Penn State Researchers win funding for new tomatoes varieties

Penn State research teams working on two promising discoveries a new, energy-efficient treatment to kill destructive insects in wood, and new tomato varieties bred for Pennsylvania conditions each have won $75,000 Research Applications for Innovation, or RAIN, grants to bring their discoveries to market.

"We have invested a lot already in the program to develop new tomato varieties," said Majid Foolad, professor of plant genetics in the college.

Foolad has successfully bred and commercialized tomatoes with disease resistance that are rich in lycopene, which may reduce risk of cancer, heart disease and age-related disorders. He has collaborated with plant breeders at Johnny's Selected Seeds on a new, high-lycopene tomato variety to be released this fall.

Foolad developed hundreds of new tomato breeding lines that are suited to the climate in Pennsylvania and the Northeast and that resist the blight diseases that can wipe out a tomato crop in five to seven days.

"The final and most important step in a breeding program is to market the new varieties," he said. "It's a great help to get funding from the college to expand upon that and commercialize our tomato varieties."

Source: http://news.psu.edu/