Matthew W Rhoades

US Patent:

20050144669, Jun 30, 2005

Filed:

Jul 1, 2004

Appl. No.:

10/884374

Inventors:

Brenda Reinhart - Palo Alto CA, US
Earl Weinstein - Cambridge MA, US
Matthew Rhoades - Somerville MA, US
Bonnie Bartel - Houston TX, US
David Bartel - Brookline MA, US

Assignee:

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research - Cambridge MA
William M. Rice University - Houston TX

International Classification:

C12N015/87
C12N015/82
C07H021/04

US Classification:

800285000, 536023100

Abstract:

The present invention generally relates to the production and expression of microRNA (miRNA) in plants. In some cases, production and expression of miRNA can be used to at least partially inhibit or alter gene expression in plants. For instance, in some embodiments, a nucleotide sequence, which may encode a sequence substantially complementary to a gene to be inhibited or otherwise altered, may be prepared and inserted into a plant cell. Expression of the nucleotide sequence may cause the formation of precursor miRNA, which may, in turn, be cleaved (for example, with Dicer or other nucleases, including, for example, nucleases associated with RNA interference), to produce an miRNA sequence substantially complementary to the gene. The miRNA sequence may then interact with the gene (e.g., complementary binding) to inhibit the gene. In some cases, the nucleotide sequence may be an isolated nucleotide sequence. Other embodiments of the invention are directed to the precursor miRNA and/or the final miRNA sequence, as well as methods of making, promoting, and use thereof.