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DuPont and Evogene Collaborate to Increase Drought Tolerance in Corn and Soybeans

01 Nov 2007 - DuPont and Evogene Ltd. announced a research collaboration to improve drought stress tolerance primarily in corn and soybeans. Under the agreement, DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred has exclusive rights to several genes discovered by Evogene for improving these traits. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
 
"Drought has an enormous impact on crop productivity and quality as well as cost of production. It's the one agronomic pressure that negatively affects growers in every country around the world, every year," said William S. Niebur, vice president -- DuPont Crop Genetics Research and Development. "We look forward to creatively combining our technologies to develop superior products that use water more efficiently, leading to greater productivity, profitability and sustainability of agricultural systems."
 
The candidate genes were discovered by Evogene's most advanced in-silico gene discovery technology called the "ATHLETE." Pioneer will evaluate the licensed genes in its elite corn and soybean germplasm to measure the benefit in its commercial products.