b'PARTNER CONTENTRemember the Old-Fashioned Grow-Out? So Does Mark MassoudiTimes have changed due to DNA marker technologies that one company is making the most of to help breeders save time.M ark Massoudi recently had an experience that reminded him of why he got into the business of helping seed com-panies and plant breeders do their work faster than ever thought possible.A brand-new client said to me, I cant believe Ag-Biotech provided the data within days. In the past we had to wait a month-and-a-half. Thats been the norm until now. I just cant wait that long, says Massoudi, owner of the California-based Ag-Biotech. For seed companies and plant breeders, time is always of the essence. The more they get done in as little time as possible, the more successful they are in their work.Ag-Biotechs genomic testing servicesstarting with the companys signature Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS)help breeders to better grow their new cultivars and, as a result, their business.Whether its tomatoes, peppers, strawberries or a multitude of other crops, we have tools available to use that are available 12 months out of the year. It makes life much easier, Massoudi says.Using its molecular tools, Ag-Biotech can quickly validate both purity and percent purity of a seed lot. Massoudi uses the follow-ing scenario to illustrate why this is a huge benefit: Ag-Biotechs services make the old-fashioned grow-out obsolete.If a company produces many seed lots of, say, cucurbits orWith us, its like going to a hospital and youre the most impor-Solanaceae, before they accept and pay for the seeds, they want totant patient. You need those test results right away. Thats where make sure the produced seed lots have acceptable hybrid puritywe come in. Why do you need the results fast? You have to make range. With our technology, within days clients have an answer.a decision. You cant put things on hold and stop the plant from Traditionally, everyone had to do grow-outs: take the seeds andgrowing, he notes. plant them and observe the phenotypic outcome to indicate whatAnother example: sometimes you have to transplant to the was a pass or no-pass, Massoudi says. field. Youre at the mercy of commercial growers time and plant-Its whats inside the seed that determines if you have the righting schedule. hybrid. With our technology, you dont have to wait six months toA breeder must coordinate the time of their field evaluation do your grow-out. You have very accurate data within days. Youwith commercialgrowers. A grower growing a few hundred acres can prep your seeds, clean them up, coat them and get them readycant wait for a breederstest plot, they have to move on. Time is for the market. of the essence to make decisions and selections based on markers It all comes down to time, Massoudi says. Its the one resourceand transplant in the field with other growers so they can really seed companies and plant breeders have very limited amounts of,evaluate their breeding materials under field growing conditions. so it has to be used wisely. Thats where Ag-Biotech comes in. We want to ensure breeders do not miss that short window.Turnaround time is extremely important to any plant breeder.Visit agbiotech.net for more info.SEPTEMBER 2020SEEDWORLD.COM /19'