Public Funding for Aps Biocontrol Limited

Globally, onions are the second-most popular vegetable, with an annual production of 99 Million tonnes. In the UK, they are the fourth-most consumed vegetable and growing in popularity, with recent lockdowns increasing the publics' perceived health benefits of eating vegetables and enthusiasm for home cooking. Currently, home onion production fulfils only ≈50% of UK demand (≈800kt p.a.), with the deficit made up by imports, mainly from The Netherlands but as far away as New Zealand, associated with greater environmental impact and higher overall prices, passed onto the customer. **Our vision** is to allow UK growers to grow, store and supply onions to the UK market all-year-around, adding economic value and implementing more sustainable production methods. Improved-crop quality is key to increased productivity and this project will address bacterial-crop infections that produce significant in-store rots, resulting in crop right-offs, economic losses (£8.5M p.a.) and reputational damage. These losses tighten the UK supply, increasing the reliance on imports. To date, a lack of detailed knowledge of the relevant onion-rot pathogens has hampered the development of effective rot-disease control, with the industry having access to relatively cursory identification methods. This project's **innovation focus** lies in using new pathogen-characterisation data to target control measures, bringing both economic and environmental added value to the UK-onion sector, in addition to being applicable to the £32.8Bn global market. The **key objective** is to harness new knowledge of onion-rot pathogens to develop a sustainable, low-risk biological-control approach based on bacteriophage; naturally-occurring, highly-specific antimicrobial agents, which kill bacteria, with zero non-target effects. The lead partner has made considerable progress in developing the technology for plant protection but in relatively niche markets and with often limited pathogen characterisation extending development timelines. The biology and genetics of onion-rot pathogens and those from the wider-onion growing environment (microbiome) will be characterised, effectively creating a comprehensive library of the most prevalent and virulent onion-rot bacteria. This will act as a valuable resource for bacteriophage isolation and more focussed matching against key pathogens. The **aim** is to derive a pilot-bacteriophage formulation and investigate the feasibility of the rot-control approach, both in the laboratory, as well as in glasshouse and field investigations. The project addresses a timely opportunity given the impact of rot-induced losses on the UK onion industry and the wider global opportunity. New methods of targeted-pathogen characterisation will also enable the lead SME to maximise commercialisation opportunities, within a rapidly-growing global biopesticide market.

Bacterial pathogens of fresh produce are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications, with no specific controls. Diseased crop and waste-food disposal, plus additional agricultural land and water required to achieve sufficient marketable yields all add up to increase the carbon footprint of food production ("foodprint") and more efficient agricultural systems, with less wastage are a priority to meet UK and EU targets of increased food productivity and reduced waste. **Bacteriophage** are viruses; they are the most abundant organisms on earth. As naturally-occurring bacterial enemies, they are attracting considerable attention as targeted agricultural antibacterial-control products. They are completely safe for the consumer, highly host-specific and have zero environmental or non-target impacts. APS Biocontrol has made good progress in demonstrating their potential in reducing bacterial plant disease but product commercial viability is limited; liquid products have limited thermal-stability, requiring low-temperature storage and transport, which impacts on their cost, shelf-life and storage. The project's **key objective** is to address these limitations, developing thermally-stable, dry bacteriophage products (_Dri-Lyse);_ achieved through working with Stabilitech BioPharma, an established UK developer of vaccines and therapeutics, with platform technologies to significantly enhance product stability, including for viruses and based around unique, safe, small molecules ("excipients") which are naturally present in foods. In pilot studies, their technology has given promising thermal stabilisation of sample bacteriophage, forming the background to this project. The project will focus on the UK and wider European potato market; through previous Innovate UK support APS has developed an effective bacteriophage mix ("BPSRE") against bacterial-induced "Blackleg" of potatoes, responsible for £50M UK total losses p.a. and £750M worldwide. APS has also developed a liquid bacteriophage product (Biolyse) to target the downstream losses caused by this disease; most frequently realised in the pack house as rotting potatoes. The focus of the **technical Innovation** will be creating an optimised excipient mix to maintain the activity of the BPSRE mix. Our vision is to switch from liquid bacteriophage mixes to a tableted/powered form, rehydratable at the point of use. Benefits will be a longer shelf life, making the products more manufacturable. Also, removing the need for chilled storage and transport, they become more attractive to the customer and significantly better placed to address export markets for business growth and globalisation. Once proven in the potato market, the longer vision is to address other high-value fresh-produce markets, both in the UK and globally.

