USDA grant awarded to Fortiphyte for disease resistant tomato

We are happy to announce that the Unites States Department of Agriculture recently awarded a grant to use to support the development of a tomato variety with resistance to bacterial spot. The Phase II SBIR grant builds on previous work we completed as part of a Phase I grant. For the Phase II grant we will work with tomato seed companies to move our disease resistance traits into elite commercial tomato varieties for additional field trials and distribution to tomato growers. The Fortiphyte team is excited to expand and accelerate our work in tomato with this support. Our first tomato variety will be targeted for the field grown fresh market tomatoes in the South Eastern United States, where bacterial spot is particularly problematic.