Late blight resistance and elevated flavonoid composition for potato improvement

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.