Agritope, Inc. today announced that it has entered into separate agreements with The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego, California, and the Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, providing for a five-year research collaboration in the field of functional genomics.

Under the program, called the ACTTAG(TM) Gene Discovery Program, The Salk Institute and the
University of Edinburgh will generate genetically modified seed that will be screened for a wide variety of traits such as disease resistance, insect resistance, new morphologies, abiotic stress tolerance, improved flowering characteristics, herbicide tolerance and improved nutritional qualities.

The ACTTAG program is based on a novel functional genomic technique used successfully in the
laboratories of Detlef Weigel, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, in the Plant Biology Laboratory of The Salk Institute and by Christopher Lamb, Ph.D., who was previously director of the Plant Biology
Laboratory at The Salk Institute and is now Regius Professor of Plant Science, Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh. Agritope has developed a program utilizing this technique that is designed to rapidly discover, sequence and patent novel plant genes with the potential for the development of a wide range of improved agricultural crops.

"The ACTTAG Gene Discovery Program is being established to add a critical new dimension to the Agritope research and development program,'' said Adolph J. Ferro, Ph.D., president and chief
executive officer. "The program represents an important strategic move as we expand our research emphasis to include improvement of a wide variety of agricultural products, well beyond our historical focus on improved fruits and vegetables. We intend to combine the talents of Agritope scientists with those of their colleagues at Salk and Edinburgh to discover useful genes for commercialization by selected strategic partners.''

Ferro noted that the basic program will be carried out at Agritope and, in addition, discoveries at both institutes arising from the ACTTAG research program will be licensed to Agritope for
commercialization. To realize the full potential of the technology, Agritope is planning to collaborate with major industrial partners.

"This program takes advantage of a powerful, proven technique that has excellent potential to quickly identify useful genes,'' said Dr. Lamb of the University of Edinburgh. He was recently named to the Regius chair at Edinburgh, having previously served as director of the Plant Biology Laboratory of The Salk Institute where he was instrumental in developing an internationally recognized plant research program.

"The ACTTAG program's approach represents an important complement to many existing gene
discovery programs in that it is designed to rapidly identify novel genes and, at the same time, discover their function. We have already made several discoveries using this methodology,'' said Dr. Weigel. "Our scientists and those of Edinburgh will not only develop lines of plants for screening by Agritope and its strategic partners; they will also continue to utilize the collection of plants for continued research in their various specialties.''

Agritope, Inc. is an Oregon-based agricultural biotechnology company that develops improved plant products and provides technology to the agricultural industry.

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