SOUTH EASTON, Mass., Aug. 5, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:PBIO) ("PBI" and the "Company") today announced that scientists from three separate U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) laboratories have presented data generated through the use of the Company's patented, cutting-edge pressure cycling technology ("PCT") at the American Phytopathological Society's ("APS") 2009 Annual Meeting, being held August 1-5 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. The presentations related to innovative, plant pathology studies of various pathogens that can significantly and adversely affect important food crops, such as strawberries, wheat, peas, lentil, barley, canola, and especially citrus.
Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB) is a very serious bacterial disease that is adversely affecting citrus groves worldwide. The disease has already been responsible for the significant decrease in citrus production in many countries in Asia, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Brazil. In 2005, HLB was discovered in Florida. HLB disease affects all of the main types of citrus, has no known cure, can greatly reduce fruit production, is spread through an insect called a citrus psyllid, and can ultimately kill citrus trees. If unstopped, the Company believes that the potential economic impact to the multi-billion dollar citrus industry of the U.S. and the rest of the world could be devastating.
Dr. Norman Schaad (USDA-ARS, Ft. Detrick, MD) presented data in an opening oral scientific session at APS on the ability of PCT, when used concomitantly with the Company's patent-pending ProteoSolve-SB buffer, to extract a yield of double-stranded HLB DNA that was at least 10 times greater than any other DNA extraction method tested. Dr. Schaad also stated that the extracted DNA was of very high quality, and that this should support the effective sequencing of the genome of the HLB bacterium. Genome sequencing is a very important step in gaining a better understanding of a disease and potential disease resistant mechanisms.
Dr. G. J. Bilodeau and colleagues (USDA-ARS, Salinas, CA) reported on the development of improved tests for the fungus Verticillium dahliae, a pathogen that can cause significant losses in highly susceptible crops such as strawberry. Dr. Bilodeau stated that V. dahliae presents challenges for disruption and extraction of intact DNA, and that he and his colleagues were evaluating different DNA extraction kits, combined with processing by PCT.
Dr. K.L. Schroeder and colleagues (USDA-ARS, Pullman, WA) reported on the incidence and distribution of Rhizoctonia (causes "damping off", or the death of seedlings in agriculture) and Pythium (causes "root rot") fungi species in the soil of wheat, pea, lentil, barley, and canola fields. Fungal DNA was extracted from contaminated soil using PCT, their lab's standard sample preparation method.
Dr.
