Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/52389
High-tech nursery LAUNCHED Phytelligence can propagate plants faster and guarantees the genetic identity. by Geraldine Warner Amit Dhingra has experience in tissue culture of a wide range of plants. "Once you develop a variety, one of the roadblocks for its adoption is having enough numbers for the growers to start growing them." —Amit Dhingra D r. Amit Dhingra, genomicist with Washington State University, has set up a new company to produce fruit varieties, rootstocks, and nurs- ery trees faster and cheaper through tissue culture. In addition, the identities of the plants are guaranteed through high-resolution genetic fingerprinting. The company, called Phytelligence, is a spinoff of WSU. Dhingra and six of his graduate students at WSU developed micropropagation protocols as well as the technique and software for accurately verifying the genetic identity of the plantlets they produce. Dhingra said the protocols were developed initially for research purposes, but when people saw how well they worked, he was encouraged to commercialize them. These new techniques will help get new products out to growers more quickly. Engineered forEngineered for performance, durability, reliability, and longevity! Discover the Chinook fan blade advantage. fan blade advantage. The WSU Research Foundation owns the inventions and is licensing the intellectual property to Phytelligence, which was incorporated last October and is based in Pull- man, Washington. The university will receive royalties on sales as well as an ownership stake. Dhingra and his stu- dents are also co-owners of Phytelligence along with chief executive officer Chris Leyerle, a former entrepreneur-in- residence at WSU with broad experience in building start- up companies. The role of an entrepreneur-in-residence is to commercialize promising innovations for the benefit of the university, investors, and the community. Better way Dhingra describes the company as a high-tech nursery that can supply plants to other nurseries or growers. There's a need in the tree fruit industry for a better way to propagate planting material, whether new rootstocks or varieties that are in the pipeline, he said. "Once you develop a variety, one of the roadblocks for its adoption is having enough numbers for the growers to start growing them." The company can propagate several cultivars of apples, cherries, strawberries, and grapes, and expects to extend its techniques to many more. Growing plants through tissue culture has not always 5 Increased Radius Coverage by 80-150 Feet with Same HP Draw 5 Air Flow Starts 14'' from Hub 5 Donier Swept Tip—Reduces Tip Drag 5 The Only Fan Blade with the "Trailing Edge Wedge" (widens sector angle and increases air velocity) 5 Advanced Flow Design 5 Increased Horsepower 5 LESS FUEL CONSUMPTION 5 Quality Built, Affordable, Fast Payback Returns been very successful in the past, Dhingra said. In his work on tissue culture of a wide range of plants, he's found that the growth medium is one key to successful propagation. Each cultivar requires a specific combination of nutrients and certain environmental conditions. A plantlet can die if the nutrient mix is wrong. In the right mix, it's possible to grow four cycles of rootstocks in a single season, during the time that a conventional nursery would grow one. Because this is done in a few square feet of greenhouse space, rather than a stool bed, the overheads are lower. Phytelligence can produce a nursery tree ready for planting in one year, and because the greenhouse envi- ronment is sterile and controlled, cleaner and more con- sistent trees can be produced without fungicides. The trees are well established, free of pests (viruses and diseases), and ready to bear fruit. "We believe it's possible to produce a higher-quality plantlet in less time and at less cost, using fewer resources, that will have a higher success rate in the field and produce fruit in less time," Leyerle said. A shorter time between planting and fruiting means less time between investing in the planting and receiving revenue, he added. "If you shorten that, you change in a fundamental way the economics of the grower. It makes financing simpler—you need less of it—and it takes some of the risk out." Genetic fingerprinting 1801 Presson Place Yakima, WA 98903 509-248-0318 fax 509-248-0914 hfhauff@gmail.com www.hfhauff.com 16 JANUARY 15, 2012 GOOD FRUIT GROWER Although genetic fingerprinting has been done before, it has usually been based on comparison of just a few points across the genetic landscape, Dhingra said. He and his students developed a quick and cost-effective method to compare almost the entire genome. The identity of the plant material the company receives for micropropaga- tion is checked on arrival, and the finished product is checked again before delivery. www.goodfruit.com H. F . HA UFF C O M P A N Y I N C . FORD TRITON V-10 or IVECO NEF 6.7 DIESEL Need better performance & coverage? Trial the Chinook blade at our expense! Judge for yourself! Satisfaction Guaranteed!