| 07 Apr 2009 |
| Algal Bioprospecting
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| A partnership between PlantBio and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Azitu Biotech (Pty) Ltd
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| PlantBio established a for profit in vitro initiation platform to develop new tissue culture protocols and generate “elite mother stocks” of plants suitable for commercial use. |
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| 01 Jun 2007 |
| Biocontrol of Panama Disease in Banana
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| Bananas are rank fourth as the world's most valuable food corp and Panama wilt disease effects this crop significantly. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Biosafety South Africa
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| PlantBio has taken the leadership in funding the establishment of a Biosafety Platform for South Africa which will be run as an independent company. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Breeding And Agronomic Studies Of Sweet Stem Sorghum For South African Conditions
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| Biofuels are viewed as the most viable option as a sustainable source of energy. Sweet stem sorghum is ideal for the production of bioethanol as it is one of the crop plants with a high percentage of easily fermentable sugars and relatively high levels of drought tolerance. |
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| 01 Jun 2007 |
| Cape Gourmet Mushrooms (Pty) Ltd
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| The production of gourmet mushrooms is a niche market where the supply does not meet the ever increase demand. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Capelands Nurseries (Pty) Ltd
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| PlantBio injected share capital and loan finance into the existing Capelands Nurseries (Pty) Ltd to scale it up to a world class ornamental plant propagation facility utilising tissue culture technology. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Centre For Proteomic And Genomic Research
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| The Centre for Proteomic and Genomic Research (CPGR) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2007 by the Cape Biotech and PlantBio Trusts (both initiatives of the Department of Science and Technology). |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Citrogold South Africa And Biogold Holdings
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| PlantBio provided share capital and loan finance into the existing CitroGold South Africa (CGSA), a South African Cultivar Management company situated in Stellenbosch. The funds were utilised to scale up operations in South Africa, and for the foundation of BioGold Holdings (BGH) to develop international commercialisation possibilities. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Cyclotron Mutagenesis Of The African Food Security Crops
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| The cyclotron research and development project was a collaborative initiative with RIKEN, the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, in Japan within the Bilateral Agreement between the Governments of South Africa and Japan. As part of the National Biotechnology Strategy established by DST, PlantBio funded this initiative whereby a South African research institution utilized RIKEN’s cyclotron mutagenesis facilities. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Development Of Tissue-Specific Promoters For Transgenic Improvement Of Sugar-Cane And Other Crop Species
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| PlantBio and the South African Sugarcane Research Institute (SASRI) co-funded this project in which the use of micro-arrays to identify genes with differential and sufficient expression in root, stem and leaf tissues was proposed. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Evaluation Of Cassava Germplasm In Maputoland
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| PlantBio co-funded this project with the Industrial Development Corporation with the aim of identifying suitable varieties for the viable and sustainable production of cassava starch in the Maputoland area. This starch would then be providing sustainable economic and social upliftment in Maputoland. A number of cassava varieties will be assessed and once appropriate selections have been identified, they will be multiplied using in vitro propagation and conventional stake methods. Upon a successful outcome of the project, PlantBio is interested in investing in a propagation facility to rapidly multiply cassava and provide planting material for the production area that will serve the starch factory. A South African cassava plant breeding initiative is also being considered. |
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| 01 Jun 2007 |
| False Codling Moth: Sterile Insect Technology - XSit (Pty) Ltd
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| XSit (Pty) Ltd is a prime example of biological control, one of PlantBio's strategic technology areas. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Improvement Of Cassava Virus Resistance
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| This is a transgenic cassava project which uses an RNA silencing approach for engineering resistance to cassava begomoviruses (the cause of Cassava Mosaic Disease) in South African elite cultivars, landraces and commercially grown varieties with potential for industrial starch production. |
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| 05 Mar 2009 |
| Lignocellulosic enzymes for agricultural feedstocks [LEAF]
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| A collaborative project with UWC, US and CSIR. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Maize Expression Quantitative Trait Loci (MeQTL)
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| PlantBio provided the financial investment to fund a three year project which is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2009. The Consortium members for this project are the University of Pretoria, Centre for Proteomic and Genomic Research, PANNAR Research Services, African Centre for Crop Improvement/ University of KwaZulu-Natal |
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| 05 Mar 2009 |
| Micro-RNA Discovery in South African Grapevile
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| The South African grapevine and wine industry contributes to more than R22 billion to our GDP per annum. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Opv Seed Feasibility Study
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| An opportunity was recognised to uplift smallholder farmers, and to significantly increase their contribution towards the South African maize balance sheet. The objective of the Open Pollinated Varieties (OPV) Seed study is to unlock the full entrepreneurial skills and potential of smallholder farmers by determining a viable business model for the production of open pollinated variety maize seeds by small scale farmers and provision of a marketing arm in the Eastern Cape & KwaZulu-Natal. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Sugar Cane Feasibility Study
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| The South African Sugar Industry is a major contributor to our economy with sales in excess of five billion rands per annum. The industry has a substantial impact in rural areas creating employment for many as farm labourers and in the fifteen sugar mills which are situated in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal and Mpumalanga areas. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Sweet Stem Sorghum: Eastern Cape
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| Sweet stem sorghum has been identified as an ideal crop for bioethanol due to its high percentage of fermentable sugars and its drought tolerance. It is necessary to establish which varieties are best suited to which particular areas of South Africa. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| Triticale Breeding Programme
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| PlantBio is funding a four year breeding programme with the University of Stellenbosch to evaluate the potential of Triticale for ethanol production. Triticale a low input crop which is a man made hybrid of wheat and rye, is used primarily for silage by dairy farmers. Advantages of using triticale as a feedstock for Biofuel production as opposed to other small grains are: increased starch yields which could be converted to ethanol, low input requirements, and the fact that it could be grown on marginal land, thus avoiding direct competition with land used for food crops. |
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| 06 Mar 2009 |
| XSIT (Pty) Ltd
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| PlantBio has identified FCM as a significant pest of citrus and has undertaken to finance this biological control initiative aimed at a more sustainable, environmentally-friendly approach to controlling the pest. |
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