News
NIAB Training Course Attracts European Students
[May 2008]
A unique NIAB training course on quantitative genetics and statistics attracted participants from as far a field as Switzerland, Madeira and Latvia.
The two week postgraduate level course, entitled “Quantitative Methods in Plant Breeding”, rapidly filled with plant breeders and students, and may be held again at their centre in Huntingdon Road, Cambridge to meet demand.
It focused on statistics, computation and data handling, population genetics, quantitative genetics, linkage analysis, association mapping and marker assisted selection and was led by statistical geneticist Dr Ian Mackay, who also has considerable experience as a commercial plant breeder. It is believed to be the first of its kind held in the UK.
Dr Mackay said the course, held between 7-18 April and limited to 20 participants, was designed for UK plant breeders, but he was delighted that news about it reached so many different organisations throughout Europe.
He said:
“There is an acknowledged lack of training in both traditional and modern methods using plant breeding. This is particularly the case in the numerical, quantitative and statistical methods which everyone hates at university, but which are making a come back in a big way. In order to make sense of the more extensive genetic and genomics data that are available now, you need to have a good understanding of these quantitative methods, which is why we decided to put on this course, and I’m delighted it attracted so much interest from so far afield.
“What might be unique about it is the breadth of coverage we offered. You will find courses in statistics, you will find courses in running statistical packages, or how to map traits in populations, but to get a course that covers such a wide breadth of quantitative methods, ranging from trial design and analysis to marker assisted selection is innovative.”
The participants described how valuable they had found the course, particularly learning about software which was available.
Ieva Berzina, from the State Priekuli Plant Breeding Institute in Lativa, works in a molecular markers laboratory where they have started to apply marker assisted selection for barley and potato, and will now be able to apply her new knowledge.
Nicolas Bakaher, from Philip Morris International in Switzerland, whose company is a leader in tobacco plant research, said he wanted to improve his knowledge of quantitative genetics and statistics, and said the course provided an opportunity to improve his knowledge of more powerful data analysis techniques and methods available.
Saemundur Sveinsson, from the Biology Institute, Iceland, has a special interest in basic genetic studies of wild Icelandic grass species that are related to wheat and has been making hybrids. He believes what he has learnt from the course will be of great use at a later date when the data is being analysed.
Gillian Covey, from KWS UK, said she had wanted to learn more about the software programmes available for analysing data and quantitative genetics. She works with wheat breeding in fields, as well as with the “crossing”, and believes she will now have a better understanding of the population sizes that are needed, as well as analysing results from the field which should make the breeding programme more efficient.
Plant breeder Jo Bowman, from Nickerson/Advanta, who works with oilseed rape, said he wanted to learn how statistics had developed over the years so he had a better understanding of information he is presented with which will enable him to do his job more effectively.
NIAB based Phd student Jon White, who assisted Dr Mackay on the course, said it had demonstrated that plant breeders need to have a broader knowledge of the tools they can use with their work.
He said:
“The future trend in plant breeding is to make increased use of these very sophisticated statistical techniques to maximise the chance that a plant breeding programme will produce winning varieties. Plant breeding is, to an extent, almost a process of gambling. All you can do is maximum your chance of success, you can never guarantee it, but this knowledge will give breeders the edge.
“Plant breeders are not just biologists or statistician, or even agronomists, but they are also administrators and organisers and a successful plant breeder must have a tremendous range of skills to make any sense out of what is an enormous logistical problem; they are dealing with thousands of different breeding lines and they must keep track of all of them and find the best.”
For further information please contact Dr Ian Mackay
Press enquiries can also be made to Ellee Seymour, 01353 648564 or 07939 811961
Nottingham Students Learn From NIAB Scientists
[April 2008]
Nottingham students visited NIAB to learn from some of the organisation's leading scientists who are working on innovative, cutting edge projects.
The 20 students from Nottingham University's Sutton Bonington Campus are taking Masters Degrees in Crop Improvement, Plant Genetic Manipulation, or Biosciences with Entrepreneurship.
Students from Nottingham University have been visiting NIAB since 1996 as part of the programme of their Plant Biotechnology module and this provides students with an insight into the agro-industry and possible employment opportunities in this sector. In fact, several former MSc students from Nottingham have taken up jobs in the agro-industry, including NIAB.
