{"id":338500,"date":"2025-08-12T13:05:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T13:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/338500\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T13:05:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T13:05:15","slug":"bti-meiogenix-and-ffar-announce-2-million-breakthrough-tomato-genetics-collaboration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/338500\/","title":{"rendered":"BTI, Meiogenix and FFAR announce $2 million breakthrough tomato genetics collaboration"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\"Launch<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

image:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Front: Dr. Magdalena Julkowska, Assistant Professor, Boyce Thompson Institute. Back (from left): Dr. Gaganpreet Sidhu, CTO, Meiogenix, Dr. Jim Giovannoni, USDA Scientist and BTI Adjunct Professor;\u00a0 Ricardo Garcia de Alba, CEO, Meiogenix; and Dr. Zhangjun Fei, Professor, BTI. The group gathered to celebrate the launch of the collaborative project.<\/p>\n

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\n view more\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Credit: Boyce Thompson Institute<\/p>\n

In a landmark $2 million initiative, the\u00a0Boyce Thompson Institute<\/a>\u00a0(BTI)\u00a0and\u00a0biotechnology company\u00a0Meiogenix<\/a>\u00a0have\u00a0launched a collaboration to develop drought- and disease-resistant tomatoes by tapping the genetic power of wild species. The project, funded through a\u00a0generous\u00a0Foundation for Food & Agriculture\u00a0Research<\/a>\u00a0(FFAR) Seeding Solutions grant, seeks to ensure a stable tomato supply by leveraging cutting-edge genomics and breeding technologies to address\u00a0the global threats of\u00a0environmental\u00a0stress\u00a0and pathogens.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis\u00a0project\u00a0demonstrates how\u00a0public-private partnerships\u00a0can\u00a0accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into practical solutions for food production,\u201d said\u00a0Dr. Kathy Munkvold,\u00a0FFAR scientific program director. \u201cUsing the rich genetic diversity of wild relatives will help us develop tomatoes that are more resilient\u00a0to stress,\u00a0resource efficient\u00a0for farmers\u00a0and widely available for consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite their economic and nutritional importance, tomatoes remain highly vulnerable to\u00a0water scarcity and\u00a0early blight. Wild tomato species, however, have naturally evolved in some of the harshest environments and possess unique genetic traits with the potential to revolutionize breeding.<\/p>\n

The project will combine high-throughput screening of hundreds of wild tomato species with the latest advances in genomics. Central to this effort is the creation of a comprehensive\u00a0genetic map, or\u00a0pangenome,\u00a0to capture all genetic variation across tomato species, enabling researchers to pinpoint rare genetic variants for drought tolerance and disease resistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cA single tomato genome doesn\u2019t capture the full extent of genetic diversity,\u201d said\u00a0primary investigator\u00a0Zhangjun\u00a0Fei<\/a>,\u00a0BTI professor and\u00a0genomics expert. \u201cOur pangenome approach will help us identify structural variants\u00a0–\u00a0large DNA differences between wild and cultivated tomatoes\u00a0–\u00a0that are responsible for valuable traits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once high-value traits are identified,\u00a0Meiogenix\u00a0will\u00a0apply\u00a0its\u00a0targeted recombination platform to precisely transfer the genes for drought tolerance and\u00a0disease resistance to\u00a0elite tomato germplasm,\u00a0a process that avoids introducing undesirable wild traits and does not create GMOs.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cTraditional breeding with wild relatives is challenging because you bring many undesirable traits along with the beneficial ones,\u201d said Ricardo Garcia de Alba, CEO of\u00a0Meiogenix<\/a>. \u201cOur technology allows for more precise transfers of just the beneficial genetic variants, dramatically speeding up the breeding process.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Step Toward More Resilient, Sustainable and Productive Food Systems<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Water Efficiency: Enhanced drought-tolerant tomatoes will reduce irrigation demands\u2014a critical advance since approximately 80% of the world\u2019s farmland faces water constraints.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Sustainability: Improved resistance to early blight means reduced reliance on chemical fungicides, supporting more environmentally friendly farming.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Broad Potential: The technology and methods developed through this project could set a precedent for improving other crops, fostering advances across global agriculture.<\/p>\n

BTI adjunct professor and USDA scientist\u00a0Jim Giovannoni<\/a>, whose pioneering work on fruit quality helped inspire this approach,\u00a0said,\u00a0\u201cWe originally developed this discovery pipeline using wild relatives of tomato to improve fruit quality, but the approach can be used for virtually any crop improvement\u00a0trait.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaganpreet\u00a0Sidhu, CTO of\u00a0Meiogenix,\u00a0shared,\u00a0\u201cWe are combining the power of pangenome analysis with targeted genetic recombination to unlock hidden genetic diversity and precisely transfer it into elite lines. What makes it even more exciting is that this approach is crop-agnostic, opening the door to transformative advances in crop improvement across species.\u201d<\/p>\n

The collaborative research initiative officially launched in July 2025, with the project expected to span several years as researchers complete genetic screening, pangenome construction, trait identification,\u00a0trait introgression using targeted recombination\u00a0and subsequent breeding stages. Updates on key milestones and anticipated application timelines will be shared as the project\u00a0progresses.<\/p>\n

About the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI)<\/strong>
Founded in 1924 and located in Ithaca, New York, BTI is at the forefront of plant science research. Our mission is to advance, communicate, and leverage pioneering discoveries in plant sciences to develop sustainable and resilient agriculture, improve food security, protect the environment, and enhance human health. As an independent nonprofit research institute, we are committed to inspiring and training the next generation of scientific leaders. Learn more at\u00a0BTIscience.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About\u00a0Meiogenix<\/strong>
Meiogenix\u00a0is an agriculture biotech company that enables advanced breeding by leveraging targeted recombination. By unlocking the natural genetic diversity of crops,\u00a0Meiogenix\u00a0expands the biodiversity that can be used by farmers to address productivity, sustainability and food challenges. For more information, please visit\u00a0https:\/\/meiogenix.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

About the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research<\/strong>
The\u00a0Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research<\/a>\u00a0(FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges. FFAR was established in the 2014 Farm Bill to increase public agriculture research investments, fill knowledge gaps and complement the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s research agenda. FFAR\u2019s model matches federal funding from Congress with private funding, delivering a powerful return on taxpayer investment. Through collaboration and partnerships, FFAR advances actionable science benefiting farmers, consumers and the environment.<\/p>\n

Method of Research<\/p>\n

Experimental study<\/p>\n

Subject of Research<\/p>\n

Cells<\/p>\n

Disclaimer:<\/strong> AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"image:\u00a0 Front: Dr. Magdalena Julkowska, Assistant Professor, Boyce Thompson Institute. Back (from left): Dr. Gaganpreet Sidhu, CTO, Meiogenix,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3846],"tags":[267,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-338500","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-genetics","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115015943672434719","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}