Patent Application
20050095688
The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of L-amino acids, especially L-threonine, using strains of the family Enterobacteriaceae in which at least one or more genes selected from the group comprising lpd, aceE and aceF is (are) enhanced.
L-Amino acids, especially L-threonine, are used in human medicine and in the pharmaceutical industry, in the food industry and very particularly in animal nutrition.
It is known to prepare L-amino acids by the fermentation of strains of Enterobacteriaceae, especially Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Serratia marcescens. Because of their great importance, attempts are constantly being made to improve the preparative processes. Improvements to the processes may relate to measures involving the fermentation technology, e.g. stirring and oxygen supply, or the composition of the nutrient media, e.g. the sugar concentration during fermentation, or the work-up to the product form, e.g. by ion exchange chromatography, or the intrinsic productivity characteristics of the microorganism itself.
The productivity characteristics of these microorganisms are improved by using methods of mutagenesis, selection and mutant choice to give strains which are resistant to antimetabolites, e.g. the threonine analog α-amino-β-hydroxyvaleric acid (AHV), or auxotrophic for metabolites of regulatory significance, and produce L-amino acids, e.g. L-threonine.
Methods of recombinant DNA technology have also been used for some years to improve L-amino acid-producing strains of the family Enterobacteriaceae by amplifying individual amino acid biosynthesis genes and studying the effect on production.
The object which the inventors set themselves was to provide novel procedures for improving the preparation of L-amino acids, especially L-threonine.
The invention provides a process for the preparation of L-amino acids, especially L-threonine, using microorganisms of the family Enterobacteriaceae which, in particular, already produce L-amino acids and in which at least one or more of the nucleotide sequences coding for the genes lpd, aceE and aceF is (are) enhanced.
The term “L-amino acids” or “amino acids” mentioned hereafter is to be understood as meaning one or more amino acids, including their salts, selected from the group comprising L-asparagine, L-threonine, L-serine, L-glutamate, L-glycine, L-alanine, L-cysteine, L-valine, L-ethionine, L-isoleucine, L-leucine, L-tyrosine, L-phenylalanine, L-histidine, L-lysine, L-tryptophan and L-arginine. L-Threonine is particularly preferred.
In this context the term “enhancement” describes the increase, in a microorganism, of the intracellular activity of one or more enzymes or proteins coded for by the appropriate DNA, for example by increasing the copy number of the gene or genes, using a strong promoter or a gene or allele coding for an appropriate enzyme or protein with a high activity, and optionally combining these measures.
Through the measures of enhancement, especially over-expression, the activity or concentration of the appropriate protein is generally increased at least by 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, 150%, 200%, 300%, 400% or 500%, and at most by up to 1000% or 2000%, based on that of the wild-type protein or the activity or concentration of the protein in the starting microorganism.
The process is characterized in that the following steps are carried out:
The microorganisms provided by the present invention can produce L-amino acids from glucose, sucrose, lactose, fructose, maltose, molasses, optionally starch or optionally cellulose, or from glycerol and ethanol. Said microorganisms are representatives of the family Enterobacteriaceae selected from the genera Escherichia, Erwinia, Providencia and Serratia. The genera Escherichia and Serratia are preferred. The species Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens may be mentioned in particular among the genera Escherichia and Serratia respectively.