The group, including key staff, were told about projects being carried out by NIAB and, in particular, of the way in which research in plant science forms the basis for improvement of our crop plants and their commercialisation. Students also visited the glasshouses and laboratory facilities.
NIAB welcomes opportunities to work on training projects, to share its skills and knowledge and several of their leading scientists made presentations during the visit, including Dr Lydia Smith, who co-ordinated the event with Mary McPhee, Director’s Office.
Dr Smith said:
“This annual event has featured in our timetable for over a decade now and is apparently well received by the students. We, at NIAB, also benefit from an injection of fresh views from some of the future biotechnologists – both from the UK and other European and international countries”.
For further information please contact Dr Lydia Smith
[April 2008]
This year NIAB will be at the Grassland & Muck 2008 event, with some exciting news for all forage farmers. The event is being held at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd May 2008.
The NIAB Recommended List of Grass and Clover Varieties will be published in a new booklet format especially for the event and will be given away free to growers. The booklet aims to help growers identify the value they can get from re-seeding and variety choices that are suitable for their production system.
NIAB Livestock specialist Don Pendergrast said “we are very excited about the new booklet as it gives us a chance to get the message over to growers that, at this time of high input costs, there are ways to produce bigger yields, higher quality feed and drive up productivity.”
NIAB will be demonstrating a large range of the available Recommended List varieties and talking about the potential advantages from new leys. Please come along and see us at stand 312 to discuss all issues about grass production.
For further information contact Simon Kerr
NIAB Appoints Three New Research Scientists
[April 2008]
The National Institute of Agricultural Botany has appointed three new research scientists to work on cutting edge projects which could help farmers produce more sustainable crops at a time when feeding the world’s population has become increasingly vital.
The new recruits are Gemma Rose and Dasuni Jayaweera who joined on 1 April, with Harika Akkinepalli starting on 1 May. All are skilled molecular geneticists with Masters degrees and their recruitment demonstrates NIAB’s commitment to expanding its pioneering research projects at its centre in Huntingdon Road, Cambridge.
Gemma is researching wheat in collaboration with the John Innes Centre and British Wheat Breeders. It is hoped the project will enable farmers to grow sustainable crops in areas of drought stress by producing crops with an earlier flowering season which will make yields more productive.
Dasuni is joining NIAB’s group on the pan-European EURIGEN project studying the genetic diversity of European rice. It is hoped the project will ultimately help farmers yield more productive and profitable rice crops in the Mediterranean.
Huriki will join NIAB’s scientists working on the Sustainable Agriculture Research for International Development project in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute, based in the Philippines. It involves vital research on rice genetics which will lead to the creation of climate resistant breeds of rice for Africa and Asia.
Prof Andy Greenland, Research Director at NIAB, said they had trebled their research team over the last two years as demands for their scientific skills had increased with projects based in the UK and with collaborative work overseas.
He said:
“Since 2006 we’ve gone from about 10-12 people in research to a group of 34. We’ve been successful in bidding for money from sources like the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and DEFRA and are also well supported by the NIAB Trust and that has allowed us to increase our activities and develop new scientific areas.
“NIAB has now got a reputation for the science it is doing, particularly in ensuring that new scientific discoveries in plant sciences are fully exploited in agriculture.”
Prof Wayne Powell, Chief Executive of NIAB, welcomed the new staff at a time when the scientific knowledge of crops was expanding rapidly, providing the knowledge base to help feed the world’s future population.
Further information is available from Prof Andy Greenland
Press enquiries can also be made to Ellee Seymour, 01353 648564 or 07939 811961
NIAB on BBC Radio 4
[April 2008]
Huw Jones of NIAB, together with Professor Glynis Jones of the University of Sheffield, were interviewed as part of Radio 4's Material World which will be broadcast on Thursday, 10 April 2008 at 4.30pm. The topic of the interview was ‘Cereal Domestication: The Origins of Agriculture'.
Page interview : BBC Radio4 listen again.
For further information please contact Huw Jones
NIAB Scientists Attend International Barley Symposium in Egypt
[April 2008]
A high ranking delegation of plant geneticists from the National Institute of Agricultural Botany are next week attending an international conference on barley and sharing findings from their innovative research.
