| abstract |
This invention involves a cloning or expression vector comprising a gene which encodes 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) polypeptide which, when expressed in a plant cell contains a chloroplast transit peptide which allows the polypeptide, or an enzymatically active portion thereof, to be transported from the cytoplasm of the plant cell into a chloroplast in the plant cell, and confers a substantial degree of glyphosate resistance upon the plant cell and plants regenerated therefrom. The EPSPS coding sequence may be ligated to a strong promoter, such as the 35S promoter from cauliflower mosaic virus, to create a chimeric gene. Such genes can be inserted into plant transformation vectors, and subsequently introduced into plant cells. Plant cells transformed using such genes and plants regenerated therefrom have been shown to exhibit a substantial degree of glyphosate resistance. |