The UK's potato industry is valued at £778M (5.37Mt); the majority of potatoes are produced in England, with growers relying on high-quality, disease-free seed, which is primarily purchased from a specialised group of growers in Scotland. Whilst the Scottish climate is perfect for minimising many potato disease, it can encourage blackleg disease; the most important bacterial disease of potatoes (£50M p.a. UK losses). This project focusses on a sustainable, highly-specific technology based on natural-bacterial enemies (bacteriophage) to target blackleg, developed with Scottish seed growers and aims to engage with England's wider potato industry to demonstrate and enable farm-based blackleg solutions.

Bacterial pathogens of fresh produce are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications, with no specific controls. Diseased crop and waste-food disposal, plus additional agricultural land and water required to achieve sufficient marketable yields all add up to increase the carbon footprint of food production ("foodprint") and more efficient agricultural systems, with less wastage are a priority to meet UK and EU targets of increased food productivity and reduced waste. **Bacteriophage** are viruses; they are the most abundant organisms on earth. As naturally-occurring bacterial enemies, they are attracting considerable attention as targeted agricultural antibacterial-control products. They are completely safe for the consumer, highly host-specific and have zero environmental or non-target impacts. APS Biocontrol has made good progress in demonstrating their potential in reducing bacterial plant disease but product commercial viability is limited; liquid products have limited thermal-stability, requiring low-temperature storage and transport, which impacts on their cost, shelf-life and storage. The project's **key objective** is to address these limitations, developing thermally-stable, dry bacteriophage products (_Dri-Lyse);_ achieved through working with Stabilitech BioPharma, an established UK developer of vaccines and therapeutics, with platform technologies to significantly enhance product stability, including for viruses and based around unique, safe, small molecules ("excipients") which are naturally present in foods. In pilot studies, their technology has given promising thermal stabilisation of sample bacteriophage, forming the background to this project. The project will focus on the UK and wider European potato market; through previous Innovate UK support APS has developed an effective bacteriophage mix ("BPSRE") against bacterial-induced "Blackleg" of potatoes, responsible for £50M UK total losses p.a. and £750M worldwide. APS has also developed a liquid bacteriophage product (Biolyse) to target the downstream losses caused by this disease; most frequently realised in the pack house as rotting potatoes. The focus of the **technical Innovation** will be creating an optimised excipient mix to maintain the activity of the BPSRE mix. Our vision is to switch from liquid bacteriophage mixes to a tableted/powered form, rehydratable at the point of use. Benefits will be a longer shelf life, making the products more manufacturable. Also, removing the need for chilled storage and transport, they become more attractive to the customer and significantly better placed to address export markets for business growth and globalisation. Once proven in the potato market, the longer vision is to address other high-value fresh-produce markets, both in the UK and globally.

