More New Zealand researchers are seeking ways to control the parasitic "grey mould" fungus that causes diseases on a wide variety of food crops.
Botrytis cinerea, commonly known as bunch rot or grey mould, occurs in humid conditions and attacks most dicotyledonous plants - including kiwifruit, berryfruit, and glass house crops- especially in temperate regions around the world.
Genesis Research and Development Corp Ltd and Landcare Research today announced a joint venture to try and control botrytis and other destructive fungi.
Last year, another crown science company, Hortresearch, discovered a naturally-occurring fungus with the potential to stop grapes from rotting on the vine - a problem that costs the global wine industry billions of dollars a year.
A team of Hortresearch scientists funded by Winegrowers of New Zealand discovered the organic biological control agent, which is now being marketed as Botry-Zen after being commercialised by Dunedin businessman Howard Paterson and Zenith Technology directors Max Shepherd and Cheung-Tak Hung.
The joint venture announced today aims to develop a botrytis control suitable for application to crops close to harvest, without using a genetically-engineered organism.
As with Botry-Zen, the initial commercial target will be the international wine industry, which spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year to combat fungi. Synthetic fungicides are most commonly used, but fungicide resistance is now widespread.
"What makes this approach novel is the combination of Genesis' post genomics expertise and Landcare Research's expertise in fungi to identify potential control mechanisms," Genesis chief executive Dr Jim Watson said.
The two companies will jointly own the intellectual property developed through the partnership, and will patent some of their research findings.
