshot
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Ranked as Scout
Contact Info / Websites
Latest News
Recent Game Medals
Dethroned! 25 Points Defeat the Watermelon King Medal Stats.
You asked for it! 10 Points Released the sequel. Medal Stats.
Snack Time 10 Points Give the hungry shark an apple. Medal Stats.
Spelling Bee 10 Points Spell out K-I-W-I Medal Stats.
Grape Jelly 10 Points Rescue the Three Grapes Medal Stats.
Noise Pulse 25 Points Find 59 Notes Medal Stats.
Get A Clef! 5 Points That's all you gotta do. Medal Stats.
First Upgrade 5 Points You upgraded from a cart! Medal Stats.
Gun Slinger 25 Points Weaken a hood grappling zombie with 1 weapon, then quickly switch to another weapon to finish it off with one shot Medal Stats.
Game Completed 5 Points You completed the game! Medal Stats.
Total Medals Earned: 166 (From 20 different games.)
Latest Movies
Favorite Movies
Glarfieldiator Rated 3.8887 Stars Typical Monday for Commodus. Comedy - Parody BrolyOrders Rated 4.0977 Stars Broly at a restaurant Comedy - Parody Zelda Phantasmagoria Rated 3.3070 Stars Who ever needed to know how to play anyways? Comedy - Parody PleaseDiePie Rated 4.3123 Stars PewDiePie parody that will undoubtedly rustle some jimmies. Comedy - Parody
Favorite Games
You know what they say? Rated 3.8016 Stars Avoid getting hit by a bunch of toasters. Action - Platformer - Hop and Bop Scary Screamer Game Rated 2.4386 Stars The screamers have entertained people for years, but now in different ways... Skill - Avoid 2006| The Rambo Bros. Rated 3.5284 Stars A Mariogame... with guns! Everything you ever dreamed of! Action - Shooter - First Person Mario-Combat Rated 4.2880 Stars Your Super Mario! Go kick Bowsers ass! Action - Platformer - Other
Favorite Audio
|Majora's Mask:Clock Town Dance
|Video Game Song
|No Hope in Stone Tower
|Video Game Song
|Majora's Mask: Four Giants
|Video Game Song
|- LD - Redead
|Cinematic Song


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Nasshh15's Whiteboard
May 23 2011 by Jeff K.
Welcome to the community. Sorry to hear about the things going on in your life, but things will get better. There are a lot of great people here to talk to, and I'm sure you'll meet great people in your area as well. Good luck on your wellness journey and we're all cheering for you!


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United States face tough draw in World Cup
The United States will play Germany, Portugal and Ghana in the first round of next year's World Cup, facing the nations that eliminated the Americans from the last three tournaments.Comment
Heisman-hopeful Winston not charged in sexual assault
Nearly a year after Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston was accused of rape by a female student, prosecutors have decided not to charge him.Comment
George Washington topples Rutgers, 93-87
George Washington's men's basketball team beat Rutgers, 93-87, Wednesday night. It was the Colonials' third win in its last four games against an opponent from a major conference.Comment
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to begin weekly 106.7 FM The Fan segment
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, stripped of much of his power after admitting to smoking crack while in office, will make a weekly appearance on D.C.'s 106.7 FM The Fan beginning this Thursday.
'Brazuca' is 2014 World Cup soccer ball
The new ball for next year's World Cup - called the "Brazuca," in honor of Brazil, of course - was unveiled at a ceremony Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro.Comment
Nov. 29th HS Athlete of the Week
This week's DC Touchdown Club Athlete of the Week honors Patuxent Junior QB Tyler Crounse who rushed for 170 yards and threw for 216 and 4 touchdowns in a 35-28 win over Gwynn Park.Comment
Nov. 29th Sportstalk with John Booty
Britt McHenry is joined by former NFL Defensive Back John Booty to break down the Redskins-Giants matchup. And other NFL matchups.Comment
Tomlin owns up to getting in Jacoby Jones way on kickoff
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin admitted Tuesday that he intentionally tried to get in the way of Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones during a kick return during their Thanksgiving night game.Comment
Wizards beat Magic, 98-80, reach .500 for first time in 4 years
The Wizards have won seven of nine and are 4-1 since top scorer Bradley Beal went out with a leg injury.Comment
Petersen stuns Boise, leaves for Washington job
Chris Petersen has finally been persuaded to leave Boise State. The prominent head coach will take over the same role at the University of Washington.Comment
George Mason beats South Florida, 68-66 on late jumper
George Mason's men's basketball team got a last-second bucket from Corey Allen Jr. to thwart South Florida's second-half comeback and earn a 68-66 win.