Examples of suitable strains, particularly L-threonine-producing strains, of the genus Escherichia, and especially of the species Escherichia coli, are:
Examples of suitable L-threonine-producing strains of the genus Serratia, and especially of the species Serratia marcescens, are:
L-Threonine-producing strains of the family Enterobacteriaceae preferably possess, inter alia, one or more genetic or phenotypic characteristics selected from the group comprising resistance to α-amino-β-hydroxyvaleric acid, resistance to thialysine, resistance to ethionine, resistance to α-methylserine, resistance to diaminosuccinic acid, resistance to α-aminobutyric acid, resistance to borrelidine, resistance to rifampicin, resistance to valine analogs such as valine hydroxamate, resistance to purine analogs such as 6-dimethylaminopurine, need for L-methionine, optionally partial and compensable need for L-isoleucine, need for meso-diaminopimelic acid, auxotrophy in respect of threonine-containing dipeptides, resistance to L-threonine, resistance to L-homoserine, resistance to L-lysine, resistance to L-methionine, resistance to L-glutamic acid, resistance to L-aspartate, resistance to L-leucine, resistance to L-phenylalanine, resistance to L-serine, resistance to L-cysteine, resistance to L-valine, sensitivity to fluoropyruvate, defective threonine dehydrogenase, optionally capability for sucrose utilization, enhancement of the threonine operon, enhancement of homoserine dehydrogenase I-aspartate kinase I, preferably of the feedback-resistant form, enhancement of homoserine kinase, enhancement of threonine synthase, enhancement of aspartate kinase, optionally of the feedback-resistant form, enhancement of aspartate semialdehyde dehydrogenase, enhancement of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, optionally of the feedback-resistant form, enhancement of phosphoenolpyruvate synthase, enhancement of transhydrogenase, enhancement of the RhtB gene product, enhancement of the RhtC gene product, enhancement of the YfiK gene product, enhancement of a pyruvate carboxylase and attenuation of acetic acid formation.
It has been found that the production of L-amino acids, especially L-threonine, by microorganisms of the family Enterobacteriaceae is improved after enhancement and, in particular, over-expression of at least one or more genes selected from the group comprising lpd, aceE and aceF.
The nucleotide sequences of the genes of Escherichia coli belong to the state of the art (cf. literature references below) and can also be taken from the genome sequence of Escherichia coli published by Blattner et al. (Science 277, 1453-1462 (1997)).
The lpd, aceE and aceF genes are described inter alia by the following data:
lpd Gene
The nucleic acid sequences can be taken from the data banks of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) of the National Library of Medicine (Bethesda, Md., USA), the nucleotide sequence data bank of the European Molecular Biologies Laboratories (EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany, or Cambridge, UK) or the DNA Databank of Japan (DDBJ, Mishima, Japan).
The genes described in the literature references cited can be used according to the invention. It is also possible to use alleles of the genes which result from the degeneracy of the genetic code or from neutral sense mutations. The use of endogenous genes is preferred.
The term “endogenous genes” or “endogenous nucleotide sequences” is to be understood as meaning the genes or alleles, or nucleotide sequences, present in the population of a species.
Enhancement can be achieved for example by increasing the expression of the genes or enhancing the catalytic properties of the proteins. Both measures may optionally be combined.
Over-expression can be achieved by increasing the copy number of the appropriate genes or mutating the promoter and regulatory region or the ribosome binding site located upstream from the structural gene. Expression cassettes incorporated upstream from the structural gene work in the same way. Inducible promoters additionally make it possible to increase expression in the course of L-threonine production by fermentation. Measures for prolonging the life of the mRNA also improve expression. Furthermore, the enzyme activity is also enhanced by preventing the degradation of the enzyme protein. The genes or gene constructs can either be located in plasmids of variable copy number or be integrated and amplified in the chromosome. Alternatively, it is also possible to achieve over-expression of the genes in question by changing the composition of the media and the culture technique.
Those skilled in the art will find relevant instructions inter alia in Chang and Cohen (Journal of Bacteriology 134, 1141-1156 (1978)), Hartley and Gregori (Gene 13, 347-353 (1981)), Amann and Brosius (Gene 40, 183-190 (1985)), de Broer et al. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 80, 21-25 (1983)), Lavallie et al. (BIO/TECHNOLOGY 11, 187-193 (1993)), PCT/US97/13359, Llosa et al. (Plasmid 26, 222-224 (1991)), Quandt and Klipp (Gene 80, 161-169 (1989)), Hamilton et al. (Journal of Bacteriology 171, 4617-4622 (1989)), Jensen and Hammer (Biotechnology and Bioengineering 58, 191-195 (1998)) and well-known textbooks on genetics and molecular biology.
Plasmid vectors replicable in Enterobacteriaceae, e.g. cloning vectors derived from pACYC184 (Bartolome et al.; Gene 102, 75-78 (1991)), pTrc99A (Amann et al.; Gene 69, 301-315 (1988)) or pSC101 derivatives (Vocke and Bastia; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 80(21), 6557-6561 (1983)), can be used. In one process according to the invention, it is possible to use a strain transformed with a plasmid vector, said plasmid vector carrying at least one or more genes selected from the group comprising lpd, aceE and aceF, or nucleotide sequences coding therefor.
