b'the new repository, the USDA-ARS will maintain thegenetically distinct, native cultivars of the fruit.germplasm and collaborate with Cornell University scientists, where they already partner on research forA group of University of NebraskaLincoln recently grape, apple, cherry, tomato and Brassica crops. earned a $2.7 million, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a rapid, efficient Scientists have found how to relieve a bottleneck in themethod for characterizing the functions of genes in process by which plants transform sunlight into food,sorghum. which may lead to an increase in crop production. They discovered that producing more of a proteinBUSINESS NEWSthat controls the rate in which electrons flow duringSyngenta introduced a new $30 million Trait photosynthesis, accelerates the whole process. LeadConversion Acceleratora highly-automated researcher Maria Ermakova from the ARC Centre ofcontrolled environment corn breeding facilityat its Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis (CoETP),Nampa R&D and seed production facility.The Nampa says that this is the first time that scientists havefacility will house the capabilities and capacity to bring generated more of the Rieske FeS protein inside plantschoice in traits to corn growers. Customers of the that use the C4 photosynthesis pathway. NK and Golden Harvest corn seed brands, as well as independent seed companies that license Syngenta Salk Institute researchers have discovered a gene thattechnologies through GreenLeaf Genetics, will benefit determines whether roots grow deep or shallow in thefrom faster access to more hybrids with the latest soil. The initiative aims to grow plants with more robustAgrisure trait technologies. and deeper roots that can store increased amounts of carbon underground for longer to reduce CO2 in theBarenbrug USA announced that Barenbrug USA atmosphere. The Salk initiative will receive more thanis now a supplier to one of the broadest national $35 million from over 10 individuals and organizationsdistribution networks in the USA, Primera Coop.through The Audacious Project to further this effort.Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. announced a binding term Researchers have uncovered an unusual proteinsheet agreement with Arista Cereal Technologies activity in rice that can be exploited to give crops anand Bay State Milling Company for commercialization edge in the evolutionary arms race against rice blastof its high fiber resistant starch wheat in key wheat disease, a major threat to rice production around themarkets, including North America, Europe and parts world. Magnaporthe oryzae, the fungus that leadsof Asia. Under the terms of the binding agreement, to rice blast disease, creates lesions on rice plantsBay State Milling will become the exclusive commercial that reduce the yield and quality of grain. The funguspartner for Arcadiashigh fiber wheat in North America causes a loss of up to a third of the global rice harvest,under Bay State Millings HealthSense brand portfolio, roughly enough to feed more than 60 million peoplewhile Arista receives exclusive rights under Arcadias each year. intellectual property in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Japan and South Korea.Scientists have created a new mobile surveillance technique to rapidly diagnose one of agriculturesCorteva Agriscience and Evogene announced oldest enemieswheat rusts. Using a hand-held DNAthat Corteva will make an investment in Evogenes sequencing device, they can define the precise strainagriculture biologicals subsidiary, Lavie Bio (Lavie). of the wheat rust fungus in a farmers field within justThe transaction includes the exchange of all shares of 48 hours of collecting samples. This gives researchersCortevas wholly owned subsidiary Taxon Biosciences worldwide vital time needed to spot and controlalong with an equity investment by Corteva in emerging epidemics.Lavie. As consideration for the Taxon Biosciences shares and equity investment, Corteva will be issued Scientists led by the National Laboratory of Genomicsapproximately 30% of Lavies equity while Evogene will for Biodiversity in Mexico, Texas Tech University, andhold approximately 70% of Lavies equity.the University at Buffalo have sequenced the avocado genome. The study reveals that the popular HassSyngenta and the Analytics Society of INFORMS avocado, which comprises the bulk of all avocadoslaunched the 2020 Syngenta Crop Challenge in grown and eaten around the world, inherited aboutAnalytics, a competition that seeks analytical 61% of its DNA from Mexican varieties and about 39%approaches to improve complex crop breeding from Guatemalan ones. Aside from the Hass avocado,processes. Data analytics, mathematics and statistics the scientists also sequenced avocados from Mexico,students, as well as professionals worldwide are invited Guatemala, and the West Indies, which are home toto enter by Jan. 21, 2020. Using real-world crop data, 82/ SEEDWORLD.COMOCTOBER 2019'