SCRI – Scotland's world-renowned centre for crop research – is joining a consortium of world-leading scientists – including those who helped decode the entire human genome.

Their mission will target a parasitic worm less than 1mm long.

The potato cyst nematode (PCN), Globodera pallida, attacks potato crops all over the world and is particularly devastating in developing countries where the potato is a subsistence crop.

The £1.7 million project to sequence the worm’s DNA, hopes to shed light on the mechanisms that make it such a successful parasite – and lead to methods to manage this pest in an environmentally friendly way.

The research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), also includes experts from the University of Leeds, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and Rothamsted Research.

SCRI’s Dr John Jones said: “This tiny parasite has evolved many sophisticated mechanisms that allow it to attack plants and remain undetected within potatoes.

“In addition, we know that the worm has recruited genetic information from bacteria that help it attack potatoes; we hope that this project will provide us with more information about how this has happened.”

Although potato breeders have developed some varieties that have partial resistance to Globodera pallida, which stops the nematodes from developing, it is very difficult to breed this resistance into cultivars that are also commercially attractive to the growers. This project will tackle the problem from another direction.

Dr Vivian Blok, an SCRI researcher, will also work on the project. She said: “By understanding how the nematode attacks plants we hope to find novel ways to stop the nematode. This project will also help us to understand how the parasite has co-evolved with its host and how it differs from similar nematodes.”

G. pallida is an international problem, affecting the world’s two major potato growing regions – the Ukraine and Idaho, USA – as well as 18 countries in the EU and 55 countries world wide. The widespread cultivation of potato strains such as Maris Piper, which whilst naturally resistant to other PCNs, are not resistant to G. pallida, suggests that the significance of the worm is likely to increase.

UK farmers spend in excess of £50 million a year in efforts to manage the pest. Infestations are currently treated with toxic chemicals, which do not enter the food chain, but are expensive to apply and can make soil sterile, killing other living organisms within it.

Dr Peter Urwin from Leeds’ Faculty of Biological Sciences said: “Controlling G. pallida is essential to maintain the competitiveness of UK potato industry, which together with processing and retail markets is worth some £3 billion per year ⁽¹⁾.

“We think that consumers are more likely to support UK production that avoids pesticide residues and environmental harm and that is soundly based on a sustainable approach,” he says.

The team hope to complete the sequencing by 2012.

References

(1) Figures cited from the British Potato Council

More information from:

Phil Taylor, Head of Communications, SCRI, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DA. Tel: +44 (0)1382 562731

Notes to editors:

1. Parasitic worms cause disease in plants, animals and humans. This new initiative from the BBSRC expands the scope of an international effort to use genome technology to help understand these poorly understood pathogens. The activities of the four partners will be as follows: the Leeds group will lead the research; SCRI will focus on genes involved in the parasitic process of the nematode; Rothamsted Research will use the genome information to develop studies on natural enemies of PCNs and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute will develop comparative studies with other parasitic nematodes.

2. The most economically important species of potato cyst nematodes are Globodera rostochiensis and Globodera pallida. G. rostochiensishas been largely managed in the UK through the development of the popular Maris Piper potato, a strain of potato which is naturally resistant to it. There is no comparable, natural resistance gene for G. pallida, which devastates potato crops around the world – including Maris Piper crops. Infested soil is currently treated with toxic chemicals, such as astelone, which do not enter the food chain, but are expensive to apply and are harmful to the environment.

3. SCRI is an internationally renowned centre for crop research based at Invergowrie on the banks of the Firth of Tay in Scotland. It employs more than 300 staff. It has expertise in barley, soft fruits and potatoes: it hosts the Commonwealth Potato Collection. The four, main science programmes are Environment Plant Interactions, Genetics, Plant Pathology and Food Quality, Health and Nutrition. SCRI has a history of breeding for PCN resistance. The Pathology group has a strong record in the study of host-parasite interactions. The knowledge that comes from SCRI’s research programmes informs the policies of the Scottish Government. The senior staff are also active in UK and European agencies. SCRI has a commercial subsidiary, Mylnefield Research Services, which mediates partnerships with business to develop innovative products.

4. Dr Peter Urwin is part of the internationally renowned Plant Nematology Lab of the Centre for Plant Sciences at the University of Leeds. The lab works on improving fundamental knowledge of plant nematodes and the development of technologies to be used in managing problematic species for which it holds seven patents with a further five pending. Dr Urwin’s work is specifically linked to agricultural plant nematodes and he has expertise in those affecting potato, rice and banana crops.

5. The University of Leeds’ Faculty of Biological Sciences is one of the largest in the UK, with over 150 academic staff and over 400 postdoctoral fellows and postgraduate students. The Faculty has been awarded research grants totalling some £60M and funders include charities, research councils, the European Union and industry. Each of the major units in the Faculty has the highest Grade 5 rated research according to the last government (HEFCE) Research Assessment Exercise, denoting research of international standing. The Faculty is also consistently within the top three for funding from the government’s research councils, the BBSRC and NERC.

6. The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome sequencing centres. As well as being a leading partner in the Human Genome Project sequencing one-third of the human genome sequence, the Institute participates in national and international projects to sequence the genomes of disease-causing organisms. Currently, it is sequencing or analysing the genomes of some 40 organisms. The Institute employs nearly 600 people in the purpose-built campus at Hinxton, near Cambridge, UK.

7. Rothamsted Research is based in Hertfordshire and is one of the largest agricultural research institutes in the country. It is sponsored by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Prof Brian Kerry leads the Nematode Interactions Unit, which is focused on the interactions between nematodes and their plant hosts and the microbial community in the rhizosphere. The research has produced two patents for compounds that affect the behaviour of nematodes in the rhizosphere and reduce root invasion and has led to the development of a biological control product for use against root-knot nematodes in tropical soils.