Public Funding for JOHN Innes Centre

Awaiting Public Summary

"Agriculture depends on soil nutrients (primarily nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium) to optimise plant development and ultimately yield. Soils contain such nutrients naturally, but growing and harvesting crops results in nutrients becoming depleted, leading to plants suffering from nutrient deficiency and decreasing yields. It is therefore crucial for food security and efficient crop production to replace the natural supply of nutrients in the soil to enable the continuous cultivation of crops. These nutrients can be added from a variety of sources - organic matter, chemical fertilisers, and certain plants (as traditionally done by crop rotation) - ensuring maintenance of soil health and fertility, enabling continuous growth of nutritious and healthy crops at high yields. Chemical fertilisers are the most efficient way to supply nutrients to the soil and have the highest cost benefit. Our entire agricultural system depends on the application of fertiliser in one form or another; it would not be possible to maintain the world's population at its current level without it. Especially nitrogen is of prime importance for farmers and food production, as the most important nutrient limiting crop development and yield, and also contributing the largest cost to crop production. However, this nitrogen is rarely efficiently managed; 110 million tons of nitrogen is applied onto fields every year, but only about a quarter of this makes it into plants, partly due to the poor nitrogen use efficiency of crops. Over application of fertiliser results in leaching of this excess into watercourses, and approximately 80 million tons of nitrogen is estimated to flow into the world's waterways every year. General overuse of nitrogen fertiliser and to some lesser extent other nutrients such as phosphate and potassium, causes eutrophication and toxic algal blooms in water systems, leading to death of aquatic organisms from oxygen depletion in the water by the algae. It also promotes denitrification by microorganisms, leading to the release of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Production of inorganic fertilisers also requires a large input of energy which further contributes to greenhouse gas emission as well as fossil fuel depletion. This project aims to develop a decision tool that will enable farmers to better optimise the quantity of fertiliser applied to crops, lowering use and increasing the percentage of nutrients taken up by plants and therefore resulting in less nitrogen (and phosphate and potassium) being released into the environment."

Confirmation of scaleability of new tools for accessing novel natural products with use in human and animal health and as agrochemicals.

Saponins are soap-like substances or surfactants produced by certain plants. They have huge potential as a natural, biobased alternative to petrochemical surfactants for use in detergent products. However, extraction from plants is not economically feasible for use in detergents or sustainable on the basis of land use. This project sets out to establish a sustainable, commercially viable supply chain for the production of saponins in yeast. It tackles complex challenges of developing a yeast strain to produce the saponin at sufficient yield and how to recover the saponin from the fermentation medium. The project will also explore the physical properties of saponins alone and in mixtures with conventional surfactants, and will establish how best to formulate saponins into commercial detergent products for both economy and end results. Finally, the project will explore the safety of saponins using risk assessment methodology and in vitro methods.

Generation and analysis of a library of novel Natural Products using a new recombineering technology, with potential for use in pharmaceutical development, as treatments in indications such as infectious diseases, oncology and inflammation, as agrochemicals and fine chemicals.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

The overall aim of this industry led project is to increase the intake of soluble dietary fibre by the general population, providing Nutrition for Life to consumers of white bread, many of which are children. Today, almost 55% of all bread consumed in the UK is white bread with low fibre content, and partly responsible for the low fibre intake by the majority of the population. A plant breeding company and leading partner in the project, will develop a new wheat variety suitable for UK growing conditions with increased soluble fibre content and good bread making quality. This work will be carried out in close contact with academic partners at Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre. A Retailer will investigate the quality and nutritional value of bread made from high soluble fibre wheat, as well as exploit initial market opportunities, with the aim of launching a white bread with increased level of soluble fibre content. This project, involving a unique composition of plant breeders, retail industry, quality and genetic experts, has been made feasible with financial support from TSB.

