Assessing the market potential of a novel resistance management framework for fungal biopesticides in the UK glasshouse horticulture
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Stirling
Department Name: Biological and Environmental Sciences
Abstract
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Organisations
- University of Stirling (Lead Research Organisation)
- Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (Collaboration)
- HARPER ADAMS UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- University of Gothenburg (Collaboration)
- Newcastle University (Collaboration)
- Scotland's Rural College (Collaboration)
- James Hutton Institute (Collaboration)
- Fera Science Limited (Collaboration)
- FOREST RESEARCH (Collaboration)
- ETH Zurich (Collaboration)
- Dudutech (Collaboration)
- Rothamsted Research (Collaboration)
- Liverpool John Moores University (Collaboration)
- Bioline AgroSciences (Collaboration)
- Wageningen University & Research (Collaboration)
- Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Matthew Tinsley (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Mangan R
(2023)
Increasing ecological heterogeneity can constrain biopesticide resistance evolution.
in Trends in ecology & evolution
| Description | We commissioned a market survey of the use of fungal biopesticides by the UK (and European) horticulture industry. This was successful and identified the market size for future product development. We commissioned a survey of the acceptability of horticultural farmers adopting more heterogeneous crop pest control strategies to forestall resistance evolution in pests. This survey was encouraging; it indicated that horticultural farmers were highly aware of the general issue of resistance management and were receptive to the concept of modifying pest control practices to mitigate risks. We conducted whitefly breeding work to investigate whether genetic variation exists in UK whitefly populations for fungal biopesticide susceptibility which might facilitate resistance evolution in whitefly. Our data suggested that this variation does exist and presents the very real possibility that resistance might evolve to these ecologically sustainable biopesticides, if they continue to be used in current ways. This work has provided a good evidence base that the novel biopesticide approaches we envisage to combat resistance evolution have a potential market and deserve urgent investment. The project has facilitated the development of new collaborations in the UK and overseas leading to two pending grant applications. We have secured a NERC PhD studentship to continue the laboratory research work, and have initiated an industry partnership. |
| Exploitation Route | Novel biopesticide deployment strategies and/or products could be developed. We are actively pursuing these. |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Environment Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | 21ROMITIGATIONFUND Stirling |
| Amount | £238,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/W510713/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2021 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Description | Assessing the impacts of tank-mixing on biopesticide efficacy: Enabling the agricultural transition to net-zero through BBSRC's Farm Sustainability Fund |
| Amount | £47,055 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 91140082 |
| Organisation | Agricultural and Horticulture Development Board |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2021 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Description | Improving plant resilience to enhance efficacy of biocontrol-based crop protection |
| Amount | £4,300 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Royal Society of Biology (RSB) |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2023 |
| End | 09/2023 |
| Description | Landscape heterogeneity as a sustainable management strategy to reduce evolution of resistance and decrease use of pesticides |
| Amount | 3,600,000 kr (SEK) |
| Funding ID | 2021-05466 |
| Organisation | Swedish Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Sweden |
| Start | 01/2022 |
| End | 12/2025 |
| Description | Sustainable futures for Kenyan crop protection - Internal Stirling University GCRF Spark Grant |
| Amount | £14,803 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Stirling |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2019 |
| End | 05/2020 |
| Description | Sustainable futures for biocontrol-based crop protection (Research Grant, Institutional Sponsorship) |
| Amount | £37,282 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/X511985/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2022 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Description | The evolution of pathogen defence in insect hosts: whitefly resistance to biocontrol agents in horticulture |
| Amount | £80,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 2437233 |
| Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2020 |
| End | 03/2024 |
| Description | Bid for BBSRC-NERC call - Molecules to Landscapes: building interdisciplinary capabilities |
| Organisation | Fera Science Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Building on our track record build up though these existing grants I have assembled a consortium from across academia and industry to put a bid into the above call. Our bid is titled: REMBIO: Resistance management for the new era of biocontrol-based crop protection. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners bring expertise, especially in field trials and IPM specialisms, alongside industry contacts. |
| Impact | This application is multi-disciplinary - it involves parasite biologists, genomics, evolutionary biologists, IPM experts, landscape modellers, and industry. We have produced a grant application which will be submitted March 24th 2022. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Bid for BBSRC-NERC call - Molecules to Landscapes: building interdisciplinary capabilities |
