Late blight resistance and elevated flavonoid composition for potato improvement

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We aim to combine two highly important quality traits to appeal to both producers and consumers of potato. Potato blight causes ~£2 billion annual losses to potato crops, globally. Current BBSRC funding supports isolation of resistance genes that will be deployed to enhance blight control. Flavonoids are health-promoting natural antioxidants, but potatoes - though a major dietary component - contain only low levels. Flavonoids can be elevated substantially using transcription factors identified at the John Innes Centre through BBSRC funding. We propose to use 'cis-genic, non-GM' technology to produce potato lines that combine late blight resistance with enhanced flavonoid content and nutritional/health value using constructs crafted only from potato DNA. These improved potato lines will form the basis of a new spin-out company from the Sainsbury Lab and John Innes Centre, to exploit the global potential of varieties with novel traits produced using cis-genic technology.