KTP Case Study – Elsoms Seeds Ltd
Dr Adrian Dunford
23rd September 2014 – Government Support for Innovation, Grantham
Vegetable Seed
Carrot
Parsnip
Beetroot
Leek
Onion
Swede
Cauliflower
Sprouting Broccoli
Cabbage
Savoy Cabbage
Brussels Sprout
Beans/Peas
Speciality Salads
Asparagus
Arable Seeds
Seed Technology
The KTP Project Overview
 Knowledge Transfer Partnership between Elsoms and the
University of Warwick
 Introduction of genetic marker methods into an existing parsnip
breeding program
 Transferring expertise
 Initiate new salad leaf breeding program in rocket species
 Select new material to improve on existing commercial varieties
4
Why Elsoms and University of Warwick
 Elsoms, family owned, UK plant breeders, access to world market place
through well established sales network. Focussed on traditional plant
breeding techniques.
 Need to adopt new technologies in order to capitalise on market place
opportunities.
 Excellent existing relationship between Elsoms and Warwick
 Warwick Life Sciences & Crop Centre are world leaders in plant
breeding technologies
 Leading scientists and state of the art facilities at Wellesbourne, ideal
for research and training.
5
THE BASIS FOR AN IDEAL
PARTNERSHIP
Elsoms Parsnip Strategy
 Elsoms have a 20% share of UK parsnip seed market, worth
£4m. Parsnip seed market worth over £10m globally
 Key target is to double our sales in 5 years, and become global
leaders in breeding and sales.
 Achieve these goals by improving in-house technologies to
drive the breeding programme and seed production
This KTP project was the starting point of this process
7
University of Warwick: capabilities & expertise
 University of Warwick (Wellesbourne) are world leaders in plant
breeding technologies
 SRAPs
 SNPs
 Genetic analysis methods
 Many other genetic marker technologies
8
KTP: Technology based solutions needed for….
 Breeding new varieties of parsnip takes a long time – could
genetic markers speed up this process?
 Breeding lines are valuable to the company – could genetic
markers reliably advance them?
 Plant breeding is expensive – could genetic markers be
implemented cost effectively?
 Parsnips are an unstudied species – could existing methods be
transferred from other crops?
9
Outcomes: Improvements in Parsnip breeding
 Using genetic marker technology, 4 new
female breeding lines produced
 High value resource, will produce new
hybrids
 Successful use of marker technology
has cut 4 years off the production of a
new variety – this means 4 years of
profit 4 years earlier
 An estimated saving of £160,000
 Demand for our new varieties has
increased
Outcomes: Genetic marker facility in-house at
Elsoms
 Technology imported from University of Warwick
 Equipment and consumables independently sourced and installed
 Cost effectiveness improved through automation and a reduction
in consumables
 Will be used for other crops at Elsoms
Outcomes: Follow-on projects
 As a direct result of research into parsnip genetics, Elsoms has
invested to create the world’s first parsnip transcriptome
sequence and genetic map
 This information is potentially worth millions of pounds in future
sales for the company (from increased sales and from reduction in
non-rewarding breeding effort)
 A new PhD project with the University of Warwick is being run
to develop disease resistance in the crop
Rocket activity
Knowledge Transfer Partnership: aims
 No in-house breeding in salad crops – could a new breeding
program be initiated successfully?
 Commercial varieties lack uniformity and quality – could
substantial improvements be made?
 The salad market is very competitive – would there be interest
from growers, for improvements in disease resistance, leaf
character and flavour attributes?
Outcomes: Rocket breeding
 New material collected from
genebanks across Europe, including
Warwick
 Screened for novel and advanced
traits
 Now into 4th generation of breeding
 Attracted substantial interest from
growers and producers
1
Outcomes: Research projects
 A PhD project utilising BBSRC funding has been initiated as a
direct result of the rocket breeding program
 Research in conjunction with the University of Reading and
Bakkavor Group
 Will look into flavour, health benefits and post-harvest quality of
the crop, as well as the underlying genetics
1
Outcomes: Follow-on breeding programs
 Programs in other crops initiated in the same fashion as rocket
 Basil, dill, turnip, coriander & chives
 Material sourced from international genebanks
 Subject to field trials and selections
 Attracted a large amount of interest from growers and
suppliers
Associate responsibilities / achievements
 Sourced all equipment and consumables for the genetic marker
lab at Elsoms
 Management of the laboratory and several salad and herb
breeding programs
 Gained a Level 5 Diploma in Leadership & Management from
the Chartered Management Institute
 Awarded an MSc in Plant & Environmental Science from the
University of Warwick
Summary: What we’ve achieved
 New genetic marker facility established at Elsoms through the
partnership with Warwick
 Integration of new methods to improve efficiency of the
parsnip breeding program
 Four new female lines made available for hybrid trials
 Two rocket species breeding programs developed
 Several breeding programs in other species developed using
knowledge from work with Warwick
 Research projects to follow on from the KTP success
KTP: A case of win-win-win for
company, university and
associate
New KTP Project: started 9th September 2014
To establish protocols to collect, identify and store
pathogens which cause vegetable and herb
crop diseases and use them to improve plant
resistance breeding programmes.
Thank you!
adrian.dunford@elsoms.com