Cotton States R&D and Operations

June 25, 2004

Yossi Shapiro, PhDResearch ManagerCotton Technology Team

Key Elements of Cotton States Model

• Research and Development– Competitive germplasm and superior technology

– Variety performance testing

– Technological edge in breeding

• Operations– Cotton seed manufacturing

Competitive Germplasm…Two Sources:

1) Outside OriginatorsIn-licensed from private and public sector cotton breeders

2) In-house Breeding Program• Conventional Plant Breeding

• Molecular Marker Platform

• Marker-Assisted Breeding: variety development

• Marker-Assisted Backcrossing: expedited trait conversion

• Trait Introgression (TI)– Bollgard II® and Roundup Ready® Flex Cotton

– Germplasm must meet criteria for entry into TI

– Advanced, through backcrossing, to lines fixed for: • Stacked Bollgard II / Roundup Ready Flex Cotton (“B2RF”)

• Roundup Ready Flex Cotton alone (“RF”)

– Returned to Originator for variety selection

– Rigorous quality control throughout the process

… and Superior Technology

Variety Performance Testing

• Replicated Yield Trials– Cotton States Conventional Trials

– Cotton States Transgenic Lines

• Gene Equivalency Trials – to ascertain trait performance

• Demonstration Strip Plots– for potential “Out-licensees”

2004 Cotton States Field Trials

Cotton States Trial

• Designed to assess performance and geographic adaptation of Cotton States varieties

• 44 tests at more than 20 sites across the Cotton Belt

• More locations to be added each year

Technological Edge in Breeding

Molecular Marker PlatformA “Marker”:• is a unique genetic characteristic, easily classified

• must display detectable variation among individuals

• may, or may not, be a gene itself

To be useful in breeding, a marker should:• be linked to a gene, or genes, of interest

• demonstrate reproducible results

• be amenable to high through-put and low cost

Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR)Parents A and B vary for the number of “TC” repeats

GGCAGGGGAAGTGGTATTGGTGGTCGGGGTACTGGAACGATCCTAACGATAGTACGCATGCGGCGGTGCTCCCTGT TC TC TC TC TC TCTC TC TC TC TC. . . .TC CCAATAAAAGAGTTTTCCTGTAATTTTAACCAGCTAGCCGCCGGTGTCTTCCTTGATCTATGTGCATGTAGGCAGACGTTACCCA

A H B

Different banding patterns for a given marker are called: “Alleles”

Use of Molecular Markers in Breeding

Population development

Molecular Mapping

Data analysis to identify statistical association between marker alleles and field performance for a given characteristic

Field Tests

Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR)

GGCAGGGGAAGTGGTATTGGTGGTCGGGGTACTGGAACGATCCTAACGATAGTACGCATGCGGCGGTGCTCCCTGT TC TC TC TC TC TCTC TC TC TC TC. . . .TC CCAATAAAAGAGTTTTCCTGTAATTTTAACCAGCTAGCCGCCGGTGTCTTCCTTGATCTATGTGCATGTAGGCAGACGTTACCCA

A H B

SSR112

SSR220

Strength

Boll size

SSR105

Parents A and B vary for the number of “TC” repeats

Targets for Genetic Improvement• Yield

– seed cotton yield– lint yield

• Fiber quality– length– strength– fineness– uniformity

• Stress tolerance– disease – nematode– insect– abiotic (drought, cold, etc.)

Cotton States R&D Objectives

Excellent execution in lab, field & greenhouse:

• Efficient and cost-effective operations

• High-throughput (“numbers game”)

• Quality data: accurate, consistent, timely

• Emphasis on employee health and environmental safety

• Continual process improvements

Key Elements of Cotton States Model

• Research and Development– Unique germplasm and technology

– Variety performance testing

• Operations– Cotton seed manufacturing

Cotton Seed Manufacturing Process

• Crop Production

• Harvest of seed cotton

• Processing: – Ginning – to separate fiber from seed (“fuzzy seed”)

– Delinting – to clean seed of residual fibers (“linters”)

• Packaging (cleaning, treatment, bagging)

• Storage / Shipping

Status of 1st Cotton States B2/RF Varieties• Initiation: Breeder Seed Increase

– Winter season production, 2003-04– New seed processing facility in Puerto Rico

• “Product”: Foundation Seed Increase– US field season production, 2004

• Final: Commercial Planting Seed Increase – Responsibility of Out-licensees / Distributors – US field season production, 2005– For commercialization in 2006

Cotton States Breeder Seed Gin – Puerto Rico

Cotton States Breeder Seed Delinter – Puerto Rico

Where Are We Today?

• Commitment to excellent execution

• Experience with leading edge technology

• Formidable infrastructure and competency

• Clear path to market

• Ahead of the pack

• Technology succession plan

• Robust product pipeline