no public description

"Potatoes are the UK's largest vegetable category, producing 5-6 million tonnes p.a. valued at approximately £1.1bn. Production is relatively stable but prices and supply are volatile, with underlying issues including weather effects and related to these, disease. Bacterial pathogens of potatoes in particular are responsible for substantial losses through disease, leading to damage and failure to meet market specifications. Of particular importance to the UK and wider European industry, especially for high-grade seed production is blackleg (caused mainly by _Pectobacterium_ bacteria); responsible for \>£50M UK total losses p.a. and £750M worldwide. Blackleg is transmitted through the seed-multiplication system and is a major cause of seed downgrading and rejections (at an estimated cost of £100/tonne), together with downstream losses from tuber soft rot across the wider industry sectors. This project builds on previous Innovate UK research in which combinations of novel, highly-specific and safe bacteriophage (naturally-occurring antimicrobials) have been formulated to target blackleg pathogens. These studies have concluded that the main commercial value of the technology is working with the high-grade seed industry, attempting to minimise seed contamination, safeguarding seed potato health for the industry downstream and adding a competitive advantage to the seed producers to compete for larger and new export markets, both within and outside of the EU (particularly post Brexit). Previous work also concluded that the assessment of blackleg controls should be a two-fold approach, recording both diseased plants and also, bacterial contamination of harvested tubers as a measure of their likelihood of transmitting disease to subsequent generations. Key objectives of the proposed project are to follow successive generations of high-grade seed (from clean, field-generation 1 stocks), applying bacteriophage treatments both at planting (targeting seed contamination) and foliar applications throughout the growing season (targeting environmental disease sources). Also, work will be carried out to modify and optimise the initial bacteriophage mix to take into account new, emerging blackleg pathogens. The existing business-led consortium from project 101907 will be further strengthened by two new research partners (James Hutton Institute and University of Leicester), bringing innovative approaches to inform questions of both bacteriophage specificity and mode-of-action. The project addresses a very timely and innovative opportunity given the impact of the disease on the industry. The Lead Applicant has already made significant progress in exploiting the technology to date and the proposed project would further de-risk the technology, allowing the consortium to maximise commercialisation opportunities post project as effectively as possible."

"Mushrooms are the third largest vegetable category behind potatoes and tomatoes and are growing in popularity due to consumers increasingly recognising the health benefits of mushrooms. The UK industry is growing annually at 3%, yet it is highly challenged from both economic and biological pressures. The UK mushroom market is facing fierce competition from EU growers and rising operating costs; imports now make up 55% of the UK marketed total. One of the major concerns of the industry and limitations to productivity is wastage due to disease, which is responsible for production losses as high as 10%, representing several hundred million dollars of lost revenue globally. For the UK industry, these losses are in the region of £20M p.a. There are five main mushroom disease organisms; one caused by bacteria, for which there is no effective control and four fungal pathogens; these are partly controlled by a chemical fungicide but its lifetime is limited by increasing resistance to it and health and safety concerns. It is likely to be withdrawn by the EU by the end of 2017, with no replacement. Chemical control products are also being challenged by EU policy to reduce the impact of pesticide use, industry pressure to address health and safety issues with their workers and a growing consumer need for chemical residue-free food. The development of non-chemical disease control is critical in order for the UK mushroom industry to remain sustainable against import competition and to ensure long-term food security. This project would develop an innovative co-formulation of two naturally-occurring biological agents, isolated from mushroom material itself and having specific inhibitory activity against the key bacterial and fungal mushroom diseases. The mushroom industry has limited opportunity to apply control products, which usually require water for delivery; irrigation is limited to the first few days of cultivation and in between mushroom flushes or harvests (3 per commercial mushroom cultivation cycle). Hence, a single product to target all of the economically-important diseases would be extremely attractive to growers, in addition to the potential benefits of decreased wastage, energy savings, increased yield and the opportunity to extend their market share. This project will be carried out by an industry partnership representing a major player in the UK mushroom industry and an SME developing biocontrol technologies. It will assess the compatibility of the two innovations, their efficacy in farm-scale trials, together with the formulation and integration into commercial practice."

Salmonella is the most important foodborne pathogen and incidences caused by contaminated food of non-animal origin have been increasing, reflecting rising consumers’ demands for fresh/minimally- processed fruit and vegetables. Crops with an outdoor post-harvest management period are particularly at risk; this project focuses on Salmonella contamination of vine fruits (raisins, sultanas), which are dried outside post harvest and exposed to animal fouling. Impacts throughout the supply chain are significant, from grower to retailer, with significant recall costs involved. This project will transfer technology from both industry and academia to develop an innovative technology to prevent on-farm Salmonella contamination; i.e. at source. The solution will be based on safe, naturally-occurring, highly-specific antimicrobial agents (bacteriophage). A business-led consortium will address questions of technology specificity and characterisation, together with deployment and integration into commercial practice.

