European Patent Office published application EP4353740A1 filed by Universidade de Évora (Portugal) for a gene silencing construct and method to induce plant resistance against anthracnose disease. The invention involves a DNA construct encoding a hairpin RNA targeting the CfHMA1 gene in Colletotrichum pathogens. Designated states cover all current EU member states plus extended countries (AL, AT, BE, BG, CH, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, LI, LT, LU, LV, MC, ME, MK, MT, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SI, SK, SM, TR).\n\nThis is a patent publication notice only. There are no compliance deadlines, reporting requirements, or enforcement actions associated with this document. Third parties have nine months from publication to file observations or opposition. Agricultural biotechnology companies and plant science researchers should review the claims to assess potential freedom-to-operate implications for anthracnose-resistant crop development programs.