It's Martell Webster's birthday, and now everyone knows it
Wednesday was Washington Wizards swingman Martell Webster's 27th birthday, and teammate Marcin Gortat made sure everyone knew it.Comment
NFL fines Mike Tomlin $100K for Thanksgiving stunt
As first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter, Tomlin was fined $100,000 a day after apologizing for purposely stepping on the field to get in the way of Baltimore Ravens kick returner Jacoby Jones.Comment
Carolina Hurricanes beat Washington Capitals 4-1
Jeff Skinner had two goals and an assist, Justin Peters stopped 26 shots and the Carolina Hurricanes cruised past the Washington Capitals 4-1 Tuesday night.Comment
Dec. 2nd Sportstalk with J. Brooks
Britt McHenry is joined by WTOP Sports Reporter J. Brooks to discuss the Redskins loss to the NY Giants. Plus, breaking down the Nationals-Doug Fister trade.Comment
Rowdy Seattle fans caused seismic events during Monday victory
CNN reports that the fans at CenturyLink Field in Seattle caused at least five temblors during their team's 34-7 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Monday night.Comment
Nats trade three players to Tigers for RHP Fister
The Detroit Tigers have traded starting pitcher Doug Fister to the Washington Nationals for three players. The Nationals sent infielder Steve Lombardozzi, left-hander Ian Krol and minor league lefty Robbie Ray to Detroit.Comment
NFL: Refs erred during Redskins 4th quarter down debacle
The referees for Sunday's game between the Washington Redskins and New York Giants should have stopped play during a controversial 4th quarter series, the NFL says, to allay "obvious confusion" about what down it was.Comment
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Hitmen crush Ice 7-2 to take commanding 3-1 series lead
Connor Rankin didn't like the fact that he missed the 2014 post-season due to injury. Now healthy, the 20-year-old left winger has proven to be a difference maker for the Calgary Hitmen in their opening-round
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Canada's Simmons wins twice to lock up spot in Page playoff 1-2 game
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Moulson, Ellis score third-period goals in rallying Sabres to 4-3 win over Maple LeafsBUFFALO, N.Y. — Matt Moulson and Matt Ellis scored 1:41 apart in the third period and the Buffalo Sabres rallied for a 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. The Sabres overcame a 3-1 second-period deficit and
Lou Williams scores 18 points, leads Raptors past Timberwolves 113-99MINNEAPOLIS — Lou Williams scored 18 points to lead a balanced Toronto offence as the Raptors rolled past the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-99 on Wednesday. Six players scored at least 13 points for the Raptors, who shot 55.3 per cent from
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes not ready to slow down despite wear and tear from Rogers Centre turfThe Blue Jays hope to have grass growing in the Rogers Centre by opening day 2018. That may be too late for Jose Reyes.
Kentucky's 5-9 guard Tyler Ulis could loom large for Wildcats in Final Four vs. WisconsinLEXINGTON, Ky. - Being Kentucky's smallest player on the floor hasn't prevented 5-foot-9 point guard Tyler Ulis from repeatedly coming up big for the Wildcats.
Serena Williams earns 700th victory by beating Sabine Lisicki in Miami Open quarter-finalsKEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — Serena Williams abused her racket, scolded herself and even made angry faces at the sun. In the end, as usual, she took out her frustration on the ball. The seven-time Key Biscayne champion overcame her annoyance
Bounce-back game: Simmons rebounds with win over Switzerland at curling worldsCanada's Pat Simmons rebounded from his first loss at the Ford world men's curling championship by defeating Switzerland's Marc Pfister 8-4 on Wednesday morning at Scotiabank Centre.
