BASF plant biotechnology increases crop yield through better insight in molecular networks

The VIB Department for Plant Systems Biology at Ghent University and BASF Plant Science announced today a cooperation agreement in plant biotechnology. Together they will develop a technology to identify genes and gene networks that control crop yield. The project, designated TopYield, will explore and unravel the large natural variability of plant growth under different conditions, including drought stress. The TopYield project will run for several years. It involves about 20 full-time researchers of VIB at Ghent University and is the largest collaboration that has ever been entered into by VIB in the field of plant biotechnology. The BASF Plant Science activities for this project will focus on testing and validating the research results in its laboratory, greenhouse and screening facilities and will be mainly handled by the company’s research site at Ghent, Belgium.