press release.<\/a><\/p>\nFollowing a scientific assessment by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment, the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) confirmed that two PiperPlus lines meet the legal definition of a precision-bred organism under the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023.<\/p>\n
Under the legislation, a plant qualifies as precision bred only if its genetic changes could have occurred naturally or through conventional breeding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m delighted to see that after dedicated and extensive effort from my outstanding team of scientific colleagues at The Sainsbury Laboratory, supported by grants from BBSRC, we\u2019ve identified two potato lines that have been approved by DEFRA for a marketing notice under the Precision Breeding Act,\u201d Jones says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has also been extremely encouraging to see the EU catching up by introducing its own NGT1 regulatory framework. We believe PiperPlus will become a flagship example of what\u2019s possible through precision breeding, showing how these technologies can reduce fungicide use, improve sustainability, and deliver real benefits to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strengthening the Potato\u2019s Immune System<\/p>\n
Rather than relying solely on chemical crop protection, the researchers strengthened Maris Piper\u2019s natural immune system using resistance genes from wild potato relatives.<\/p>\n
These genes encode immune receptors that recognize pathogen molecules and activate the plant\u2019s natural defences.<\/p>\n
Late blight, caused by\u00a0Phytophthora infestans, remains one of the greatest challenges facing UK potato growers. Because most commercial varieties are susceptible, farmers typically apply preventive fungicides throughout the growing season \u2014 sometimes as many as 15 times annually.<\/p>\n
PiperPlus is designed to reduce that dependence. Fewer applications could lower production and labour costs, reduce tractor journeys and associated carbon emissions, limit soil compaction and help protect beneficial soil fungi and microbial communities.<\/p>\n
Tests comparing the two potatoes showed that late blight spread through a susceptible Maris Piper tuber following direct inoculation. In PiperPlus, however, the added Rpi resistance genes enabled the potato\u2019s cells to detect the pathogen and activate an immune response that stopped it from spreading.<\/p>\n
Resistance to Major Potato Viruses<\/p>\n
Resistance to PVY and PLRV could provide additional benefits for commercial and seed potato production.<\/p>\n
Viral loads can increase with each successive potato generation, causing progressively more severe disease symptoms. It is therefore essential that seed potatoes \u2014 the small tubers used to establish the next crop \u2014 remain free from viral infection.<\/p>\n
Most British seed potatoes are currently produced in Scotland, where cooler conditions generally result in lower virus pressure. Virus-resistant varieties could allow more seed potato production to take place in England, reducing transportation requirements, costs and associated emissions.<\/p>\n
Because aphids transmit both PVY and PLRV, PiperPlus could also reduce the need for insecticide applications intended to limit virus transmission.<\/p>\n
Further Approval Required<\/p>\n
PiperPlus must still receive regulatory approval from the Food Standards Agency before it can enter the market. The agency will review compositional and safety data intended to demonstrate that the precision-bred potatoes are as safe to eat as conventional Maris Piper potatoes.<\/p>\n
According to Jones, bringing a new potato variety to market typically takes at least five years. This reflects the time needed to complete variety registration, secure inclusion on the National List of potato varieties and produce sufficient quantities of seed potatoes.<\/p>\n
Although the Precision Breeding Act currently applies only to the cultivation of precision-bred crops in England, products grown under the legislation could be made available to consumers throughout the UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Regulatory approval moves a disease-resistant Maris Piper capable of combating late blight and two major potato viruses closer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,555,2453,50,15133,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-718776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-industry","tag-innovation","tag-news","tag-seed-world-europe","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}