The UK mushroom market is facing fierce competition from EU growers and rising operating costs; imports now make up 55% of the UK marketed total. A novel competitive advantage would provide an important boost to the UK industry and this application aims to provide this through tackling one of the most serious bacterial disease of mushrooms; bacterial blotch, which is responsible for crop losses of up to 10% (£20M industry losses). This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB feasibility project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacterial-induced mushroom blotch symptoms in the laboratory. A business-led consortium will carry out further invesigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

This project will investigate the development of a new level of innovation for an insect-population mapping system; specifically, the Scottish Midge Forecast. We will address issues of cost and reporting time by establishing a large, low-cost network of biological data collection, together with the application of imaging algorithms to produce real-time mapping of insect activity. The technology innovation will have applications in enhancing the visitor experience in an area where tourism contributes significantly to the economy, in addition to being a prototype system for subsequent development of a monitoring/first alert system for important midge-transmitted diseases of livestock, which are considered to be increasing and realistic threats to the UK. The proposed innovation would be the first real-time reporting system for a non-crop pest, with applications on both a UK and international scale.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

The UK mushroom market is facing fierce import competition from EU growers and together with rising operating costs, the number of UK growers and their outputs are declining. Imports now make up more than half of the UK marketed total. The UK mushroom industry needs to gain a competitive advantage and this application aims to provide this through novel control of the most serious bacterial disease of mushrooms; bacterial blotch, responsible for crop losses of up to 10%, representing losses of approx. £20 m p.a. This feasiblity study will examine the potential of an innovative, natural antimicrobial technology (based on highly-specific, safe antibacterial agents: 'bacteriophage') to reduce the incidence of this disease, through developing treatments for the growing mushrooms themselves and also, for the compost and peat material in which they grow and which are likely to be major sources of the bacterial pathogens.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry. This project will build on proof-of-concept data from a previous TSB project in which an innovative biocontrol technology based on naturally-occurring antimiciobial agents (bacteriophage) was shown to control bacteria-induced blackleg in potatoes; the commonest fault observed during the growing crop inspections and associated reason for crops being downgraded/ failing. The technology also reduced associated tuber soft rots during storage. A business-led consortium will carry out further investigations on the technology, addressing key questions of technology deployment and efficacy in relation to dose rate, disease pressure and environmental stresses, together with formulation and integration into commercial practice.

Sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB’s) are associated with deleterious effects in a range of industries, including metal corrosion, the production of toxic hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and reduced efficiency of microbial systems. They contribute to billions of dollars of direct losses per annum in pipeline industries and at the other end of the spectrum, their competitive interactions with other microbial communities can significantly reduce the biogas output of anaerobic digestion plants, in addition to being associated with unpleasant odours associated with digestates used as biofertilsers. The routine method of monitoring SRB levels involves standard microbiological approaches but the results often take up to 4 weeks to be generated. This Proof of Market study will assess the opportunities for a rapid, highly sensitive molecular diagnostic for SRB’s and other associated microbial contaminants. Focus will be on industries where careful and rapid monitoring of SRB’s will add significant value (e.g. the anaerobic digestion industry) and for which the proposed assay can act as a decision-support tool in terms of specific SRB interventions, as opposed to non-specific biocide application.

Bagged salads are a relatively new and rapidly growing (7% p.a.) category for the UK’s retailers, with product development and innovation central to success. The industry, however, is hampered by short shelf life and bacterial rots, causing losses throughout the supply chain; on farm, in the factory and the home. The lead applicant (Soleco UK, a major supplier of processed salad leaves and vegetables), has identified a need to develop a solution to this problem and will partner Advanced Pest Solutions (APS), with an innovative technology to control bacterial pathogens, based on novel, naturally-occurring, highly specific and safe bacteriophage. APS has made significant advances in the potato processing industry with this technology but salad processing presents new and different challenges. Following a successful TSB Feasibility Study, we will develop and trial bacteriophage active against bacteria isolated from salads, aiming to reduce supply-chain waste by controlling food spoilage.

