Reduced risk tobacco products and methods of making same
Embodiments provided herein concern tobacco and tobacco products having a reduced amount of a harmful compound. More specifically, several embodiments concern approaches to modify the expression of a gene that is involved in the production of a harmful compound in tobacco, tobacco products made using these approaches and methods of determining whether the removal of said compounds using said approaches yields a tobacco and/or a tobacco product that has a reduced potential to contribute to a tobacco-related disease.
1. A method of producing a transgenic tobacco plant comprising inhibiting expression of an endogenous gene comprising SEQ. ID. NO: 5 by RNA interference (RNAi) in a tobacco plant, wherein leaves from said transgenic tobacco plant have a reduced amount of nornicotine or nicotine or both nornicotine and nicotine, as compared to a control tobacco.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the leaves from said transgenic tobacco plant have a lower amount of nicotine as compared to a control tobacco.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the amount of nicotine is between 2.17 mg/g and 3.99 mg/g.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said leaves from said transgenic tobacco plant are a tobacco product.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein said leaves from said transgenic tobacco plant are a tobacco product.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein said leaves from said transgenic tobacco plant are a tobacco product.
7. The method of claim 4 , wherein said tobacco product is a cigarette.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein said tobacco product is a cigarette.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein said tobacco product is a cigarette.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the amount of nornicotine is 0.00 mg/g.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the amount of nornicotine is 0.06 mg/g.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the amount of nornicotine is 0.03 mg/g.
13. The method of claim 2 , wherein the amount of nicotine is 2.17 mg/g.
14. The method of claim 2 , wherein the amount of nicotine is 2.30 mg/g.
15. The method of claim 2 , wherein the amount of nicotine is 2.58 mg/g.
16. The method of claim 2 , wherein the amount of nicotine is 2.61 mg/g.
17. The method of claim 2 , wherein the amount of nicotine is 3.48 mg/g.
18. The method of claim 2 , wherein the amount of nicotine is 3.56 mg/g.
19. The method of claim 2 , wherein the amount of nicotine is 3.59 mg/g.
20. The method of claim 2 , wherein the amount of nicotine is 3.94 mg/g.
21. The method of claim 2 , wherein the amount of nicotine is 3.99 mg/g.