Monheim, Germany
April 7, 2009

Extreme temperatures and limited water availability are major stresses for plants and cause dramatic losses to agriculture around the world. Ben-Gurion University (BGU) has announced the establishment of a research collaboration with Bayer BioScience to find solutions to this critical problem. This agreement builds upon the expertise and breakthrough results from Dr. Simon Barak’s laboratory at the University’s Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR), situated in Sede Boqer and a world leader in arid zone research.

Barak’s team is using a combination of approaches to identify genes that allow plants to tolerate the harsh environmental stresses characteristic of arid regions. Two of these genes have been studied in detail and the team found that by removing either of the two genes, the tolerance of the model plant, Arabidopsis, to heat, salt and drought could be increased. This study was published recently in Plant Physiology, a high impact international journal.

Signed between BGN Technologies – the technology transfer company of BGU and Bayer CropScience, the agreement will allow the identification of additional genes that make plants “stress-resistant”. Barak, a member of the French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands at the BIDR, noted that the new collaboration will allow his team to further sift through the estimated 30,000 Arabidopsis genes to identify additional candidate stress tolerance genes.

Bayer BioScience, one of the three business groups of Bayer CropScience AG, plays a prominent international role in the development and commercialization of seeds for agricultural crops. The company uses plant biotechnology and refinement techniques to develop varieties that are adapted to the requirements of tomorrow’s agriculture. BioScience has more that 2100 employees worldwide and is headquartered in Lyon, France.

Website: http://www.bayercropscience.com

Published: April 7, 2009