Method and computer program product for distinguishing and sorting seeds containing a genetic element of interest
First Claim
1. A method for distinguishing seeds containing a genetic element of interest from a bulk sample, the method comprising:
- associating a red fluorescent protein marker with at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample;
evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker using a seed color sorter; and
sorting the seeds containing a genetic element of interest based on the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker;
wherein the sorting step comprises dispensing the sorted individual seeds into at least one container, the container including seeds having the red fluorescent protein marker present or seeds in which the red fluorescent protein marker is absent, andwherein individual seeds are singulated from the bulk sample using a singulating device prior to said evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker, andfurther comprising associating a plurality of supplemental markers with at least some of the seeds containing a corresponding plurality of additional genetic elements of interest of the bulk sample;
evaluating at least one of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the plurality of supplemental markers using the seed color sorter; and
sorting the seeds containing the plurality of additional genetic elements of interest based on the presence or absence of the a plurality of supplemental markers.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and computer program product for distinguishing and sort seeds containing a genetic element of interest from a bulk sample. In various embodiments, the present invention comprises associating a marker with at least some of the seeds containing a genetic element of interest of the bulk sample, exciting the seeds using an electromagnetic energy emitting device, evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the marker using an evaluating device configured to excite a majority of the surface area of the seeds, and sorting the seeds containing a genetic element of interest based on the presence or absence of the marker. In various other embodiments, the method and computer program product may comprise associating a red fluorescent protein marker with at least some of the seeds containing a genetic element of interest of the bulk sample, evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence of the red fluorescent protein marker using an evaluating device, and sorting the seeds containing a genetic element of interest based on the presence of the red fluorescent protein marker. In some embodiments, the red fluorescent protein marker is discernable when excited by a certain energy and the evaluating step comprises exciting the seeds containing a genetic element of interest with the certain energy detecting an emission resulting at least in part from the exciting step.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method for distinguishing seeds containing a genetic element of interest from a bulk sample, the method comprising:
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associating a red fluorescent protein marker with at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample; evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker using a seed color sorter; and sorting the seeds containing a genetic element of interest based on the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker; wherein the sorting step comprises dispensing the sorted individual seeds into at least one container, the container including seeds having the red fluorescent protein marker present or seeds in which the red fluorescent protein marker is absent, and wherein individual seeds are singulated from the bulk sample using a singulating device prior to said evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker, and further comprising associating a plurality of supplemental markers with at least some of the seeds containing a corresponding plurality of additional genetic elements of interest of the bulk sample; evaluating at least one of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the plurality of supplemental markers using the seed color sorter; and sorting the seeds containing the plurality of additional genetic elements of interest based on the presence or absence of the a plurality of supplemental markers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer program product for distinguishing seeds containing a genetic element of interest that have a red fluorescent protein marker associated with at least some of the seeds of a bulk sample, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code instructions stored therein comprising:
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a first set of instructions for evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker using a seed color sorter; and a second set of instructions for sorting the seeds containing a genetic element of interest based on the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker; wherein the second set of instructions comprises instructions for dispensing the sorted individual seeds into at least one container, the container including seeds having the red fluorescent protein marker present or seeds in which the red fluorescent protein marker is absent, and further comprising a third set of instructions for controlling a singulating device to singulate individual seeds from the bulk sample prior to evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker, and wherein at least a portion of the seeds of the bulk sample contain a plurality of additional genetic elements of interest associated with a corresponding plurality of supplemental markers, the computer program product further comprising; a fourth set of instructions for evaluating at least one of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the plurality of supplemental markers using the seed color sorter; and a fifth set of instructions for sorting the seeds containing the plurality of additional genetic elements of interest based on the presence or absence of the a plurality of supplemental markers. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for distinguishing seeds containing a genetic element of interest from a bulk sample, the method comprising:
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associating a marker with at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample; exciting the seeds using an electromagnetic energy emitting device; evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the marker using a seed color sorter; and sorting the seeds containing a genetic element of interest based on the presence or absence of the marker; wherein the sorting step comprises dispensing the sorted individual seeds into at least one container, the container including seeds having a red fluorescent protein marker present or seeds in which a red fluorescent protein marker is absent, wherein the electromagnetic energy emitting device is configured to excite a majority of the surface area of the seeds, wherein individual seeds are singulated from the bulk sample using a singulating device prior to said evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker, and further comprising associating a plurality of supplemental markers with at least some of the seeds containing a corresponding plurality of additional genetic elements of interest of the bulk sample; evaluating at least one of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the plurality of supplemental markers using the seed color sorter; and sorting the seeds containing the plurality of additional genetic elements of interest based on the presence or absence of the a plurality of supplemental markers. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method for distinguishing seeds containing a genetic element of interest from a bulk sample, the method comprising:
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associating a red fluorescent protein marker with at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample; evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker using a seed color sorter; and sorting the seeds containing a genetic element of interest based on the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker, wherein the method further comprises re-routing the sorted seeds through the color seed sorter and re-evaluating the sorted seeds for the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker; wherein individual seeds are singulated from the bulk sample using a singulating device prior to said evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker, and further comprising associating a plurality of supplemental markers with at least some of the seeds containing a corresponding plurality of additional genetic elements of interest of the bulk sample; evaluating at least one of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the plurality of supplemental markers using the seed color sorter; and sorting the seeds containing the plurality of additional genetic elements of interest based on the presence or absence of the a plurality of supplemental markers. - View Dependent Claims (42)
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43. A method for distinguishing seeds containing a genetic element of interest from a bulk sample, the method comprising:
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associating a red fluorescent protein marker with at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample; evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker using a seed color sorter; and sorting the seeds containing a genetic element of interest based on the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker, wherein the sorting step comprises dispensing the sorted individual seeds into at least one container, the container including seeds having the red fluorescent protein marker present or seeds in which the red fluorescent protein marker is absent, wherein individual seeds are singulated from the bulk sample using a singulating device prior to said evaluating at least some of the seeds of the bulk sample for the presence or absence of the red fluorescent protein marker, and wherein the evaluating step comprises exciting the seeds containing a genetic element of interest with a certain energy, detecting an emission resulting at least in part from the exciting step, and translating the emission into substantially white light.
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Specification