As the vegetable seed industry has become more competitive, the increased production of hybrid seeds gives seed companies economic and genetic protection through parental lines rather than relying on open pollinated varieties. The science and practice of producing hybrid seed in a production field is strongly influenced by numerous environmental and technical factors. The STA’s Genetic Services Hybrid Purity department uses reliable biochemical techniques to determine the hybrid percentage of a commercial seed lot and the level of outcrosses or inbreds that may be found as contaminants.

STA Hybrid Purity operates a high throughput lab with state-of-the-art equipment and leading scientists that use iso-electric focusing (IEF) and/or DNA markers to determine the hybridity of a lot. The results help seed companies around the world determine the genetic quality of their hybrid varieties.

IEF is a high-resolution protein analysis technique that is efficient and accurate with proven success in agricultural applications. Our R&D program continues to develop innovative processing and electrophoretic methods that ensure reliable and reproducible results. IEF technology may also be utilized for varietal identification and “fingerprinting” of inbred lines, cultivars and other proprietary genetics in complete confidence.

For more information, contact Gene Hookstra, Ph.D. at 303.775.3928 or info@stalabs.com.

Iso-electric Focusing for Reliable Genetic Analyses (240 KB PDF)