Five scientists will be going to the 10th International Barley Genetics Symposium in Alexandria, Egypt between April 5-10, including Chief Executive Prof Wayne Powell. It is held once every four years and Prof Powell represents the UK on its international organizing committee. It is regarded as one of the most important events for barley breeders and scientists, where results and current trends are presented and discussed.
Dr Donal O’Sullivan, will present a paper outlining his group’s in-depth study of DNA variation found in two genes controlling winter/spring growth habit in barley, and this will be of significant interest to breeders in adapting future varieties to cope with climate change.
Prof Powell will chair a session on genomics and plant breeding. In addition, with other members of the international organizing committee, he will determine the venue and host of the next congress.
Prof Powell and Dr O’Sullivan will be joined by researchers Dr Kostantina Stamati and Dr Fiona Leigh, and Phd student Zoe Rutterford who are looking forward to developing collaborative working relationships with other scientists from around the world. More than 300 barley geneticists, breeders, and researchers from more than 60 countries are expected to participate.
Dr O’Sullivan’s paper is entitled "Allelic diversity and phenotypic associations at vernalization loci in cultivated barley". It describes his in-depth study of DNA variation in two genes called Vrn-H1 and Vrn-H2 which previous evidence showed worked together to determine whether a barley plant is winter or spring sown; winter varieties are incapable of making ears until they have experienced cold temperatures for a duration of several weeks and this ability to have flowering induced by cold helps the plant avoid making delicate flowering organs during a mild spell in January as it "knows" the winter is not yet over.
He said:
“We were the first group to look at the forms of these genes found in a large sample of European barley varieties and in doing so, we have discovered several new gene variants and DNA markers to track each of these variants which may be of interest to breeders in adapting future varieties to a changing/warming climate.
“I am delighted to outline these findings and describe the work on barley genetics which my research group has been doing, as well as having the opportunity to meet up with barley researchers from all over the world, including new collaborators from Syria and New Zealand.”
Dr O’Sullivan believes the knowledge share with other barley scientific specialists will be extremely beneficial to NIAB.
He added:
“The symposium represents the single meeting worldwide where a cereal breeder can get the most comprehensive update in new knowledge of how barley works genetically. New materials, genes whose function has been newly characterized, new DNA markers for traits of economic importance, new tools for genetic manipulation will all be presented and discussed enthusiastically long after each days official proceedings have concluded. For researchers like ourselves, it is the best occasion to mentally piece together lots of diverse ideas and new trends, and importantly, to develop these new thoughts in conversation with the pick of the worlds barley experts.”
For further information please contact Dr Donal O’Sullivan
Speeding up marker discovery
[March 2008]
NIAB scientists have recently published details of how they have validated a new method of mapping genes which utilises the natural genotypic variation in a large variety collection rather than in crosses between contrasting parents. A paper in the journal of BMC Genetics (to access, click here) describes application of so-called association mapping to the vernalization requirement in barley. As the results of this proof-of-concept study show, results can not only be more rapidly obtained than traditional methods of genetic analysis, but can also be extremely powerful in localising the DNA differences that cause the phenotype in question.
An Open Access online journal - BMC Genetics - was chosen for this publication so that the results would be freely available to all immediately upon publication. Since its advance online publication in provisional form, the article has already been tagged as “Highly Accessed”.
Further information can be obtained from the NIAB Research Publications page or by contacting Donal OSullivan
Crop News from the Regions
[March 2008]
Cereal trials are generally in good condition with little disease present at all centres. Growth stage varies from a very forward 32 in Hereford from a September sown crop to early tillering from a late sown trial in Kent. Winter barleys and oats are generally Ok and have had their early fungicide and PGR treatments. Spring sowings are now just showing from February or early March drilling.
Winter oilseed rape is just coming into flower. Little reports of disease at most centres with the exception of Hereford where we have recorded high levels of light leaf spot from a well grown crop.
Winter beans have come through the winter well and spring sowing have been completed. We await conditions to get spring peas and lupins sown.
With the other spring crops preparation are underway and we expect to get on with sugar beet, potatoes and maize as soon as conditions allow.
Grass plots are just getting going with some Italian ryegrass plots harvested in Shropshire. At our Devon and Yorkshire sites things are a little slower to get away.
