Non-GMO, herbicide-tolerant sorghum developed in U.S.

Cibus LLC, a U.S. plant breeding technology company and The National Grain Sorghum Producers Foundation (NGSPF), have announced a partnership with Valent Corporation, a provider of crop protection products, to develop non-GMO, herbicide-tolerant sorghum.

A statement said "the collaboration pioneers a new standard for providing valuable traits to farmers while avoiding the unknown and potentially unintended consequences associated with GMO crops. Cibus' proprietary gene conversion technology, known as the Rapid Trait Development System (RTDS), will be used to develop this new trait in grain sorghum, providing high tolerance levels to Valent's post-emergence grass herbicide brand. "

Trevor Thorley, president of Valent said, "Cibus' proven technology will help growers more easily produce safe and abundant food. Given the global reach of Valent's parent company, Sumitomo Chemical Company, a world leader in the discovery of crop protection and plant enhancement products, we look forward to exploring opportunities with Cibus for other crops around the world."

"Sorghum producers have needed some new grass control options for quite some time," said NGSPF president Bruce Maunder. "Our partnership with Cibus and now Valent will allow for much-needed technology development in our crop. Once it makes its way into producer fields, it should help increase both yields and profitability for sorghum producers."

The RTDS technology is said to be develop non-GMO traits faster and at lower cost than transgenic alternatives. It works through the cell's natural process of gene repair. Every time a cell copies DNA, it makes "scrivener" errors or spelling mistakes. These variations happen all the time, which is how natural variation occurs.

Cibus' technology is said to harnesses the cell's own natural DNA repair machinery to correct such spelling mistakes, thus directing DNA repair enzymes to correct and repair the targeted gene in a specific way in order to produce a desired trait. The process, in its precision, is similar to altering a single letter in a word contained within a large book. Nothing in the genome, other than the changes directed by the process, is altered by this approach. RTDS is more precise and much faster than traditional hit-and-miss plant breeding and transgenic breeding technology, both of which can take years to perfect a trait.

"RTDS promises a revolution in genetics,a limitless range of value-added new products that are acceptable to environmentally-conscious consumers and governments, and help farmers solve their toughest pest management problems," says Keith Walker, president of Cibus. "RTDS technology can be used to create non-GMO plants tolerant to most herbicide chemistries currently marketed to farmers."

Digital50