Saponins have already found industrial application as foaming agents in the beverage, food and cosmetics industries. However, the breadth of triterpene saponin structures has not been fully explored or exploited, and their application limited by accessibility and availability from plant extracts, depite broad-ranging physical and bioactive properties documented in the literature. This project will demonstrate the optimisation of triterpene saponin structures for efficacy and functionality for applications in the chemical industries. Saponin derivatives will be engineered using a synthetic biology tool kit and metabolic pathway expression in a Nicotiana benthamiana host. Extracted saponins will be evaluated for physical properties and in application screens. Structure-function rules will be built to iteratively optimise the saponin structures for functionality. The options for a biotechnology platform, scale-up and commercial production of the lead saponins will be assessed.

Demuris has a pipeline of novel antibiotics produced by a variety of different actinobacteria. The leading molecule is presently made by an organism that is not ideal for large scale fermentation, and the compound structure may not yet be optimal in terms of pharmacological properties. We wish to identify the antibiotic producer gene cluster and re-engineer it for production in an optimized chassis for production of actinobacterial natural products based on Streptomyces venezuelae (Sven). Pathway engineering will be used to generate analogues of the lead antibiotic, which will be used to facilitate drug optimization and IP protection.

PROJECT TITLE: Protein content vs yield in legumes:releasing the constraint Summary: The demand for vegetable protein in the UK feed industry, coupled to supply constraints, creates a market opportunity for sustainable farming in the UK. To take advantage of this opportunity farmers need a high yielding, protein rich product. Legume seeds (pulses) have high protein content and so are the product of choice, and they also contribute to environmental sustainability. For legumes and other crops there is a negative correlation between seed yield and protein content so breeding for yield does not ensure increased protein production. We will establish the protein content required by feed compounders and identify the genetic determinants that sustain this production without detriment to seed yield. We aim to deliver novel plant genotypes to breeders to benefit feed industries, sustainable agriculture and the environment

The project aims to develop a methodology to identify sequence-based markers that are predictive of crop performance and that can be used to make crop breeding faster and more efficient. To underpin marker-assisted breeding and realize this potential in hybrid rape, molecular markers predictive of hybrid performance are required. High throughput sequencing will be used to simultaneously identify variation in gene sequences and quantify gene expression in the parents of a panel of ~150 hybrids for which performance is known or will be determined in the initial phase of the project. Using a combination of 3 approaches, correlations between sequence-based variation and performance for a range of traits will be identified. Hybrids with new combinations of markers predicted to give enhanced performance will be developed and the performance validated by on-farm trialling. Rapeseed has food, feed and industrial applications, so has enormous market potential as food security and mitigation of climate change are coming to the fore. Hybrid cultivars (i.e. those derived by crossing two inbred parent lines) provide opportunities for boosting income streams along the supply chain. However, the lack of progress in the development of hybrids using conventional breeding approaches makes this an ideal subject for evaluating the applicability of new sequence-based approaches.

Project partners Barrier Biotech Ltd (BB), Syngenta Ltd (SYN) and the John Innes Centre (JIC) applied for funding to develop novel nematocide products based on plant oil formulations. These formulations will target nematodes affecting arable root crops and substitute existing commercial nematicides coming off the market due to changes in the Plant Protection Products Directive (91/414/EEC). BB has extensive commercial experience with plant oils and has preliminary evidence suggesting that their patented formulations can control nematode problems within both agricultural and horticultural crops. Natural formulations provide efficacy at low concentrations; represent a minimal risk for the environment; will enhance user safety and soil sustainability and are likely to provide more durable pest control due to the complexity of chemical composition and their naturally occurring variability. The project aims to develop dossiers for CRD and/or DG SANCO registration of novel nematicide formulations which will be the foundation of the development of marketable commercial products designed to cut losses in yield, reduce wastage and costs within the supply chain and promote cost effective and secure solutions within UK agriculture. These formulations are likely to be effective against nematodes on other major agricultural crops as well such as sugar beet, tomato and cucumber.