FuturaSalt™

According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), over 10% of the irrigated lands in the world have been damaged by salt. Salinity, by inhibiting growth and crop yield, is a severe and increasing constraint on agricultural productivity. With continued farming practices this problem only gets exacerbated. Salinity tolerance has been considered to be a quantitative trait involving multiple genes and has had limited success to improvements by traditional plant breeding programs. FuturaGene has an active program to address this challenge.

One of our biotechnological targets for improving plant salinity tolerance is the genetic engineering of the Salt Overly Sensitive pathway. A critical aspect of salt tolerance is for plant cells to maintain a low concentration of the toxic sodium ion (Na+) in the cytosol. Our genes have proven to play important roles in three mechanisms that include:

1. minimizing Na+ entry into the cell,
2. eflux of Na+ from the cell, and
3. sequestration of Na+ into the vacuole.

FuturaGene has also discovered novel technologies, salt stress-regulated microRNAs that in addition to the SOS pathway help plants tolerate salinity. Greenhouse and field trials are currently underway in tomato, rice, wheat, peanut and tobacco plants for salt tolerance.