Abstract: Methods for the isolation and purification of the phytotoxin cercosporin are disclosed as well as methods for identifying microorganisms capable of degrading cercosporin. Cercosporin can be purified from members of the fungal genus Cercospora and incorporated into culture medium for selection of those organisms resistant to cercosporin. Once identified, these organisms can be used to isolate the protein and the gene responsible for conferring cercosporin-resistance. The gene can be cloned and inserted into a suitable expression vector so that the protein can be further characterized. Additionally, the DNA encoding for cercosporin-resistance can be inserted into a vector suitable for transforming an Agrobacterium and the Agrobacterium in turn used to transform plant cells normally susceptible to Cercospora infection. Plants can be regenerated from the transformed plant cells. In this way, a transgenic plant can be produced with the capability of degrading cercosporin.

Abstract: The invention discloses an in vivo method for transforming and regenerating intact plants. According to the method, a plant (P) is infected with an infectious microbial agency comprised of: (1) virulence functions, (2) oncogenic factors capable of inducing a shoot-bearing shooty tumor on plant (P), and (3) a carrier vector containing engineered heterologous transfer DNA capable of being integrated into the nuclear DNA of plant (P) cells. Infected plant (P) is maintained until a shoot-bearing shooty tumor develops at or near the infection site. Those shoots, or progeny thereof, that contain transformed cells having heterologous transfer DNA integrated into their genomes are the selected and utilized to produce whole plants that contain cells having heterologous transfer DNA integrated into their genomes.

Abstract: A method of and apparatus for producing blowing wool from bonded glass fibre material are disclosed in which the glass fibre material is conveyed and cut into strips. These strips are then transversely cut to produce individual cut pieces of the glass fibre material, which are then delaminated in an air stream to produce a blowing wool.