Patents by Inventor Karen S. Century

Karen S. Century has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7994394
    Abstract: Disease-inducible promoter sequences have been identified that may be used to produce transgenic plants that are both more resistant to disease than control plants, and are wild-type or nearly wild type in appearance. Any of these disease-inducible promoters may be incorporated into expression vectors that each comprise a defense response protein operably linked to the promoter. The expression vectors can be introduced into plants and the defense response protein then ectopically expressed. Transgenic plants transformed with many of these expression vectors have been shown to be more resistant to disease, in some cases, to more than one type of pathogen, and yet are similar to wild type plants in their morphology and development.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2011
    Assignee: Mendel Biotechnology, Inc.
    Inventors: Luc Adam, T. Lynne Reuber, Karen S. Century
  • Publication number: 20110126326
    Abstract: A new and strong transcriptional activation domain was identified from the Arabidopsis protein Ethylene Response Factor 98 (AtERF98). This domain has been designated as the “EDLL domain” and has a number of highly conserved amino acid residues that are found throughout the members of the AtERF98 family from plants, including in monocot and eudicot orthologs. The EDLL domain was shown to be highly active when it was fused to transcription factors from plant and yeast, and was also shown to have activation potential comparable to the widely-used VP16 activation domain derived from Herpes simplex. The EDLL domain was also active when it was targeted to a gene promoter by a sequence-specific DNA binding protein or by protein-protein interactions. Unlike other known activation domains such as VP16 and GAL4, the EDLL domain is relatively small in size, and being of plant origin, it is favored as a strong transcriptional activation tool for application in transgenic food crops.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2009
    Publication date: May 26, 2011
    Applicant: MENDEL BIOTECHNOLOGY, INC.
    Inventors: Shiv Tiwari, Roger Canales, T. Lynne Reuber, Karen S. Century, Oliver Ratcliffe
  • Patent number: 7888558
    Abstract: The invention relates to plant transcription factor polypeptides, polynucleotides that encode them, homologs from a variety of plant species, and methods of using the polynucleotides and polypeptides to produce transgenic plants having advantageous properties, tolerance low nitrogen, cold and water deficit conditions, and resistance to disease, as compared to wild-type or other control plants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Mendel Biotechnology, Inc.
    Inventors: Neal I. Gutterson, Oliver Ratcliffe, Emily L. Queen, T. Lynne Reuber, Karen S. Century, Roger Canales
  • Publication number: 20100175145
    Abstract: The invention relates to plant transcription factor polypeptides, polynucleotides that encode them, homologs from a variety of plant species, and methods of using the polynucleotides and polypeptides to produce transgenic plants having improved tolerance to drought, shade, and low nitrogen conditions, as compared to wild-type or reference plants.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 15, 2010
    Publication date: July 8, 2010
    Applicant: MENDEL BIOTECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: JACQUELINE E. HEARD, JOSE LUIS RIECHMANN, ROBERT A. CREELMAN, OLIVER RATCLIFFE, ROGER D. CANALES, PETER P. REPETTI, RODERICK W. KUMIMOTO, NEAL I. GUTTERSON, T. LYNNE REUBER, OMAIRA PINEDA, CAI-ZHONG JIANG, KAREN S. CENTURY, LUC ADAM, JAMES Z. ZHANG, FREDERICK D. HEMPEL, JEFFREY M. LIBBY
  • Patent number: 7663025
    Abstract: The invention relates to plant transcription factor polypeptides, polynucleotides that encode them, homologs from a variety of plant species, and methods of using the polynucleotides and polypeptides to produce transgenic plants having improved tolerance to drought, shade, and low nitrogen conditions, as compared to wild-type or reference plants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2010
    Assignee: Mendel Biotechnology, Inc.
    Inventors: Jacqueline E. Heard, Jose Luis Riechmann, Robert A. Creelman, Oliver Ratcliffe, Roger D. Canales, Neal I. Gutterson, T. Lynne Reuber, Omaira Pineda, Tracy A. Morrison, Cai-Zhong Jiang, Karen S. Century
  • Patent number: 7659446
    Abstract: The invention relates to plant transcription factor polypeptides, polynucleotides that encode them, homologs from a variety of plant species, and methods of using the polynucleotides and polypeptides to produce transgenic plants having advantageous properties compared to a reference plant. Sequence information related to these polynucleotides and polypeptides can also be used in bioinformatic search methods is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2010
    Assignee: Mendel Biotechnology, Inc.
    Inventors: Bradley K. Sherman, Jose Luis Riechmann, Oliver Ratcliffe, Cai-Zhong Jiang, Jacqueline Heard, Volker Haake, Robert A. Creelman, Luc J. Adam, Lynne Reuber, James S. Keddie, Arnold Dubell, Omaira Pineda, Peter P. Repetti, Karen S. Century, Neal Gutterson, Guo-Liang Yu, Pierre Broun, Roderick Kumimoto, Marsha L. Pilgrim
  • Publication number: 20090265813
    Abstract: Transcription factor polynucleotides and polypeptides incorporated into expression vectors have been introduced into plants and were ectopically expressed. Transgenic plants transformed with many of these expression vectors have been shown to be more resistant to disease (in some cases, to more than one pathogen), or more tolerant to an abiotic stress (in some cases, to more than one abiotic stress). The abiotic stress may include salt, hyperosmotic stress, heat, cold, drought, or low nitrogen conditions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2006
    Publication date: October 22, 2009
    Applicant: Mendel Biotechnology , Inc.