Also, mutations which affect the expression of the appropriate genes can be transferred to different strains by sequence exchange (Hamilton et al.; Journal of Bacteriology 171, 4617-4622 (1989)), conjugation or transduction.
Furthermore, for the production of L-amino acids, especially L-threonine, with strains of the family Enterobacteriaceae, it can be advantageous not only to enhance one or more genes selected from the group comprising lpd, aceE and aceF, but also to enhance one or more enzymes of the known threonine biosynthetic pathway, or enzymes of the anaplerotic metabolism, or enzymes for the production of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, or glycolytic enzymes, or PTS enzymes or enzymes of sulfur metabolism. The use of endogenous genes is generally preferred.
Thus, for example, one or more genes selected from the group comprising:
Furthermore, for the production of L-amino acids, especially L-threonine, it can be advantageous not only to enhance one or more genes selected from the group comprising lpd, aceE and aceF, but also to attenuate and, in particular, switch off one or more genes selected from the group comprising:
In this context the term “attenuation” describes the decrease or switching-off of the intracellular activity, in a microorganism, of one or more enzymes (proteins) coded for by the appropriate DNA, for example by using a weak promoter or using a gene or allele which codes for an appropriate enzyme with a low activity or inactivates the appropriate enzyme (protein) or gene, and optionally combining these measures.
The attenuation measures generally reduce the activity or concentration of the appropriate protein to 0 to 75%, 0 to 50%, 0 to 25%, 0 to 10% or 0 to 5% of the activity or concentration of the wild-type protein or of the activity or concentration of the protein in the starting microorganism.
Furthermore, for the production of L-amino acids, especially L-threonine, it can be advantageous not only to enhance one or more genes selected from the group comprising lpd, aceE and aceF, but also to switch off unwanted secondary reactions (Nakayama: “Breeding of Amino Acid Producing Microorganisms”, in: Overproduction of Microbial Products, Krumphanzl, Sikyta, Vanek (eds.), Academic Press, London, UK, 1982).
The microorganisms prepared according to the invention can be cultivated by the batch process, the fed batch process or the repeated fed batch process. A summary of known cultivation methods is provided in the textbook by Chmiel (Bioprozesstechnik 1. Einführung in die Bioverfahrenstechnik (Bioprocess Technology 1. Introduction to Bioengineering) (Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, 1991)) or in the textbook by Storhas (Bioreaktoren und periphere Einrichtungen (Bioreactors and Peripheral Equipment) (Vieweg Verlag, Brunswick/Wiesbaden, 1994)).
The culture medium to be used must appropriately meet the demands of the particular strains. Descriptions of culture media for various microorganisms can be found in “Manual of Methods for General Bacteriology” of the American Society for Bacteriology (Washington D.C., USA, 1981).
Carbon sources which can be used are sugars and carbohydrates, e.g. glucose, sucrose, lactose, fructose, maltose, molasses, starch and optionally cellulose, oils and fats, e.g. soya oil, sunflower oil, groundnut oil and coconut fat, fatty acids, e.g. palmitic acid, stearic acid and linoleic acid, alcohols, e.g. glycerol and ethanol, and organic acids, e.g. acetic acid. These substances can be used individually or as a mixture.
Nitrogen sources which can be used are organic nitrogen-containing compounds such as peptones, yeast extract, meat extract, malt extract, corn steep liquor, soya flour and urea, or inorganic compounds such as ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, ammonium phosphate, ammonium carbonate and ammonium nitrate. The nitrogen sources can be used individually or as a mixture.
Phosphorus sources which can be used are phosphoric acid, potassium dihydrogenphosphate or dipotassium hydrogenphosphate or the corresponding sodium salts. The culture medium must also contain metal salts, e.g. magnesium sulfate or iron sulfate, which are necessary for growth. Finally, essential growth-promoting substances such as amino acids and vitamins can be used in addition to the substances mentioned above. Suitable precursors can also be added to the culture medium. Said feed materials can be added to the culture all at once or fed in appropriately during cultivation.