| Organisation | Forest Research |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Building on our track record build up though these existing grants I have assembled a consortium from across academia and industry to put a bid into the above call. Our bid is titled: REMBIO: Resistance management for the new era of biocontrol-based crop protection. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners bring expertise, especially in field trials and IPM specialisms, alongside industry contacts. |
| Impact | This application is multi-disciplinary - it involves parasite biologists, genomics, evolutionary biologists, IPM experts, landscape modellers, and industry. We have produced a grant application which will be submitted March 24th 2022. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Bid for BBSRC-NERC call - Molecules to Landscapes: building interdisciplinary capabilities |
| Organisation | Harper Adams University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Building on our track record build up though these existing grants I have assembled a consortium from across academia and industry to put a bid into the above call. Our bid is titled: REMBIO: Resistance management for the new era of biocontrol-based crop protection. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners bring expertise, especially in field trials and IPM specialisms, alongside industry contacts. |
| Impact | This application is multi-disciplinary - it involves parasite biologists, genomics, evolutionary biologists, IPM experts, landscape modellers, and industry. We have produced a grant application which will be submitted March 24th 2022. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Bid for BBSRC-NERC call - Molecules to Landscapes: building interdisciplinary capabilities |
| Organisation | James Hutton Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Building on our track record build up though these existing grants I have assembled a consortium from across academia and industry to put a bid into the above call. Our bid is titled: REMBIO: Resistance management for the new era of biocontrol-based crop protection. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners bring expertise, especially in field trials and IPM specialisms, alongside industry contacts. |
| Impact | This application is multi-disciplinary - it involves parasite biologists, genomics, evolutionary biologists, IPM experts, landscape modellers, and industry. We have produced a grant application which will be submitted March 24th 2022. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Bid for BBSRC-NERC call - Molecules to Landscapes: building interdisciplinary capabilities |
| Organisation | Liverpool John Moores University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Building on our track record build up though these existing grants I have assembled a consortium from across academia and industry to put a bid into the above call. Our bid is titled: REMBIO: Resistance management for the new era of biocontrol-based crop protection. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners bring expertise, especially in field trials and IPM specialisms, alongside industry contacts. |
| Impact | This application is multi-disciplinary - it involves parasite biologists, genomics, evolutionary biologists, IPM experts, landscape modellers, and industry. We have produced a grant application which will be submitted March 24th 2022. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Bid for BBSRC-NERC call - Molecules to Landscapes: building interdisciplinary capabilities |
| Organisation | Newcastle University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Building on our track record build up though these existing grants I have assembled a consortium from across academia and industry to put a bid into the above call. Our bid is titled: REMBIO: Resistance management for the new era of biocontrol-based crop protection. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners bring expertise, especially in field trials and IPM specialisms, alongside industry contacts. |
| Impact | This application is multi-disciplinary - it involves parasite biologists, genomics, evolutionary biologists, IPM experts, landscape modellers, and industry. We have produced a grant application which will be submitted March 24th 2022. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Bid for BBSRC-NERC call - Molecules to Landscapes: building interdisciplinary capabilities |
| Organisation | Rothamsted Research |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Building on our track record build up though these existing grants I have assembled a consortium from across academia and industry to put a bid into the above call. Our bid is titled: REMBIO: Resistance management for the new era of biocontrol-based crop protection. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners bring expertise, especially in field trials and IPM specialisms, alongside industry contacts. |
| Impact | This application is multi-disciplinary - it involves parasite biologists, genomics, evolutionary biologists, IPM experts, landscape modellers, and industry. We have produced a grant application which will be submitted March 24th 2022. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Bid for BBSRC-NERC call - Molecules to Landscapes: building interdisciplinary capabilities |
| Organisation | Scotland's Rural College |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Building on our track record build up though these existing grants I have assembled a consortium from across academia and industry to put a bid into the above call. Our bid is titled: REMBIO: Resistance management for the new era of biocontrol-based crop protection. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners bring expertise, especially in field trials and IPM specialisms, alongside industry contacts. |
| Impact | This application is multi-disciplinary - it involves parasite biologists, genomics, evolutionary biologists, IPM experts, landscape modellers, and industry. We have produced a grant application which will be submitted March 24th 2022. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Bid for BBSRC-NERC call - Molecules to Landscapes: building interdisciplinary capabilities |
| Organisation | University of Gothenburg |
