The Challenge
To produce biotechnological resources for the biocontrol of Bovine Leukocis Virus (BLV) and Dengue Virus (DENV) with impact on the dairy production value chain and public health in the subtropical region of Argentina.
The BLV virus is a global problem that in America affects milk production from Patagonia to Canada producing great economic losses. There are no vaccines to control it, it is proposed to determine a genetic marker that allows to identify cattle naturally resistant to BLV that cut the chain of transmission of the virus at the farm level and thus promote a genetic selection plan of resistance and expansion as a solution, producing and marketing homozygous males and females, semen, embryos and viral and genetic services.
The DENV virus is a public health scourge transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Some varieties of Bacillus thuringiensis (BTi) produce toxic proteins (biolarvicide) for the larvae of insects such as mosquitoes. It is proposed to scale the BTi pilot production plant developed by the university in Colonia Alpina to disseminate the product in lagoons and marshes in the region as a means of biological control of the proliferation of mosquito larvae and to carry out a study of the environmental impact on the ecosystems of the tropical and subtropical regions of Argentina.
Project dates: 2014 – 2017
Role of CarpoACE
Financial support
Subsidio para CAPP Fondo de Innovación Tecnológica Regional – FITR Agroindustria.
Operador: Agencia Nacional de Promoción de la Investigación, el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación (ANPCyT).
Fondos: 50% Tesoro Nacional y 50% Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo.
Result
The Bioalpina consortium has successfully achieved the selection of a genetic marker that identifies cattle that are genetically resistant to the BLV virus and through genetic selection has managed to form a herd of Holstein/Argentine cattle of high dairy performance from which it has expanded its genetics with the commercialization of homozygous and heterozygous animals on foot, sexed semen and embryos for artificial insemination.
In the same sense, it has been possible to scale the production of biolarvicide based on BTi and the production processes have been standardized for its technological transfer to other institutions in the tropical and subtropical regions of Argentina.
As a result of CarpoACE se escribe todo junto the presentation and execution of this project, the Bioalpina consortium has obtained a subsidy of 80% of the total cost of the project.