The fermentation is generally carried out at a pH of 5.5 to 9.0, especially of 6.0 to 8.0. The pH of the culture is controlled by the appropriate use of basic compounds such as sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, ammonia or aqueous ammonia, or acid compounds such as phosphoric acid or sulfuric acid. Foaming can be controlled using antifoams such as fatty acid polyglycol esters. The stability of plasmids can be maintained by adding suitable selectively acting substances, e.g. antibiotics, to the medium. Aerobic conditions are maintained by introducing oxygen or oxygen-containing gaseous mixtures, e.g. air, into the culture. The temperature of the culture is normally 25° C. to 45° C. and preferably 30° C. to 40° C. The culture is continued until the formation of L-amino acids or L-threonine has reached a maximum. This objective is normally achieved within 10 hours to 160 hours.
L-Amino acids can be analyzed by means of anion exchange chromatography followed by ninhydrin derivation, as described by Spackman et al. (Analytical Chemistry 30, 1190-1206 (1958)), or by reversed phase HPLC, as described by Lindroth et al. (Analytical Chemistry 51, 1167-1174 (1979)).
The process according to the invention is used for the preparation of L-amino acids, e.g. L-threonine, L-isoleucine, L-valine, L-methionine, L-homoserine and L-lysine, especially L-threonine, by fermentation.
The present invention is illustrated in greater detail below with the aid of Examples.
The minimum medium (M9) and complete medium (LB) used for Escherichia coli are described by J. H. Miller (A Short Course in Bacterial Genetics (1992), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press). The isolation of plasmid DNA from Escherichia coli and all the techniques for restriction, ligation, Klenow treatment and alkaline phosphatase treatment are carried out according to Sambrook et al. (Molecular Cloning—A Laboratory Manual (1989), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press). The transformation of Escherichia coli is carried out according to Chung et al. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 86, 2172-2175 (1989)) or according to Chuang et al. (Nucleic Acids Research 23, 1641 (1995)).
The incubation temperature in the preparation of strains and transformants is 37° C.
Preparation of L-Threonine Using the lpd Gene
1a) Construction of Expression Plasmid pTrc99Alpd
The lpd gene from E. coli K12 is amplified using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and synthetic oligonucleotides. The nucleotide sequence of the lpd gene in E. coli K12 MG1655 (Accession Number AE000121, Blattner et al. (Science 277 (5331), 1453-1474 (1997))) is used as the starting material to synthesize PCR primers (MWG Biotech, Ebersberg, Germany). The 5′ ends of the primers are extended with recognition sequences for restriction enzymes and with two to four additional bases. This part of the primer is identified by a hyphen (−) in the representation below. The recognition sequences for NcoI and SalI, which are underlined in the nucleotide sequences shown below, are chosen for the 5′ and 3′ primers respectively:
The chromosomal E. coli K12 MG1655 DNA used for the PCR is isolated with “Qiagen Genomic-tips 100/G” (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. An approx. 1500 bp DNA fragment can be amplified with the specific primers under standard PCR conditions (Innis et al. (1990) PCR Protocols. A Guide to Methods and Applications, Academic Press) using Pfu DNA polymerase (Promega Corporation, Madison, USA). The PCR product is ligated with vector pCR-Blunt II-TOPO (Zero Blunt TOPO PCR Cloning Kit, Invitrogen, Groningen, The Netherlands) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and transformed into the E. coli strain TOP10 (Invitrogen, Groningen, The Netherlands). Plasmid-carrying cells are selected on LB agar supplemented with 50 μg/ml of kanamycin. After isolation of the plasmid DNA, the vector is cleaved with the restriction enzymes NcoI and SalI and, after checking in 0.8% agarose gel, is called pCRBluntlpd. Vector pCRBluntlpd is then restricted with the restriction enzymes NcoI and SalI and, after separation in 0.8% agarose gel, the lpd fragment is isolated using the QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany). Vector pTrc99A (Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden) is cleaved with the enzymes NcoI and SalI and ligated with the isolated lpd fragment. The E. coli strain XL1-Blue MRF′ (Stratagene, La Jolla, USA) is transformed with the ligation mixture and plasmid-carrying cells are selected on LB agar supplemented with 50 μg/ml of ampicillin. The success of the cloning can be demonstrated, after isolation of the plasmid DNA, by control cleavage with the enzymes NcoI/SalI, EcoRV and DraIII. The plasmid is called pTrc99Alpd (
1b) Preparation of L-Threonine with the Strain MG442/pTrc99Alpd
The L-threonine-producing E. coli strain MG442 is described in patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,765 and is deposited in the Russian National Collection for Industrial Microorganisms (VKPM, Moscow, Russia) as CMIM B-1628.