On the vegetables side we have planted two set onion trials and one drilled one seed onion trial and are waiting to drill one more. Late carrots have been harvested and we are just finishing onion storage recording.
For further information contact Simon Kerr
NIAB Inspiring Next Generation of Young Scientists
[Posted March 2008]
NIAB has been helping to inspire the next generation of young scientists. In the last month, three scientists visited schools in the region in support of the national campaign for the Year of Food and Farming.
One of them, Dr Lydia Smith, has also visited a Cambridge school to promote the UK National Science and Engineering Week, working with the University of Cambridge and gave a group of 8-10-year-olds a lesson in genetics and evolution.
She hopes her visit to St Luke’s Primary School has helped to demystify her work as a novel crops scientist, and that it will encourage a new generation of scientists.
The lesson was based on fundamental genetics leading on to the concept of evolution. It highlighted the recent work of Prof Mike Majerus, of Cambridge University’s Department of Genetics, who has added a chapter to the story of the Peppered Moth. These moths developed dark pigmented types in response to pollution covering trees in our dirty industrial cities; light specked moths became greatly disadvantaged and were much more easily seen and eaten by birds when hiding on dark coloured sooty trees during the day.
But, doubt about the validity of the original experiments showing this prompted Prof Majerus to repeat the work over the past seven years using his garden in Cambridge, as well as much more robust methodology that addressed all the doubts that had accumulated over the past decade. The dark coloured moths have gradually declined during his seven year project now that air is cleaner and trees no longer stained.
The children were absolutely delighted when the talk ended with an opportunity to see cases of real moths kindly lent by Prof Majerus, which had been collected during his work and clearly showed the range of possible colours that had evolved.
Models were used to describe simple genetics, and explain how characteristics are inherited and selected by plant breeders. The models enabled the children to understand dominant and recessive characters and how these are inherited as physical features such as flower or seed colour.
Miss Rosamund Annetts, a teacher at St Luke's School said:
“The National Science and Engineering week is a real high point in the children's year. They are introduced to concepts, which sceptics have suggested was beyond their grasp at such a young age and have responded with great enthusiasm and understanding. They come back the next day asking all sorts of questions about the talks and clearly demonstrate that it gives them an insight into not just genetics but the concept that interesting and useful science is going on around them in their own city.”
The visit to St Luke’s has become a popular annual event and Dr Smith said it helped children to appreciate that scientists were real people - possibly even parents of children at the school - who work in businesses and organisations in the vicinity of the school.
For further information please contact Dr Lydia Smith
POLITICIANS PLEDGE TO EDUCATE YOUNG ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF FOOD
[Posted March 2008]
A group of leading politicians, including a Shadow Minister, a city MP, Euro-MP and city Mayor, today vowed to support the national Year of Food and Farming campaign after working alongside children and sowing vegetable seeds in Cambridge.
The National Institute of Agricultural Botany, in partnership with Cambridge University Botanic Garden, invited them to sign a pledge which declared: “We champion the Year of Food and Farming and pledge our support to educating young people about how plants grow and provide us with food.”
It was signed at the Botanic Garden by Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs, James Paice; Cambridge MP, David Howarth; Euro-MP, Andrew Duff; and Cambridge Mayor, Coun Jenny Bailey; as well as Tony Cooke, Programme Director of the Year of Food Farming. It will be laminated and planted in the Botanic Garden’s teaching garden which is currently in development.
The Year of Food and Farming campaign was launched last September by Prince Charles at his Highgrove home and 
will run until August. Its aims are to help children find out more about the countryside and where their food comes from through memorable, first-hand learning experiences.
Today was the launch of a series of workshops for primary school pupils being held at the Botanic Garden. Guests were invited to join schoolchildren from Newnham Croft Primary School, Cambridge at their workshops before signing the pledge and being presented with their own seeds to take home and sow.
Mr Paice praised the initiative and said it was vital to educate children about food and its origins. He said:
“I am extremely encouraged that there are so many children who are interested in this. I just hope they watch their plants grow and that their knowledge grows with it. Children need to get involved this way. They love doing things with their hands, like sowing seeds. They will really learn more about food and its origins this way than in their classroom.”
Mr Howarth was equally impressed and said:
“I thought it was a wonderful day, especially seeing the excitement on the children’s faces and to hear all the questions they were asking. This will really help to increase their understanding about where food comes from.”
