Evogene Ltd (NASDAQ: EVGN) took on some strength in its stock price, after reaching a milestone in its partnership with Monsanto. (NYSE: MON)
The Israel-based company, devoted to the improvement of crop productivity and economics for food, feed and biofuel industries, announced the milestone in its crop disease collaboration with Monsanto with the demonstration of positive Fusarium resistance results with Evogene discovered genes.
What’s more, Evogene announced the completion of the candidate gene discovery stage in the companies’ yield and abiotic stress collaboration, which mainly focuses on corn and soy.
A release out Tuesday morning said the crop disease collaboration program was focused on the discovery of candidate genes predicted to provide resistance to Stalk Rot disease caused by multiple Fusarium species.
Fusarium is a family of fungi that causes yield loss across many of the world’s major crops, including corn and wheat. In model plant validation testing, Evogene discovered genes were successful in showing resistance to Fusarium, and the top prioritized genes are now advancing to testing in Monsanto’s corn pipeline.
The release also pointed to the recently-completed gene discovery phase of the collaboration, in which Evogene identified approximately 4,000 genes predicted to be associated with individual plant traits.
Monsanto Company, headquartered in St. Louis, is a leading producer of genetically engineered seed and Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide.
Its shares dumped 26 cents by midday Tuesday to $117.51, while Evogene gained 65 cents, or 13.2%, to $5.55.