The strain MG442 is transformed with expression plasmid pTrc99Alpd, described in Example 1a, and with vector pTrc99A and plasmid-carrying cells are selected on LB agar supplemented with 50 μg/ml of ampicillin. This procedure yields the strains MG442/pTrc99lpd and MG442/pTrc99A. Chosen individual colonies are then multiplied further on minimum medium of the following composition: 3.5 g/l of Na2HPO4.2H2O, 1.5 g/l of KH2PO4, 1 g/l of NH4Cl, 0.1 g/l of MgSO4.7H2O, 2 g/l of glucose, 20 g/l of agar, 50 mg/l of ampicillin. The formation of L-threonine is verified in 10 ml batch cultures contained in 100 ml conical flasks. This is done by inoculating 10 ml of preculture medium of the following composition: 2 g/l of yeast extract, 10 g/l of (NH4)2SO4, 1 g/l of KH2PO4, 0.5 g/l of MgSO4.7H2O, 15 g/l of CaCO3, 20 g/l of glucose, 50 mg/l of ampicillin, and incubating for 16 hours at 37° C. and 180 rpm on an ESR incubator from Kuhner AG (Birsfelden, Switzerland). 250 μl of each of these precultures are transferred to 10 ml of production medium (25 g/l of (NH4)2SO4, 2 g/l of KH2PO4, 1 g/l of MgSO4.7H2O, 0.03 g/l of FeSO4.7H2O, 0.018 g/l of MnSO4-1H2O, 30 g/l of CaCO3, 20 g/l of glucose, 50 mg/l of ampicillin) and incubated for 48 hours at 37° C. The formation of L-threonine by the original strain MG442 is verified in the same way except that no ampicillin is added to the medium. After incubation the optical density (OD) of the culture suspension is determined using an LP2W photometer from Dr. Lange (Dusseldorf, Germany) at a measurement wavelength of 660 nm.
The concentration of L-threonine formed is then determined in the sterile-filtered culture supernatant using an amino acid analyzer from Eppendorf-BioTronik (Hamburg, Germany) by means of ion exchange chromatography and postcolumn reaction with ninhydrin detection.
Table 1 shows the result of the experiment.
Preparation of L-Threonine Using the aceE and aceF Genes
2a) Construction of Expression Plasmid pTrc99AaceEF
The aceEF gene region from E. coli K12 is amplified using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and synthetic oligonucleotides. The nucleotide sequence of the aceE and aceF genes in E. coli K12 MG1655 (Accession Number AE000120, Blattner et al. (Science 277, 1453-1474 (1997)) is used as the starting material to synthesize PCR primers (MWG Biotech, Ebersberg, Germany). The sequence of a primer is modified to create a recognition site for a restriction enzyme. The recognition sequence for SacI, which is underlined in the nucleotide sequence shown below, is chosen for the aceEF1 primer:
The chromosomal E. coli K12 MG1655 DNA used for the PCR is isolated with “Qiagen Genomic-tips 100/G” (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. An approx. 4800 bp DNA fragment can be amplified with the specific primers under standard PCR conditions (Innis et al. (1990) PCR Protocols. A Guide to Methods and Applications, Academic Press) using Pfu DNA polymerase (Promega Corporation, Madison, USA). The PCR product is ligated with vector pCR-Blunt II-TOPO (Zero Blunt TOPO PCR Cloning Kit, Invitrogen, Groningen, The Netherlands) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and transformed into the E. coli strain TOP10F′. Plasmid-carrying cells are selected on LB agar supplemented with 50 μg/ml of kanamycin. After isolation of the plasmid DNA, the vector is cleaved with the restriction enzymes EcoRI and BstEII/XhoI and, after checking by separation in 0.8% agarose gel, is called pCRBluntaceEF.
