Genesis R&D to study plant hormones

New Zealand based Genesis Research and Development Corporation (ASX/NZSE:GEN) will get $NZ6 million from the Foundation for Research Science and Technology to discover and investigate new plant hormones and signalling processes.

"In the plant world, hormones control plant growth, flowering and disease resistance," said CEO Jim Watson. Most known plant hormones were discovered several decades ago, with only two discovered relatively recently, he said. But examination of the genetic footprint of plants has revealed that there are a lot of receptor genes in plant genomes.

"We're going to look for the hormones that bind to the receptors," Watson said. He explained that plant hormones could be used to develop more environmentally friendly agrochemicals for crop improvement.

"I'd liken it to the health industry where the discovery of new cytokines have been used to develop new medicines," he said. A possible application would be to produce natural plant regulators for external application to enhance growth or other traits.

Genesis is basing its program on an examination of the large number of receptor genes found in plant genomes, using EST databases developed by the company.

Watson explained that to do this, they would use proprietary gene silencing technology to examine receptor genes and determine their function. Once gene function has been established, the company will identify the hormone involved in the process.

According to Watson, the company hopes to identify several new hormones each year of the program, which is expected to last for four years.

Genesis R&D's head of corporate services, Stephen Hall, has been in Australia talking to investors. "Basically, because we've moved from a foreign listing to a full listing [on the Australian stock exchange], we're trying to bump up our profile," he said.

Hall said that the company planned to make regular trips to Australia now that it was fully listed on the ASX.