Patent ID: 8598332

Claim:
A method for reducing the phenotypic expression of a nucleic acid of interest, which is normally capable of being expressed in a plant cell, comprising the step of introducing into said plant cell a chimeric DNA comprising the following operably linked parts: a) a promoter, operative in said plant cell; b) a DNA region, which when transcribed, yields an RNA molecule comprising an RNA region capable of forming an artificial hairpin RNA structure comprising two annealing RNA sequences, wherein one of the annealing RNA sequences of the hairpin RNA structure comprises a sense sequence that is identical to at least 20 consecutive nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of said nucleic acid of interest, and wherein the second of said annealing RNA sequences comprises an antisense sequence that is identical to at least 20 consecutive nucleotides of the complement of at least part of said nucleotide sequence of said nucleic acid of interest, and wherein said DNA region comprises an intron heterologous to said sense sequence; and c) a DNA region involved in transcription termination and polyadenylation.