The Innovation Voucher will be used to liaise with technical experts, IP advisors and regulatory specialists regarding the development and marketing of bacteriophage-based food processing aids for fresh produce (fruit and vegetables). Bacteriophage are naturally-occurring enemies of bacteria, which they specifically infect and destroy, posing no risk to human health. Bacterial rots are the biggest cause of rejections of fresh produce by supermarkets and customer complaints, representing significant financial losses to the producers. The applicant has developed an innovative product based on bacteriophage for decontaminating packed potatoes. It has been demonstrated to vastly outperform current chemical biocides used across the industry. Further product development will require moving into markets outside of the UK, particularly across Europe and there is an urgent need to fully define the relevant regulatory framework, as would be carried out in the present study.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a common and growing means of reducing the organic wastes, otherwise sent to landfill, dumped at sea or incinerated. It is central ato the UK’s Government’s commitment to work towards a ‘zero waste’ economy and to introduce measures to increase renewabl energy production from waste. With almost any organic material suitable for AD, the resulting biogas has applications in generating heat and electricity, converted into biofuels or injected into the national gas grid. Furthermore, the resulting digestates are valuable biofertilers. The AD process involves complex microbial communities, over several stages. Within these communities, however, are useless competitors (sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB’s)), which can significantly reduce the energy output of the AD process, as well as being responsible for unpleasant odours associated with biofertiliers. The challenge that will be addressed in the proposed project is to develop an innovate bactericide treatment that will specifically remove these SRB’s, with the resulting economic and social benefits of increased AD yield and reduced customer complaints regarding odours. The lead business (Advanced Pest Solutions) is developing an innovative antibacterial platform technology based on novel, naturally-occurring, highly specific and safe agents (bacteriophage). The company has already made significant commercial advances with the technology in the field of aerobic bacteria (particularly in agricultural- and food processing markets) and this project represents a development into a new and rapidly expanding market. We aim to produce bespoke bacteriophage AD additives targeted at SRB communities in a range of digester types, bringing commercial benefit to the applicant, as well as providing a tool to enhance AD efficiency and promote the process in the drive to increase renewable energy production.

Bagged salads are a relatively new and rapidly growing (7% p.a.) category for the UK’s multiple retailers, with product development and innovation central to success. The industry, however, is hampered by short shelf life and bacterial rots, causing losses throughout the supply chain, losses on farm, factory waste and waste in the home. The UK’s major retailers have identified a compelling need to develop a solution to this problem. The applicant has developed an innovative technology, based on novel, naturally-occurring, highly specific agents and recently produced a highly effective bactericide based on this technology targeting bacterial potato pathogens. This study will isolate bacteria colonising salad leaves, focusing on the causative bacteria for soft rots and match the applicant’s technology against these. The aim would be progression to a larger scale project, developing effective, safe salad bactericides.

Bacterial pathogens of potatoes are responsible for substantial losses, through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications and providing environmentally-sound, practical solutions to these problems is a high priority across the whole industry. This is the challenge that is to be addressed here; i.e. developing an innovative bactericide treatment that will be applicable across the potato industry, with the subsequent potential to roll the technology out across the arable and horticultural sectors. The target disease for the project is potato blackleg, which is a major cause of seed downgrading and rejections in northen Europe, while the related condition of bacterial soft rot of tubers can result in major production loss for both seed and ware producers. The proposed innovative treatments will target not only Pectobacterium spp. but also Dickeya spp, particularly D. solani which is emerging as a major threat to European potato production. The lead business (Advanced Pest Solutions) is developing an innovative platform technology that has the potential to specifically target the bacteria responsible for the associated disease symptoms (i.e. leaf wilt and tuber soft rot). The technology incorporates novel, naturally-occurring, highly specific and safe agents and is suitable for both mainstream- and organic agriculture. The TSB consortium has been formed to develop and translate the technology into an innovative, non-chemical, environmentally-acceptable seed potato treatment, aiming to reduce the carry-over of the target pathogens from one season to the next on tubers, through both controlling pathogen development on the tubers and protecting daughter tubers against infection.