Granted Patent B2

US 12,318,445 · App. 17/931,876 · Granted Jun 3, 2025

Inventor: Jasper Clube (London, GB)

Assignee: SNIPR TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED

A61K39/3955A61K31/7105A61K35/15A61K35/17A61P35/00A61P37/00A61K39/0011A61K2039/505C12N2320/30C12N2320/50

Abstract

Claims (20)

1. A method of modifying a mixed bacterial population comprised by or on a surface of a plant or in a soil environment, comprising:

a) contacting the mixed bacterial population with an engineered nucleic acid sequence for producing a host modifying (HM) crRNA, and

b) producing the HM-crRNA in a host cell of a first bacterial species,

wherein the HM-crRNA is operable with a Cas nuclease in the host cell to form a HM-CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)/Cas system, and wherein the HM-crRNA comprises a sequence that is capable of hybridizing to a target sequence of the host cell to guide the Cas nuclease to the target sequence in the host cell, whereby the target sequence is modified by the HM-CRISPR/Cas system,

wherein the first species is selected from the group consisting of a Ralstonia , a Xanthomonas , a Xylella , and a Pectobacterium bacteria,

wherein the mixed bacterial population comprises a second species of bacteria that is different from the first species, and

wherein growth of the second species of bacteria is not modified by the CRISPR/Cas system in the mixed bacterial population.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises carrying out a treatment in the plant.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the treatment is a growth-promoting treatment, growth-inhibiting treatment, pesticide treatment, nitrogen fixing promotion treatment, herbicidal treatment or fertilizer treatment.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein carrying out the treatment in the plant comprises applying the treatment to soil.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the plant is a tuber plant and the first species is Pectobacterium atrosepticum.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the treatment is cold storage, washing, a pesticide or herbicide treatment, fertilizing, or hydrating of the plant or a crop thereof.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the plant is a tobacco plant and the first species is Ralstonia solanacearum.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the treatment is cold storage, washing, a pesticide or herbicide treatment, fertilizing, or hydrating of the plant or a crop thereof.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Cas nuclease is endogenous to the host cell.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Cas is a Cas3, Cas9 or Cpf1.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the engineered nucleic acid sequence is comprised by a vector, wherein the vector is a virus, phage, prophage or conjugative plasmid.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein release of one or more chemicals or messengers by host cells in the mixed bacterial population is reduced.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first species is selected from the group consisting of Ralstonia solanacearum, Xanthomonas euvesicatoria, Xanthomonas hortorum, Xanthomonas vesicatoria, Xylella fastidiosa, Pectobacterium carotovorum , and Pectobacterium atrosepticum.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the host cell is killed or growth of the host cell is reduced and wherein growth of the second species of bacteria is not substantially reduced, thereby reducing the proportion of host cells in the mixed bacterial population.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (5)

References Cited (400)

Cited By (4)

US 12,502,401 US 12,514,869 US 12,516,297 US 12,528,842