| Country | Sweden |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Building on our track record build up though these existing grants I have assembled a consortium from across academia and industry to put a bid into the above call. Our bid is titled: REMBIO: Resistance management for the new era of biocontrol-based crop protection. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners bring expertise, especially in field trials and IPM specialisms, alongside industry contacts. |
| Impact | This application is multi-disciplinary - it involves parasite biologists, genomics, evolutionary biologists, IPM experts, landscape modellers, and industry. We have produced a grant application which will be submitted March 24th 2022. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Bid for BBSRC-NERC call - Molecules to Landscapes: building interdisciplinary capabilities |
| Organisation | Wageningen University & Research |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Building on our track record build up though these existing grants I have assembled a consortium from across academia and industry to put a bid into the above call. Our bid is titled: REMBIO: Resistance management for the new era of biocontrol-based crop protection. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners bring expertise, especially in field trials and IPM specialisms, alongside industry contacts. |
| Impact | This application is multi-disciplinary - it involves parasite biologists, genomics, evolutionary biologists, IPM experts, landscape modellers, and industry. We have produced a grant application which will be submitted March 24th 2022. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Collaboration with Bioline Agrosciences for whitefly biocontrol research |
| Organisation | Bioline AgroSciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | We are investigating the presence of genetic variation for susceptibility to parasitoid wasp infection (a biocontrol agent) in whitefly (horticultural pest). This work has expanded to include recent AHDB/BBSRC funded work to investigate the impact of tank mixing on biopesticide pest control efficacy. Bioline have continued to provide us with insect material to enable this collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our industry partners Bioline have attended collaborative meetings, provided insight and information and are supplying insects for the ongoing research project. |
| Impact | This collaboration, started in 2021, has continued into 2022 and now supports a current AHDB/BBSRC research project as well as a 2022 BBSRC/NERC urgency grant application. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Developing ecologically sustainable biopesticides for cocoa smallholders in Ghana - Partnership with Ghana Cocoa Board for GCRF AgriFood Africa Innovation Awards |
| Organisation | Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have partnered with the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, part of the Ghana Cocoa Board - the research wing of this major industrial partner. Ghana Cocoa Board manages the cocoa industry in Ghana. We have held online collaborative meetings and submitted a grant proposal to KTN for a GCRF AgriFood pump priming grant worth ~£40,000. We are still awaiting the outcome, pending GCRF review |
| Collaborator Contribution | CRIG researchers have collaborated with us to share their knowledge of novel pest control interventions for cocoa, which intersect closely with our research activities. |
| Impact | Grant Application. Note that the UKRI ODA cuts meant that this call was cancelled after the submission of proposals and no awards were made. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Exploiting pathogen diversity to develop a next generation of enhanced sustainable biopesticides - Innovate UK grant application |
| Organisation | Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International |
| Department | CABI Kenya |
| Country | Kenya |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Using the track record I have developed as a result of these recent grants I led development of a consortium to bid for a grant from Innovate UK / GCRF through the Agritech Catalyst Round 10 call. This grant seeks to develop improved horticultural biopesticides for the Kenyan / African market. The grant is worth £999,897 in total FEC. The decision on this application is still awaited. These industry-research links in Kenya will be valuable into the future. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Joint Innovate UK grant application. |
| Impact | Innovate UK / GCRF grant application through the Agritech Catalyst Round 10 call Note that the UKRI ODA cuts meant that this call was cancelled after the submission of proposals and no awards were made. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Exploiting pathogen diversity to develop a next generation of enhanced sustainable biopesticides - Innovate UK grant application |
| Organisation | Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Using the track record I have developed as a result of these recent grants I led development of a consortium to bid for a grant from Innovate UK / GCRF through the Agritech Catalyst Round 10 call. This grant seeks to develop improved horticultural biopesticides for the Kenyan / African market. The grant is worth £999,897 in total FEC. The decision on this application is still awaited. These industry-research links in Kenya will be valuable into the future. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Joint Innovate UK grant application. |
| Impact | Innovate UK / GCRF grant application through the Agritech Catalyst Round 10 call Note that the UKRI ODA cuts meant that this call was cancelled after the submission of proposals and no awards were made. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Exploiting pathogen diversity to develop a next generation of enhanced sustainable biopesticides - Innovate UK grant application |
| Organisation | Dudutech |
| Country | Kenya |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Using the track record I have developed as a result of these recent grants I led development of a consortium to bid for a grant from Innovate UK / GCRF through the Agritech Catalyst Round 10 call. This grant seeks to develop improved horticultural biopesticides for the Kenyan / African market. The grant is worth £999,897 in total FEC. The decision on this application is still awaited. These industry-research links in Kenya will be valuable into the future. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Joint Innovate UK grant application. |
