Bio-Impuls Ir. Peter Keijzer Prof.dr.ir. Edith Lammerts van Bueren - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Bio-Impuls

• Ir. Peter Keijzer

Prof.dr.ir. Edith Lammerts van Bueren (Louis Bolk institute) & Dr.ir. Ronald Hutten

• Ir. Christel Engelen

(Wageningen University & Reseach)

Bioimpuls

A Dutch national initiative to provide new potato varieties resistant to late blight (Phytophthora infestans L.) for the organic sector.

Why this project?

Why this project?

• Between 2004 and 2008 the Dutch acreage of
• rganic potatoes sharply declined due to severe

incidences of late blight.

• A 10-year project aimed at using cis-genesis to

develop GMO late blight resistant potato varieties (DurPh) was financed by the Dutch government.

• The Dutch parliament argued that consumers

should be left the option to choose between GMO and non-GMO.

Why this project?

• Hence classical breeding for the organic sector:

Bioimpuls, also 10 year, from 2009 on.

• Soon to be incorporated in a broader program

called “Green Breeding”, aiming at breeding research in (small) food crops for the organic sector with preferably spin-off to the non-

• rganic sector, running from 2010 till end of

2019.

What’s the set-up?

The project is a cooperation between Louis Bolk institute and Wageningen University and Research

Louis Bolk institute

Edith Lammerts Peter Keijzer van Bueren 2009 -2017 2018 - …….

Wageningen University and Research

Christel Engelen Ronald Hutten

How is it organized?

How is it organized?

Formally:

Bioimpuls is one of the projects in the

Green Breeding program: classical breeding for the organic sector. Institutionally:

Louis Bolk institute coordinates it Wageningen University & Research takes

care of the crossing program and central trial field, marker analyses, etc. Practically:

6 commercial breeding companies and farmer-breeders

How is it organized?

Year -1:

WUR makes the crosses.

Year 0:

Breeders choose seeds and raise

seedlings, some organically out in the field, some in greenhouses, …. Year 1 till 3:

Breeders make selections for three field

generations, of which at least one is under

• rganic conditions.

How is it organized?

Year 4:

 All selected material is centrally trialled

and tested by WUR for

 Phytophthora resistance  molecular markers for specific resistance genes  growth and yield parameters (organic and non-organic conditions)  culinary quality  nematode resistance (Globodera spp.)

How is it organized?

Year 4: central Phytopthora resistance trial

How is it organized?

Year 4: culinary quality tests from central trial field

How is it organized?

Year 4:

 All trialled material is put together on

display at a show in December for all participants involved. (no secrets here..)

How is it organized?

Year 5:

 Selected material is used for new crosses

in the Bioimpuls program at Wageningen, and the cycle starts all over again within the crossing program.

Further, breeders continue trialling their

most advanced clones in their own selection system of positioning and pre- commercial trials.

How is it organized?

In case of commercial potential:

Breeding stations have full commercial

rights on their Bioimpuls selections.

Farmer breeders have to make

arrangements with one of the breeding stations within the project.

No royalty obligations back to the

Bioimpuls program.

Characteristics typical for an organic potato

Characteristics typical for an organic potato

Above soil level:

Resistant to late blight (Phytophthora), early

blight (Alternaria) and scab

Fast soil coverage to suppress weeds under

lower nitrogen levels, especially in late spring Below soil level:

Early tuber initiation and bulking N-efficient and a well-developed root system Ability to recover, no growth cracks nor

secondary growth

Ability to flourish with mycorrhiza? Less susceptible for Rhizoctonia and silver

scab

Characteristics typical for an organic potato

Typically for a seed crop:

Resistance to viruses

And of course:

attractive skin finish, good quality and taste, flesh color tuned to local market

preferences!

Characteristics typical for an organic potato

Bioimpuls focusses on:

Phytophthora resistance in leaves and

tuber

Why does it take so long?

Why does it take so long?

