Breakthrough in Battle Against Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus
TomaTech, Ltd., announces a major advancement in the fight against the tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV), which has caused significant economic damage to the crop since 2014.
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“Following years of intensive research and development efforts, TomaTech has succeeded in identifying DNA markers that elicit resistance to ToBRFV,” says Ofer Ben Zvi, CEO of TomaTech. “This discovery will allow us to rapidly develop a complete portfolio of resistant tomato varieties for global introduction and will benefit the growers and the entire value chain, providing a consistent supply chain while lowering production costs.”
REHOVOT, Israel , May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ TomaTech, Ltd., announces a major advancement in the fight against the Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV), which has caused significant economic damage estimated as much as billions of USD in the last few years globally.
Lead by Assaf Eybishitz PhD, the company furthered the fight against this pandemic of the tomato world by filing for a provisional patent for identifying the DNA markers correlated to its resistant traits which will accelerate the breeding and commercialization of high resistance non-GMO tomato varieties.
“Following years of intensive R&D efforts, TomatTech has succeeded in identifying DNA markers that elicit resistance to ToBRFV,” says Ofer Ben Zvi, CEO of TomaTech. “This discovery will allow us to rapidly develop a complete portfolio of resistant tomatoe varieties for global introduction and will benefit the growers and the entire value chain, providing a consistent supply chain while lowering production c
Shoshanna Solomon is The Times of Israel s Startups and Business reporter
Agtech firm TomaTech says it has cracked the DNA to create resistance to the tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV).
Israeli ag-tech firm TomaTech, Ltd. said Monday that it has made a “major advancement” in the fight against a tomato virus that causes billions of dollars’ worth of damage to the fruit.
The company, which combines molecular technology with breeding techniques to create new and resistant varieties of tomatoes, said it has identified DNA markers in the tomato that can elicit resistance to the tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV).
TomaTech launches its range of tomato varieties with intermediate resistance to ToBRFV
TomaTech has amazed the fruit and vegetable sector with the announcement of the launch of a range of commercial tomato varieties resistant to ToBRFV. Over the last three years, the company s R&D team has channeled its energy, time and resources into researching the genetic lines of ToBRFV in order to obtain varieties that could curb the impact of this virus, which the sector is truly concerned about.
Spectacular results
The company has invested in the development of an efficient and reliable system to evaluate genotypes and phenotypes on a large scale, which has yielded spectacular results. We developed a highly efficient advanced screening system based on controlled inoculation and molecular technology, which scans thousands of plants simultaneously to identify and isolate active viral infections in very difficult field conditions, and in a wide range of cultivated tomatoes, says Dr. Assaf Ey