Accelerated Breeding for Disease Resistance in Commercial Brassicas by Associative Transcriptomics

随着美国和欧洲越来越多的健康意识和减肥运动的兴起，羽衣甘蓝（BLK）作为一种超级食物得到了普及。因此，对BLK的需求增加了，全球消费量在短短一年内（2012 - 2013年）增长了40%。由霉菌和细菌引起的疾病是BLK生产中的主要问题。由于2015年初立法的变化强制减少了农用化学品的使用，这一问题变得更加具有挑战性。农药和杀菌剂的最低残留限量（MRL）也有严格的限制，这些限量是按产品定义的，并经常进行审查。CN Seeds是一家总部位于英国的商业种子育种公司，专门从事培育幼叶沙拉种子，包括BLK和草本种子。BLK在过去两年中一直是该公司最畅销的产品，占总收入的12%。不断引进满足和超越客户需求的新品种是CN种子竞争战略的关键组成部分。这个交换项目通过在JIC和CN种子公司的科学家之间转移知识，解决了用商业上理想的BLK品种开发抗病能力的挑战。JIC的科学家们正致力于开发油菜的抗病能力，油菜是一种与BLK密切相关的重要芸苔植物。他们用于油菜品种改良的方法可以直接应用于BLK，而这种交流旨在传递这种知识。JIC的科学家们将访问CN Seeds，了解用于叶沙拉市场的种子的商业化生产以及疾病带来的限制。这将使他们能够调整他们的研究，以更有效地解决这个问题。CN Seeds的一名科学家也将在JIC工作，学习如何开发抗病筛选程序，以及一种被称为结合转录组学的新型育种技术。该遗传技术可快速识别与抗病相关的基因位点，并可用于开发加速育种的分子标记。通过提高对种子生产的商业限制的理解，这种交换对JIC和英国科学界都有好处；这将使研究人员能够瞄准他们的科学来取得更大的影响。该交换得到了CN Seeds的财政支持，该公司通过提高对海外竞争对手的竞争力，增加英国经济的出口和收入而受益。

Baby Leaf Kale (BLK) has been popularised as a super food, through the growing health awareness and weight loss movement in the USA and Europe. Consequently, the demand for BLK has increased with global consumption rising by 40% in just one year (2012 - 2013). Diseases caused by mildews and bacteria are a major problem in BLK production. This problem has become even more challenging due to enforced reductions in agrochemical use as a result of changing legislation in early 2015. There are also tight restrictions on the Minimal Residue Level (MRL) of pesticides and fungicides which are defined product by product and frequently reviewed. CN Seeds is a UK-based commercial seed breeding company specializing in breeding baby leaf salad seeds, including BLK and herb seeds. BLK has been the company's best-selling product over the last two years, accounting for 12% of total revenues. The continual introduction of new varieties that meet and exceed customer needs is a key component of CN Seeds competitive strategy. This interchange project addresses the challenge of developing disease-resistance with a commercially desirable BLK variety by transferring knowledge between scientists at JIC and CN Seeds. The JIC scientists are working on developing disease resistance in oilseed rape, an important brassica closely related to BLK. The methods that they are using for variety improvement in oilseed rape can be directly applied to BLK, and this interchange aims to transfer that knowledge. The JIC scientists will visit CN Seeds to learn about commercial production of seed for the leaf salad market and the constraints imposed by diseases. This will enable them to tailor their research to address this issue more effectively. A CN Seeds scientist will also work at JIC, learning how to develop disease-resistance screening procedures and about a novel breeding technique known as associative transcriptomics. This genetic technique rapidly identifies gene loci associated with disease resistance which can be used to develop molecular markers for accelerated breeding.The interchange benefits both JIC and UK science generally through improved understanding of the commercial constraints on seed production; this will enable researchers to target their science to achieve greater impact. The interchange is supported financially by CN Seeds which benefits through improved competitiveness against overseas rivals, increasing exports and revenue for the UK economy.