The invention relates to a novel chemically inducible plant viral amplicon (CMViva) expression system that permits controllable, high level expression of foreign genes in plant hosts. This system employs agro-infiltration of plants to provide a transient production of a protein of interest, such as a human blood protein. This system provides a major advantage over existing plant expression systems because it allows for consistent expression of foreign or heterologous proteins in plant hosts.

The present invention provides diacylhydrazine ligands and chiral diacylhydrazine ligands for use with ecdysone receptor-based inducible gene expression systems. Thus, the present invention is useful for applications such as gene therapy, large scale production of proteins and antibodies, cell-based screening assays, functional genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and regulation of traits in transgenic organisms, where control of gene expression levels is desirable. An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a means to regulate gene expression and to tailor expression levels to suit the user's requirements.

The present invention refers to methods for selectively recognizing a base pair in a DNA sequence by a polypeptide, to modified polypeptides which specifically recognize one or more base pairs in a DNA sequence and, to DNA which is modified so that it can be specifically recognized by a polypeptide and to uses of the polypeptide and DNA in specific DNA targeting as well as to methods of modulating expression of target genes in a cell.

Method for heterologous protein production in plant cell plastids comprising introducing into plant cells nucleic acid components that encode heterologous proteins under the control of promoters operative in plastids, vectors, host cells, plants and uses thereof.

Cis-acting regulatory elements were identified and engineered as a modulating element within a regulatory element (for example, a promoter, 5UTR, intron or 3UTR). Next, the chimeric cis-acting regulatory element and promoter were assayed to determine if the cis-acting regulatory elements could enhance the expression of a downstream coding sequence operably linked to the chimeric cis-acting regulatory element and promoter. Disclosed are novel cis-acting regulatory elements that were identified to enhance the expression of a downstream coding sequence.

The invention provides a compositions and methods for controlling phenotypic traits in plants. Genes of interest are placed under the control of a gene switch to allow inducible control or expression of a gene of interest on-demand by treatment of the plant with a chemical ligand.

The invention provides a compositions and methods for controlling phenotypic traits in plants. Genes of interest are placed under the control of a gene switch to allow inducible control or expression of a gene of interest on-demand by treatment of the plant with a chemical ligand.

This disclosure describes, in one aspect, a cell that includes a biocontainment system. Generally, the biocontainment system includes a coding region whose overexpression decreases growth of the cell, a transcription regulatory region that includes a silent mutation and is operably linked upstream of the coding region, and a polynucleotide that encodes a programmable transcription activator engineered to bind to the transcription regulatory region in the absence of the silent mutation. Thus, in the absence of the silent mutation, the programmable transcription activator induces overexpression of the coding region; in the presence of the silent mutation, the programmable transcription activator does not initiate overexpression of the coding region.

Cis-acting regulatory elements were identified and engineered as a modulating element within a regulatory element (for example, a promoter, 5UTR, intron or 3UTR). Next, the chimeric cis-acting regulatory element and promoter were assayed to determine if the cis-acting regulatory elements could enhance the expression of a downstream coding sequence operably linked to the chimeric cis-acting regulatory element and promoter. Disclosed are novel cis-acting regulatory elements that were identified to enhance the expression of a downstream coding sequence.

The present invention refers to methods for selectively recognizing a base pair in a DNA sequence by a polypeptide, to modified polypeptides which specifically recognize one or more base pairs in a DNA sequence and, to DNA which is modified so that it can be specifically recognized by a polypeptide and to uses of the polypeptide and DNA in specific DNA targeting as well as to methods of modulating expression of target genes in a cell.