Senators 'Stone' Red Wings in shootout victoryBy Ken Warren Ottawa Citizen DETROIT — Revenge is best served with a cold move in the shootout. At least that's the way it must have felt for Ottawa Senators winger Mark Stone. After three periods of frustration, including seven
Gallagher: Canucks keep the good times rollingNot content simply to win continuously on the road, the Vancouver Canucks added an impressive comeback to their road repertoire in a tumultuous affair Tuesday night in Nashville.
Jets lose big game as Chris Kreider's late goal lifts RangersBy Judy Owen WINNIPEG — Henrik Lundqvist showed he's one step closer to being back to top form. Starting his second game after missing 25 with a throat injury, the veteran goalie made 32 saves as the New York Rangers
Hitmen regain home ice advantage with wild 8-7 overtime win in CranbrookAdam Tambellini scored at 1:12 of overtime, his third goal of the game, to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a wild 8-7 win over the Kootenay Ice on Tuesday in Cranbrook, B.
Roughnecks stick with group, make just one minor move at NLL trade deadlineWhat you see is what you've got for the Calgary Roughnecks. Despite being last in the West Division with a 3-9 record, the players received what was essentially a vote of confidence from their general


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Local bodies urged to encourage tower sharing
"Cell phone service providers, who initially saw an encouraging climate from the government was now reeling under penalty oriented regulatory climate," Associate Director General of Cellular Operators Association of India Vikram Tiwathia said on Friday.
Talking to The Hindu on the challenges and issues confronting the cellular telecom operators, Mr. Tiwathia said frequent changes in rules governing the industry was actually forcing the investors to revisit or make them re-think on the investment in this segment.
Mr. Tiwathia also reiterated the need for revisiting the spectrum availability and pricing mechanism, as the industry was already reeling under Rs. 2 lakh crore debt in terms of investments borrowed.
On the initiative for infrastructure sharing i.e., the Base Transmission Station (BTS) towers by more than one operator, the Associate Director General said that this was expected to bring down the CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) and an improvement in Revenue Per User (RPU) will augur well in the long run. Sharing of infrastructure had reached a tenancy ratio of two (number of operators on one infrastructure) in terms of three cellular service providers and 1.5 in terms of industry-wise tenancy ratio.
He wanted the local bodies to encourage tower sharing. He said in countries such as China every tower is connected with optic fibre cable reducing radiation emission, while the right of way charges for laying OFC cables were high in India, deterring the operators.
On the other hand, the 'misinformation' campaign about Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) radiation caused by towers for cell phone signals, Mr. Tiwathia said that the Indian example had been replicated in Bangladesh and Africa.
Mr. Tiwathia said that there were many gadgets that emit close to 10,000 to 20,000 watts of radiation such as television transmission and radio transmission whereas microwave and police wireless emit closer to 1000 watts and 20 to 50 watts while mobile phone systems emit only 10 to 20 watts and mobile phones emitted only 2 watts.
To theories about declining sparrow and bee population, the Associate Director General said pigeons and urbanisation were enemies of sparrows besides increased use of pesticides and falling population of insects led to dwindling sparrow population.
In the event of dissatisfaction in quality of service provided or in radiation emission levels, any member of the public could seek the help of TERM Cell (Telecom Enforcement and Resource Monitoring) in various locations across the country and such a facility existed in Chennai.
He claimed that operators were sincere to quality of service in terms of signal stretch and call drops, but cost of strengthening the network in terms of right of way charges and red-tapism in permission was a deterrent factor.
To a query, he claimed that there was enhanced transparency in billing among the service providers today and on the Value Added Service (VAS) front, complaints that existed once when there was external management have now been sorted out, with internal control mechanisms in place now.
As far as cellular phone penetration was concerned, there were more than 930 million subscribers in Home Location Register and closer to 700 million subscribers in Visitors Location Register (Active users).
Revenue Per User as on date was approximately Rs 70 per connection on GSM technology platform, while it was Rs 50 on CDMA technology platform, he said.