Vector pCRBluntaceEF is then restricted with the restriction enzymes SacI and XbaI and, after separation in 0.8% agarose gel, the aceEF fragment is isolated using the QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany). Vector pTrc99A (Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden) is cleaved with the enzymes SacI and XbaI and ligated with the isolated aceEF fragment. The E. coli strain XL1-Blue MRF′ (Stratagene, La Jolla, USA) is transformed with the ligation mixture and plasmid-carrying cells are selected on LB agar supplemented with 50 μg/ml of ampicillin. The success of the cloning can be demonstrated, after isolation of the plasmid DNA, by control cleavage with the enzymes HindIII and PstI. The plasmid is called pTrc99AaceEF (
2b) Preparation of L-Threonine with the Strain MG442/pTrc99AaceEF
The L-threonine-producing E. coli strain MG442 is described in patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,765 and is deposited in the Russian National Collection for Industrial Microorganisms (VKPM, Moscow, Russia) as CMIM B-1628.
The strain MG442 is transformed with expression plasmid pTrc99AaceEF, described in Example 2a, and with vector pTrc99A and plasmid-carrying cells are selected on LB agar supplemented with 50 μg/ml of ampicillin. This procedure yields the strains MG442/pTrc99aceEF and MG442/pTrc99A. Chosen individual colonies are then multiplied further on minimum medium of the following composition: 3.5 g/l of Na2HPO4.2H2O, 1.5 g/l of KH2PO4, 1 g/l of NH4Cl, 0.1 g/l of MgSO4.7H2O, 2 g/l of glucose, 20 g/l of agar, 50 mg/l of ampicillin. The formation of L-threonine is verified in 10 ml batch cultures contained in 100 ml conical flasks. This is done by inoculating 10 ml of preculture medium of the following composition: 2 g/l of yeast extract, 10 g/l of (NH4)2SO4, 1 g/l of KH2PO4, 0.5 g/l of MgSO4.7H2O, 15 g/l of CaCO3, 20 g/l of glucose, 50 mg/l of ampicillin, and incubating for 16 hours at 37° C. and 180 rpm on an ESR incubator from Kühner AG (Birsfelden, Switzerland). 250 μl of each of these precultures are transferred to 10 ml of production medium (25 g/l of (NH4)2SO4, 2 g/l of KH2PO4, 1 g/l of MgSO4.7H2O, 0.03 g/l of FeSO4.7H2O, 0.018 g/l of MnSO4.1H2O, 30 g/l of CaCO3, 20 g/l of glucose, 50 mg/l of ampicillin) and incubated for 48 hours at 37° C. The formation of L-threonine by the original strain MG442 is verified in the same way except that no ampicillin is added to the medium. After incubation the optical density (OD) of the culture suspension is determined using an LP2W photometer from Dr. Lange (Düsseldorf, Germany) at a measurement wavelength of 660 nm.
The concentration of L-threonine formed is then determined in the sterile-filtered culture supernatant using an amino acid analyzer from Eppendorf-BioTronik (Hamburg, Germany) by means of ion exchange chromatography and postcolumn reaction with ninhydrin detection.
Table 2 shows the result of the experiment.
The indicated lengths are to be understood as approximate. The abbreviations and symbols used are defined as follows:
The abbreviations for the restriction enzymes are defined as follows:
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102 10 962.1 | Mar 2002 | DE | national |
The present application is a continuation of international application PCT/EP03/01992, which has an international filing date of Feb. 27, 2003, and which was published in English under PCT Article 21(2) on Sep. 18, 2003. The international application claims priority to German application 102 10 962.1, filed on Mar. 13, 2002, and to U.S. provisional application 60/365,837, filed on Mar. 21, 2002.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60365837 | Mar 2002 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/EP03/01992 | Feb 2003 | US |
| Child | 10937598 | Sep 2004 | US |
