Appeal No. 2003-0936
Application No. 09/532,806
and use the full scope of the subject matter claimed is well within
the knowledge and skill of a person with the ordinary level of
knowledge and skill in this art to perform without undue
experimentation. For example, appellants’ specification teaches
(Spec., pp. 12-13; emphasis added)):
[T]he current invention includes sequences which have
been derived from the maize GRP promoter disclosed
herein. One efficient means for preparing such
derivatives comprises introducing mutations into the
sequences of the invention, for example, the sequence
given in SEQ ID NO:1. Such mutants may potentially
have enhanced or altered function relative to the
native sequence or alternatively, may be silent with
regard to function.
Mutagenesis may be carried out at random and the
mutagenized sequences screened for function in a trial-
by-error procedure. Alternatively, particular sequences
which provide the ZMGRP promoter with desirable expression
characteristics could be identified and these or similar
sequences introduced into other related or non-related
sequences via mutation. Similarly, non-essential elements
may be deleted without significantly altering the function
of the elements. It further is contemplated that one
could mutagenize these sequences in order to enhance
their utility in expressing transgenes in a particular
species, for example, maize.
The means for mutagenizing a DNA segment encoding a
ZMGRP promoter sequence of the current invention are well-
known to those of skill in the art. Mutagenesis may be
performed in accordance with any of the techniques known
in the art, such as, but not limited to, synthesizing an
oligonucleotide having one or more mutations within the
sequence of a particular regulatory region. In particular,
site-specific mutagenesis is a technique useful in
the preparation of promoter mutants, through specific
mutagenesis of the underlying DNA. The technique further
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