Scientists at SCRI, Scotland’s leading crop research institute at Invergowrie, Dundee, are set to share in over £15 million of new research funding after securing roles in four new major research projects.

Watch the story as reported by STV’s North Tonight.

The new research, to be undertaken by scientists in the Genetics programme, could pave the way for improved varieties of potato, barley and wheat and will strengthen SCRI’s partnerships and collaborations with fellow researchers across the UK and Europe.

A €9 million (£7,134,115) five year European Union project that aims to help reduce the use of nitrogen fertilisers on crops and as a result minimise its adverse effects on the environment, will bring €900,000 (£713,319) to SCRI. Working with a range of partners throughout Europe, SCRI researchers will examine nitrogen use efficiency in potato, barley and wheat.

Scientists from the Genetics and Environment Plant Interactions programmes at SCRI will conduct fieldwork trialling a large number of varieties on different nitrogen regimes and examine the genetics of the control of performance in varieties with different nitrogen levels. Ultimately the project aims to produce more efficient varieties that will maintain good crop yield and quality on lower inputs of nitrogen fertiliser.

Unlocking the DNA of the potato genome is the focus of the Chromosome 4 research project. Scientists at SCRI, working in conjunction with Dundee University, Imperial College London and TEAGASC (Ireland), aim to map Chromosome 4 of the potato as part of the international Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium. SCRI have secured £700,000 of the total £1.1 million funding to complete the three-year project.

Sequencing the potato genome will allow researchers to map exactly where different genes responsible for traits like colour, tuber shape and disease resistance are located and enable the breeding of new varieties with desirable characteristics.

Dr Glenn Bryan said the project would be of great benefit to potato breeding. “Potatoes are one of the more difficult crops to breed new varieties, which is why you still see varieties created many decades ago on sale in supermarkets,” he said. “Sequencing the potato genome will really improve our ability to breed new varieties.”

Two linked projects on meiosis, the key to sexual reproduction in plants and animals, aim to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the process in plants. Fully understanding this process will enable plant breeders to break unwanted linkages during meiosis to bring together desired traits.

Dr Luke Ramsay, who will work on both projects, explained how understanding meiosis would lead to new and improved barley varieties. “If plant breeders are going to make the most of the variation there is, they need to be able to control how that variation is being passed on to the next generation of barley. What we would like to be able to do is nudge the process towards certain goals.”

The two projects investigating meiosis are a €7.5 million (£5,945,096) European Union project over five years, with €700,000 (£554,802) coming to SCRI and a £3 million Longer Larger (LoLa) BBSRC project in conjunction with the universities of Birmingham, Aberystwyth and Dundee, as part of which SCRI will receive £300,000.

Professor Robbie Waugh, head of SCRI’s Genetics programme said, “Taking part in these major new projects not only strengthens our partnerships and collaborations, it also helps ensure SCRI is at the forefront of important scientific research in the UK and Europe.

“Our increasingly close links with the University of Dundee Division of Plant Sciences, who work alongside us at SCRI, are particularly important in these successes.

“All of the projects have the aim of improving crop varieties, which not only benefits agriculture but ultimately the consumer through improved food products.”

More information from:

Lorraine Wakefield, Information and Online Service Officer, SCRI, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DA. Tel: 01382 562731 (switchboard).

Notes to editors

A summary of the projects and funding follows.

1. Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Crops (NUR-CROPS) project, five-years funding from EU Framework 7. Total funding: €9 million. Portion to SCRI: €900,000. Collaborators: Many partners throughout Europe.
2. Chromosome 4 project, three-years funding from Defra, RERAD and Potato Council. Total funding: £1.1 million. Portion to SCRI: £700,000. Collaborators: Dundee University and Imperial College London.
3. ‘Meiosis in barley: manipulating crossover frequency and distribution’ Longer Larger (LoLa) project, five-years funding from BBSRC via the University of Birmingham. Total funding: £3 million. Portion to SCRI: £300,000. Collaborators: Birmingham University, Aberystwyth University and Dundee University.
4. ‘Systematic Analysis of Factors Controlling Meiotic Recombination in Higher Plants’ (MeioSys), five-years funding from EU Framework 7. Total funding: €7.5 million. Portion to SCRI: €700,000. Collaborators: Many partners throughout Europe

GB £ sterling values of the European funding were calculated using currency rates at date of writing.