Norwich Research Park spin-out moves into year-two field trials, prepares DEFRA submission, and targets first commercial tubers by 2030.

A company that has set up at Norwich Research Park is looking to revolutionise farming with a new Maris Piper potato that resists the potato late blight pathogen, one of its most devastating diseases.

From blight’s legacy to a precision-bred solution

Late blight triggered the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s. It can still destroy fields of potatoes within weeks, which means that farmers have to apply up to 20 preventative fungicide sprays per season.

BioPotatoes (BioP), a commercial partner of The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) at Norwich Research Park, has built on the decades of research led by award-winning plant scientist Prof Jonathan Jones and his team who have focused on understanding how crops defend themselves against pests and diseases. Now their expertise is driving an innovative commercial solution that employs precision breeding.

Spin-out model: TSL Ventures backs commercialisation

BioP is supported by TSL Ventures, a programme based at TSL that helps to turn cutting-edge lab research into viable businesses. Where, in the past, TSL might have licensed discoveries directly to large corporations, TSL Ventures invests in these spin-out and small companies to ensure more value stays within the research ecosystem to fund future breakthroughs.

TSL is a significant shareholder in BioP and hosts BioP’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Dr Sasha Eremina, whose role is funded by TSL to help bring disease-resistant potatoes to market.

BioP has also received pre-seed funding of £30,000 from Anglia Innovation Partnership, the campus management organisation at Norwich Research Park, £45,000 from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and a £500,000 follow-on grant from the BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council).

Industry impact: sustainability, reliability, affordability

“The work that we are doing at BioP is very exciting, because we think we could be at the start of a journey that will safeguard the future and enhance the value of potato crops,” said Sasha. “This will help the industry become more sustainable, potato production become more reliable and efficient and provide consumers with a more affordable staple food with a lower environmental footprint.”

“The Sainsbury Laboratory has a great track record in coming up with solutions to some of the major challenges we are facing in cultivating nutritious crops and plants. Now, more than ever, in the face of climate change, crop disease and a greater demand for healthy food, we are under pressure to come up with ways in which we can protect what we grow and improve yields while reducing the environmental impact of agriculture.”

Policy tailwind: England’s precision-breeding law

New legislation, introduced earlier this year, means that England is poised to become the first country in Europe to benefit from precision-bred crops.

Precision breeding uses a variety of techniques to make targeted genetic changes to plants and crops that could have been achieved through traditional breeding, but in a fraction of the time. It uses the plant’s own natural genes, or those from related plants, to improve traits such as resistance to disease, improved yields and better nutrition.

How it works: detector genes trigger natural defences

Most commercial potatoes cannot detect the late blight pathogen so succumb because they don’t activate their defence mechanisms. BioP’s work has introduced ‘detector genes’ from potato wild relatives into varieties of popular potatoes like Maris Piper. These genes trigger the plant’s natural defences before the disease can take hold.

While it is possible for traditional breeding to achieve the same results eventually, it can take more than a decade of trial and error to get there whereas precision breeding shortens that period to just a few years.

Beyond blight: tackling PVY and PLRV

Blight is not the only challenge facing the potato industry. The UK’s seed potato industry must also guard against Potato Virus Y (PVY) and Potato Leafroll Virus (PLRV). Both diseases are spread by aphids and can dramatically reduce yields.

Current seed potato production relies heavily on Scotland’s cooler climate to suppress the aphid population. Once the virus-free seed tubers have grown there they are transported south to farms in England and Wales.

By incorporating natural virus-resistance traits into new potato varieties, BioP aims to reduce, or even remove, the need for long-distance seed tuber transport. Growers in England could be able to produce their own high-quality seed potatoes locally which will cut costs and carbon emissions while reducing the need for insecticides.

BioP’s work could drastically cut pesticide use and transport costs, making potato farming more environmentally and economically sustainable.

BioP is currently in its second year of field trials and is preparing its application for commercial approval from DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs). The company expects to be able to bring its first blight-resistant and virus-resistant Maris Piper tubers to market by 2030.

While Maris Piper is the initial focus, its disease-resistant traits can be added to other popular potato varieties. BioP is already exploring other varieties based on market interest.

Maximising public research impact

Roz Bird, CEO of Anglia Innovation Partnership, said, “One of our core aims at Norwich Research Park is to maximise the impact of publicly-funded research conducted across our campus. Often this means setting up companies that can commercialise research and innovation to develop an end product and scale up production.”

Safeguarding a staple for the UK and Europe

“BioP is a really good example of a company successfully utilising many years of research to improve the disease resistance of a very important crop to the UK and Europe. It is very exciting to think that scientists and entrepreneurs, working together at Norwich Research Park, have found a way to protect against the late blight pathogen that triggered the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s.”

Source: Norwich Research Park
Cover image: BioP and TSL researchers viewing a field trial carried out with VCS Agronomy. Credit Sasha Eremina