Mr Duff said that politicians had a role to play in bridging the divide between farming and science with public opinion.
“There isn’t a more fruitful place to start in seeking to influence public opinion than with children, so it is a great pleasure to be here and I hope these exercises are being extended across Britain and the European Union.”
Jenny Bailey hoped that green-fingered children would take their tips home and said there was something magical about growing your own food:
“I found today absolutely fascinating. It was so lovely to see the smiles on the children’s faces when they were planting beans. Hopefully, they will persuade their parents to do the same at home and even get an allotment.”
Mr Cooke said it had been an excellent event:
“I have been inspired by what I have seen. I know the positive impact that activities like this have on young children and their relationship with food, and how very worthwhile it is. Research has shown that after visual reinforcement, children can be up to twice as likely to grow and exhibit positive food preferences.”
Newnham Croft Primary School form teacher Emily Genochio said it had been a very enjoyable lesson for her pupils, aged five and six.
“We are always growing things and working on eco projects and have our own gardening club. We encourage our children to grow plants and think about where their food comes from, and from which country. This is a great way to connect young people with food and farming.”
Prof John Parker, Director of both Cambridge University Botanic Garden and NIAB, welcomed the guests. They were thanked at the end by NIAB trustee, Vincent Hedley-Lewis.
Juno McKee, project leader for NIAB, said:
“We are delighted at the level of support our local politicians have provided to this initiative today and it’s very gratifying to see the children so engaged with plants and seeds. NIAB is committed to being involved in similar activities in the future because the involvement of children and young people is vital for the future sustainability of our planet.”
This week is designated Seeds Week when pupils will sow seeds from a range of early vegetables, such as carrots, broad beans and lettuce. This will be followed by a Sow and Grow Week between 14-17 April when school children will be able to monitor the growth of early vegetables and sow seeds for a range of later vegetables, including sweetcorn and courgettes.
A third series of workshops between 23-26 June will give youngsters the chance to harvest and taste the produce grown, the final part of the “from soil to plate” workshops which have been sponsored by Elsoms Seeds Ltd of Spalding and Mr Fothergills Seeds of Newmarket.
Leading plant scientists from NIAB are also visiting a number of the schools to explain their work and its relevance to the vegetables we eat.
Further information is available from NIAB project leader Dr Juno McKee.
You can find out more about the Year of Food and Farming at
http://www.yearoffoodandfarming.org.uk/
FOXTON PUPILS LEARN ABOUT FOOD THEY EAT FROM CAMBRIDGE SCIENTISTS
[Posted March 2008]
Two scientists from the National Institute of Agricultural Botany have begun a series of visits to schools in the region to promote the national Year of Food and Farming.
Mike Day, who is responsible for the vegetable trials programme at NIAB, and fellow scientist Dr Lydia Smith, started by giving a humorous and informative illustrated talk about the origins of the food we eat, as well as our genetic make up, to pupils at Foxton Primary School.
Mike gave them plenty of food for thought too – leaving behind a sack of carrots for them to munch on which had been donated by Isleham Carrot Growers, as well as a fruit and vegetable quiz, posters and packets of seeds. He said:
"The children were keen and enthusiastic to learn about the food they eat and about UK farming. Their teacher has started a garden and is 
obviously a great asset in trying to help her pupils understand how plants grow. I was impressed by how many of the vegetables the children knew and how quickly they picked up which part of the plant they had come from."
Lydia used an egg shaped model in different colours to illustrate how characters such as eye colour or flower colour are inherited from parents’ genes. Lydia said:
“The children were bright and enthusiastic, asking intelligent questions about aspects of the talks. We were very pleased to discover that they already knew the names and uses for many of the vegetables that we discussed. It was also gratifying to find that they picked up the rudiments of genetics very quickly, which should considerably enhance their understanding of their studies at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden which they will visit later.”
The 7-9 year-olds already have green fingers as they help out with their school’s vegetable plot and enthusiastically responded to questions from Mike and Lydia.
Class teacher Julie Bamborough said:
“”I think this will definitely make them think more about the food they eat. At home, they will be talking about this with their parents too and asking where their food came from, instead of just eating it. It has definitely raised their awareness.”