EU4Algae The Insider’s Perspective: Discover how BioAtlantis is helping develop Molecular Priming technologies under the EU-funded CropPrime project!

We are kicking off a dedicated section where we will be ‘giving the floor’ to all partners to share their projects and success stories and disseminate them with the Algae community. Keep reading to know more about the latest company to have made it to this second edition!

BioAtlantis: Using natural compounds such as seaweed to create climate-resistant crops

BioAtlantis is a leading biotechnology company whose seaweed extraction facility is the largest of its kind in Britain or Ireland. Headquartered in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland, BioAtlantis has partnered in the recent European research project CropPrime – funded up to €1 million under the European Union’s HORIZON-Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme (Grant agreement ID: 101086366) – which focuses on the development of ‘Molecular Priming’ technologies to enhance crop yield under stressful conditions caused by climate change. This includes the development of ‘plant biostimulant products’, using natural compounds sustainably derived from marine and terrestrial sources, such as seaweed and macroalgae.

The CropPrime project will also develop RNA-based fungicides to reduce fungal infection in crops. The findings of this research will lead to the development of a new generation of sustainable agri-tech products that will help crop growers to ‘prime’ and protect their crops against stressful, adverse weather conditions such as drought, heat, cold and waterlogging, stresses that are increasing in incidence due to climate change. The assessed crops in this project will include strawberries and tomatoes.
CropPrime brings together a pan-European consortium of leading plant research centres and academic institutions. The project is also supported by two other non-EU partners located in South Africa and Argentina.

In CropPrime, BioAtlantis will focus on developing ‘plant biostimulant products’ using natural compounds sustainably derived from marine and terrestrial sources, such as seaweed and algae, thus highlighting the value and importance of CropPrime to the algae sector and agri-sustainability in the EU.