KeyGene facilities expanded – greenhouse becomes laboratory

On Friday June 17th, 2016 champagne corks popped after the purple ribbon was cut by Arjen van Tunen, CEO of KeyGene and Mr. Schrijver, the owner of the property. Together they officially opened KeyGene’s new greenhouse facilities in Huissen, the Netherlands. It was a nice opportunity to ask Marco van Schriek, researcher at KeyGene and responsible for KeyGene’s greenhouses in the Netherlands, about this next step in KeyGene’s research development.

Greenhouse central role in research
Marco: “More than 20 years ago KeyGene started with a small greenhouse facility in order to grow plants. Back then those plants were solely used to isolate DNA for further research. Over the years KeyGene’s research has grown considerably and now the greenhouse facilities are a true asset of our research facilities. Examples of research with the greenhouse at its core, are our KeyPointTM Mutation Breeding research, traits programs, digital phenotyping facility but also our (dandelion) breeding. Without the additional greenhouse space we were not able to serve these researchers optimally.”

Breeding for natural rubber
“A good example of the expanded use of the greenhouse is illustrated by our dandelion breeding program. KeyGene participates in the DRIVE4EU project but also has its own dandelion breeding program. This program has already been running for several years and several dandelion varieties have been developed which not only have increased content of natural rubber in their roots but also have other, agronomical interesting, improved traits. In the new greenhouse facilities these varieties are grown for seed production.

About his role within the greenhouse facility Marco says: “The KeyGene greenhouse facilities serve both internal and external customers and I take care of the planning, facility and personnel. Next to this I am also a customer in the role of project leader for digital phenotyping projects. As KeyGene is always looking for new tools and technologies I keep track of knowledge and developments in the field. In this way KeyGene is able to adopt new research and technologies in an early stage, such as vertical farming for example. For the near future I expect that KeyGene’s greenhouse facilities will keep developing further and will become more professionalized. So our customers and researchers can enjoy the best possible facilities.”

For more information:
KeyGene Netherlands
Agro Business Park 90
6708 PW Wageningen
The Netherlands

P.O. Box 216
6700 AE Wageningen
The Netherlands
T +31 (0)317 466 866
F +31 (0)317 424 939

www.keygene.com