The BIOEXPLOIT Project Aska Goverse & Geert Smant & Liesbeth Bouwman & Erin Bakker & Jaap Bakker Received: 14 July 2008 / Accepted: 20 October 2008 / Published online: 30 July 2009 # EAPR 2009 Abstract The EU Framework 6 Integrated Project BIOEXPLOIT concerns the exploitation of natural plant biodiversity for the pesticide-free production of food. It focuses on the pathogens Phytophthora infestans, Septoria tritici, Blumeria graminis, Puccinia spp. and Fusarium spp. and on the crops wheat, barley, tomato and potato. The project commenced in October 2005, comprises 45 laboratories in 12 countries, and is carried out by partners from research institutes, universities, private companies and small-medium enterprises. The project has four strategic objectives covered in eight sub-projects. These objectives relate to (i) understanding the molecular components involved in durable disease resistance, (ii) exploring and exploiting the natural biodiversity in disease resistance, (iii) accelerating the introduction of marker-assisted breeding and genetic engineering in the EU plant breeding industry, and (iv) coordinating and integrating resistance breeding research, providing training in new technologies, disseminating the results, and transferring knowledge and technologies to the industry. Keywords Pathogens . Pesticide-free food production . Plant biodiversity . Potato . Solanum Introduction The EU Framework 6 Integrated Project BIOEXPLOIT (Exploitation of natural plant biodiversity for the pesticide-free production of food) commenced in October 2005 and comprises 45 laboratories from 12 countries. The Integrated Project is coordinated by Professor Jaap Bakker from Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Approximately 25% of the participants are based in companies or small-medium enterprises (SMEs). The project aims to exploit natural plant diversity Potato Research (2009) 52:209–213 DOI 10.1007/s11540-009-9133-6 A. Goverse (*) : G. Smant : L. Bouwman : E. Bakker : J. Bakker Project Staff Office, BIOEXPLOIT, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands e-mail: aska.goverse@wur.nl brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Wageningen University & Research Publications