Profile Saaten-Union Resistenzlabor

In 1999 the Deutsche Saatveredelung Lippstadt-Bremen GmbH, today Deutsche Saatveredelung AG, joined as a further companion. Today the R&D company is working under the name “SAATEN-UNION Resistenzlabor GmbH”. The laboratories are situated in the buildings of the SAATEN-UNION member company W. von Borries-Eckendorf GmbH & Co in Leopoldshöhe, close to Bielefeld. Currently the company has 33 employees.

The laboratory covers a tissue culture department, a molecular marker department, a genetic engineering department and several growth chambers and climate controlled greenhouse cabinets (over all more than 700 square metres). Growing up of different stages of important agronomical crop species is therefore possible under specific abiotic and controlled regimes, which is a prerequisite for efficient doubled haploid production and resistance tests.
During the first stages of the company several tissue culture techniques were established. Today these techniques are efficient and economical routine procedures for small and middle sized plant breeding companies too. Anther culture, isolated microspore culture and interspecific hybridisations in connection with embryo rescue technology are today routinely under application in the plant breeding programmes of the eight member companies, but also for third parties and research institutions. Spring and winter forms of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), triticale (Triticosecale Wittmack) and rape seed (Brassica napus L.) are under work. Several hundred thousands of plants are produced per year. For quality check of the lines a routine high throughput flow cytometric approach was developed (auto sampler).

Efficient and cheap methods for chromosome doubling and microspore treatments for a production of high numbers were developed recently.
Since 1993 molecular genetic techniques could be established in the frame of R&D projects and since 1999 the genetic transformation of rape seed, flax, barley and wheat could be established. These technologies will be developed further for future R&D programmes.
All these methods are practically performed to support the R&D activities of the eight member enterprises. The company is strongly interested to participate in R&D projects in the field of plant breeding and plant biotechnology.