    Inventors: Neal I. Gutterson, Oliver J. Ratcliffe, T. Lynne Reuber, Karen S. Century, Katherine Krolikowski, Jennifer Costa, Robert A. Creelman, Frederick D. Hempel, Roderick W. Kumimoto, Emily L. Queen, Peter P. Repetti, Luc Adam
  • Publication number: 20090265807
    Abstract: The invention relates to plant transcription factor polypeptides, polynucleotides that encode them, homologs from a variety of plant species, and methods of using the polynucleotides and polypeptides to produce transgenic plants having advantageous properties compared to a reference plant. Sequence information related to these polynucleotides and polypeptides can also be used in bioinformatic search methods and is also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 26, 2007
    Publication date: October 22, 2009
    Applicant: Mendel Biotechnology, Inc.
    Inventors: Roderick W. Kumimoto, Luc J. Adam, Roger Canales, Karen S. Century, Robert A. Creelman, Jennifer M. Costa, Neal I. Gutterson, Frederick D. Hempel, Jacqueline E. Heard, Cai-Zhong Jiang, Katherine Krolikowski, Omaira Pineda, Emily L. Queen, Oliver J. Ratcliffe, Peter P. Repetti, T. Lynne Reuber, Jose Luis Riechmann, James Z. Zhang
  • Publication number: 20090151015
    Abstract: Disease-inducible promoter sequences have been identified that may be used to produce transgenic plants that are both more resistant to disease than control plants, and are wild-type or nearly wild type in appearance. Any of these disease-inducible promoters may be incorporated into expression vectors that each comprise a defense response protein operably linked to the promoter. The expression vectors can be introduced into plants and the defense response protein then ectopically expressed. Transgenic plants transformed with many of these expression vectors have been shown to be more resistant to disease, in some cases, to more than one type of pathogen, and yet are similar to wild type plants in their morphology and development.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2007
    Publication date: June 11, 2009
    Applicant: MENDEL BIOTECHNOLOGY, INC
    Inventors: Luc Adam, T. Lynne Reuber, Karen S. Century
  • Publication number: 20090138981
    Abstract: Transcription factor polynucleotides and polypeptides incorporated into nucleic acid constructs, including expression vectors, have been introduced into plants and were ectopically expressed. Transgenic plants transformed with many of these constructs have been shown to be more resistant to disease (in some cases, to more than one pathogen), or more tolerant to an abiotic stress (in some cases, to more than one abiotic stress). The abiotic stress may include, for example, salt, hyperosmotic stress, water deficit, heat, cold, drought, or low nutrient conditions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 17, 2008
    Publication date: May 28, 2009
    Applicant: Mendel Biotechnology, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter P. Repetti, T. Lynne Reuber, Oliver Ratcliffe, Karen S. Century, Katherine Krolikowski, Robert A. Creelman, Frederick D. Hempel, Roderick W. Kumimoto, Luc J. Adam, Neal I. Gutterson, Roger Canales, Emily L. Queen, Jennifer M. Costa
  • Publication number: 20080301836
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for selection of modified plant transcription factor polypeptides, polynucleotides that encode them, and methods of producing transgenic plants having advantageous properties, including increased biotic resistance and abiotic stress tolerance, as compared to wild-type or control plants. Without modifications, the transcription factor sequences, when overexpressed in plants, often produce adverse morphological and developmental effects. The disclosed method allows selection of modifications that mitigate these adverse morphological and developmental effects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2008
    Publication date: December 4, 2008
    Applicant: Mendel Biotechnology, Inc.
    Inventors: Karen S. Century, T. Lynne Reuber, Katrin Jakob, Oliver J. Ratcliffe
  • Publication number: 20080301840
    Abstract: The invention relates to plant transcription factor polypeptides, polynucleotides that encode them, homologs from a variety of plant species, and methods of using the polynucleotides and polypeptides to produce transgenic plants having advantageous properties, tolerance low nitrogen, cold and water deficit conditions, and resistance to disease, as compared to wild-type or other control plants.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2007
    Publication date: December 4, 2008
    Applicant: Mendel Biotechnology, Inc.
    Inventors: Neal I. Gutterson, Oliver J. Ratcliffe, Emily L. Queen, T. Lynne Reuber, Karen S. Century, Roger D. Canales
  • Patent number: 6579677
    Abstract: The NDR1 gene of Arabidopsis thaliana has been cloned and sequenced. NDR1 is necessary for plant defense mediated by numerous disease resistance gene products. Expression of NDR1 in transgenic plants confers resistance to a broad variety of plant pathogens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2003
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of California
    Inventors: Brian J. Staskawics, Karen S. Century, Allan Shapiro, Peter P. Repetti, Douglas Dahlbeck
  • Patent number: 6166295
    Abstract: The NDR1 gene of Arabidopsis thaliana has been cloned and sequenced. NDR1 is necessary for plant defense mediated by numerous disease resistance gene m products. Expression of NDR1 in transgenic plants confers resistance to a broad variety of plant pathogens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2000
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of California
    Inventors: Brian J. Staskawics, Karen S. Century, Allan Shapiro, Peter P. Repetti, Douglas Dahlbeck