Resistance genes are found in wild relatives. ‘Wild’ means…..  Resistant to Phytophthora ….but also….  No tubers at our latitudes,  When tubers: poor yields, deep eyes, unattractive skin finish  flesh color usually white or very pale yellow

Why does it take so long?

It takes at least 4 generations of crossing to get rid of most of these wild, unwanted characteristics:

Each generation takes at least 3 – 4 year. In each generation you have to test: is it

still resistant?

In each generation you have to select for

better adaptation to both farm practices and consumer preferences.

Starting with wild relatives takes a long time…

Pre-breeding

• Cross with wild relative (F1)

3 y

• Backcrosses with varieties

4 x 4 y 19 years Commercial breeding From cross to market introduction 12 year Total 30+ years!

Not finished yet…

Least advanced material: still some 10 year of prebreeding to go. Most advanced material: Pre-commercial tests.

We’ve still got work to do !

Bioimpuls in numbers

Bioimpuls in numbers

Since the start-up in 2009:

• 6 professional breeding companies
• 11 farmer-breeders
• 60,000 new seedlings per year enter the

selection pipeline

• 11 different major genes against

Phytophthora

• resistance tested out in the field and with

molecular markers

• FG4 enters central trial and is available for

new round of crossing

Bioimpuls in numbers

Major resistance genes / gene-groups used in commercial breeding:

• Rpi-blb2 (Bionica, Toluca)
• R8(dms) (Vitabella, Sarpo Mira, Passion, …..
• R9(dms) = Rpi-edn2
• Athlete
• Carolus, Twinner, Twister
• Alouette

‘Unidentified’ (minor/major?) resistance genes used still in prebreeding:

• Solanum brachycarpum, bukasovii, iopetalum,

multi-interruptum and sucrense

Bioimpuls farmer-breeders

Selection by organic farmer-breeders: first step = Phytopthora enables ‘negative mass selection’

Selection by organic farmer-breeders:

Second step: From healthy plants the ones with best tubers are selected; criteria

• Tuber size grading,
• Tuber shape,
• Eye depth, skin

finish

Selection by organic farmer-breeders:

Bad shape Scabby skin

Selection by organic farmer-breeders:

Third step:

• Harvested tubers are stored untill next season and

are seed potatoes for the next crop, in which selection continues……

Selection by organic farmer-breeders:

After 3 generations

• ut in the field:

material goes back to Wageningen for central trials and one of the breeding stations for further trialling.

Practical training for potato breeders

Practical training for potato breeders

Started up by the Louis Bolk institute:

• In order to train new farmer-breeders for the

Bioimpuls project.

• Started in 2011, and still running since.
• In 2017 the three Dutch assiociations for

hobby potato breeders took over the

• rganisation from Louis Bolk institute.

Practical training for potato breeders

Still running:

• In 2018 new 22 students are trained.
• Farmers, staff from professional breeding

stations, staff from certification service NAK, ………

Practical training for potato breeders

The study book is available in Dutch (2nded), English and Chinese…..

www.aardappelwereld.nl/webshop

Organic potatoes not just Holland….

Potatoes 4th staple food worldwide !

Bioimpuls and CoFREE

The CoFREE project demonstrated the potential

• f copper-free production of food crops.

(copper is a broad spectrum fungicide)

COFREE (EU project) 2012-2016

In-shop consumer campaigns in Zeist and Wageningen

Bioimpuls summary

What does Bioimpuls bring?

 Due to more (financial) capacity in breeding more

resistance genes can be crossed in to broaden the genetic base under durable resistance.

 Through selection under organic conditions new

priorities lead to new types of varieties for both the organic farmer and the non-organic farmers.

 By increasing selection capacity and through a

participative approach using farmers in the selection new varieties are expected to be better adapted to organic farm practices.

Thanks! – Questions?

http://louisbolk.org/bioimpuls/en/ p.keijzer@louisbolk.nl