Courtesy of Benzinga.
22nd Century Group, Inc. (OTC: XXII)
announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for tobacco plants with altered
nicotine content developed by using nucleic acids derived from a
transcription factor gene identified as NbTF7 – also known as NbARF1.
NbTF7 simultaneously regulates the expression of multiple nicotine
biosynthesis genes.
The allowed claims of Patent Application No. 13/464,212, entitled, NUCLEIC
ACID SEQUENCES ENCODING TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS REGULATING ALKALOID
BIOSYNTHESIS AND THEIR USE IN MODIFYING PLANT METABOLISM, cover
producing tobacco plants with altered nicotine levels by mutagenesis of
the transcription factor gene NbTF7 that negatively regulates nicotine
biosynthesis. NbTF7 is one of
