Senesco Technologies, Inc. announced today that it has significantly delayed senescence (aging) in detached leaves of the Arabidopsis plant (Arabidopsis thaliana). Detached leaves are analagous to fresh produce (e.g. lettuce) that has been harvested for market. These results are on schedule with Senesco’s research and development program created by Dr. John E. Thompson, the Company’s Executive Vice President – Research and Development.

“We have made second generation (T2) transgenic plants which exhibit delayed senescence,” commented Dr. Thompson. “Detached leaves of some transgenic plants are still green after ten days, whereas those from the unaltered plants begin to yellow within two to three days. After one week, levels of chlorophyll are on average eight hundred percent higher in transgenic leaves than in unaltered leaves, indicating that the onset of senescence is significantly delayed in the transgenic leaves.”

"A delay in senescence of this magnitude is dramatic,” said Dr. Alan Bennett, a Professor at the University of California, Davis and member of the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board. “When the trait is transferred to crop plants it could have a significant impact on the yield of cereals and result in a major improvement of the shelf life and quality of perishable crops such as flowers, fruits and vegetables."

Senesco is an agrobiotechnology company developing gene technology to prolong shelf life in produce. The Company is based in Princeton, New Jersey.

Company news release
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