| Impact | Innovate UK / GCRF grant application through the Agritech Catalyst Round 10 call Note that the UKRI ODA cuts meant that this call was cancelled after the submission of proposals and no awards were made. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Wageningen - Zurich - Stirling - Sustainable futures for biocontrol |
| Organisation | ETH Zurich |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We held a workshop and other exchange visits to discuss future EU research grant calls. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We held a workshop and other exchange visits to discuss future EU research grant calls. |
| Impact | We have new ideas for further grant funding applications |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Wageningen - Zurich - Stirling - Sustainable futures for biocontrol |
| Organisation | Wageningen University & Research |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We held a workshop and other exchange visits to discuss future EU research grant calls. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We held a workshop and other exchange visits to discuss future EU research grant calls. |
| Impact | We have new ideas for further grant funding applications |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | A conference presentation by Matthew Tinsley: Royal Entomological Society ENTO 22 - Variable diets shape the evolution of insect resistance to pathogens used in biocontrol |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A conference talk at an international conference in the UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.royensoc.co.uk/event/ento22/ |
| Description | A conference presentation by Matthew Tinsley: Royal Entomological Society ENTO 23 - How does parasite co-infection influence the virulence experienced by insect hosts? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was an academic conference presentation highlighting work that came as s spinout from these UKRI projects. It developed into fruitful collaboration discussions, including with new collaborators from Brazil. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | A conference presentation by Mia Graham to NERC IAPETUS2 Annual DTP conference: Fungal biopesticide impacts on non-target insects |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This was the first opportunity to present a data set from work stimulated by work begin during our Pathfinder grant. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | An invited talk by Matthew Tinsley at the Entomological Society of America annual meeting: Title: Challenges for the use of biopesticides in IPM |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | An invited talk to fit a theme session on 'Advances and Challenges for an Evolving Agriculture: From Synthetic Chemicals to Greener Tools'. This conference session involved speakers from academia, industry and policy makers. The session involved a formal discussion between panel members and the audience about the leading challenges to IPM in agriculture. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Attendance at Tomato Growers Association annual meeting - Warwickshire |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Our research team attended the Tomato Growers Annual meeting to liaise with members of the tomato growing industry and the biocontrol industry. This aimed to raise awareness of resistance management approaches for horticultural biocontrol agents, develop contacts amongst tomato growers for whitefly collections and develop contacts amongst biocontrol companies. This was all successful and this networking created a new collaboration network. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | IOBC-NTRS webinar: A talk by Matthew Tinsley: Impacts of co-infection on pathogen virulence: implications for crop protection with biopesticides |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was an online webinar (talk) delivered to the International Organization for Biological Control, Neotropical Regional Section (principally researchers based in Latin America). There was a fruitful Q&A after the session, which culminated in an invitation to participate in co-supervision of a Brazilian PhD student's research project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Project coverage in industry magazine - The Commercial Greenhouse Grower |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | After our Pathfinder grant project was featured in the Tomato Growers Association Newsletter, I was contacted by a journalist and an article was subsequently published in 'The Commercial Greenhouse Grower' which described our work and the potential impacts of resistance evolution to biological control agents in glasshouse pests. This raised awareness in the sector of this potential industry problem and the work we were doing to develop solutions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Project coverage in industry newsletter - The Tomato Growers' Association Newsletter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We contacted the Tomato Growers' Association to engage directly with the industry our research wishes to serve. We did this to raise awareness and to request whitefly samples from growers - this was successful and we made good contacts by being featured in the TGA newsletter. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Stakeholder engagement visit to Brazil |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We visited Brazil to communicate the results of our research to a range of industry (and other) stakeholders. We held meetings with companies making biocontrol products, with farm companies and with policy practitioners. We gave talks to present our research findings and we held discussion meetings to brief organisations on the risks of pest resistance to biocontrol agents, and to discuss future opportunities for collaborative work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |