Nordsaat Saatzucht GmbH and Icon Genetics AG entered into a strategic alliance to develop a new hybrid seed system for winter wheat, which is based on the rubICON(TM) technology platform by Icon Genetics.

Wheat and corn are the most important food crops worldwide. The hectar yields in corn production have been continuously growing during the last 50 years, since the hybrid corn technology has been adopted. Hybrid seed is produced by crossing genetically different parental lines, resulting in a hybrid that, upon cultivation, displays superior plant growth, seed yield and increased stress resistance, the so-called heterosis effect. For industrial production of hybrid seed, the female crossing partner needs to be male-sterile in order to not become self fertilized by its own pollen. In the case of corn, the castration of the female plants is achieved by mechanical removal of the tassel (the anthers protruding from the crown of the plant), because the female and male organs of a corn plant are physically separated. A similar manual castration of wheat is impossible. Nordsaat Saatzucht has already a commercial hybrid wheat system in use which is based on the inactivation of pollen of the female line with a chemical called gametocide. The Company's wheat hybrids exhibit excellent yield properties and improved stability under draught stress, as demonstrated during the vegetation period 2003 in Germany and other north European agricultural regions. The chemical castration procedure, however, is associated with high costs and a considerable risk of production loss at the breeder's operation, thus limiting the commercial scale of use of the technology.

rubICON(TM), the new generation technology developed by Icon Genetics, allows to maintain the female partners as male-sterile plants, whereas the hybrids resulting from the pollination by a pollinator line are fully fertile. This conditional male sterility of the female line is achieved by splitting the gene causing male sterility into two halves or fragments. In the female crossing line, both gene fragments are present thus causing the plant to be male-sterile. As a result of the subsequent hybridisation step, each progeny inherits only one gene fragment, rendering all hybrid progenies fully fertile.

Wolf von Rhade, Managing Director of Nordsaat Saatzucht GmbH, commented on the joint project: "We are confident that, through introduction of Icon Genetics new hybrid seed system, we can significantly extend our hybrid wheat business. Wheat hybrids have extraordinary cultivation properties, and their wide introduction will contribute considerably to a more efficient and environmentally friendly agriculture in Europe. In addition to yield improvement, wheat hybrids also better withstand serious weather and climate fluctuations anticipated during the coming decades."

Prof. Yuri Gleba, CEO of Icon Genetics, added: "For Icon Genetics as a biotech company, entering into a strategic collaboration with a reputable plant breeder is a significant step in development and commercialisation of our new molecular breeding technologies. The project is an impressive example of the transfer of innovative research from a plant biotechnology company to a commercial developer, exactly as intended by our financial sponsors: the biotechnology initiative of the Saxony-Anhalt State Government and the InnoRegio research program of the Federal Ministery of Research and Technology at Berlin."

Nordsaat Saatzucht GmbH, Boehnshausen, is a seed breeder with about 100 years of business experience and a strong focus on cereals, corn and rape seed. Via Saaten-Union, a marketing and sales alliance of mid-sized plant breeders, Nordsaat supplies quality seeds to all member states of the European Union and beyond.