EU-SOL Newsletter 07 (December 2010)

21 December, 2010

EU-SOL Newsletter nr. 07 is online with the following content:

1. Distinguished by taste: Interview with Frank van Kleef, Royal Pride Holland
How do EU-SOL’s goals relate to the present and future needs of producers? We tried to find out by asking Frank van Kleef, owner-director of Royal Pride Holland, one of the largest tomato growers in the Netherlands. A quick look at Royal Pride Holland’s website is enough to discover that this is not an average tomato grower. Apart from the size of45 hectare, Frank van Kleef and his partners are well aware of current changes in the demands of consumers and retailers for tasteful tomatoes at a reasonable price that are grown in an environmental friendly way. Van Kleef argues that breeders should take their responsibility and introduce only good-tasting varieties on the market.

2. European public nuanced about biotechnologies: Analysis of the 2010 Eurobarometer about biotechnology

Apart from taste, consumers are increasingly interested in production methods. In EU-SOL we are interested to know whether and how consumers distinguish between different kinds of DNA based technologies, such as genetic engineering and the use of DNA markers. Unfortunately, the most recent Eurobarometer did not include questions about DNA markers. Nonetheless, combined analysis of the 2010 and previous Eurobarometers indicate that at least a significant part of the European public distinguishes between different applications and technologies, which stems hopeful about public acceptance of Marker Assisted Selection.

3. Abiotic stress resistance in tomato: How EU-SOL scientists from Wageningen University use genetic material from a wild type tomato
Although satisfying consumers with tasteful products is extremely important, productivity remains an important trait for growers. Ep Heuvelink and Sjaak van Heusden from the Plant Science Department of Wageningen University explain how they developed a tomato line that can cope with heat stress. The ultimate goal is to identify and isolate the gene responsible for stress tolerance, although EP and Sjaak think it is probably too optimistic to assume that it’s only one gene. Nevertheless, the results are promising and tomato breeders already asked for seeds for further crossing with their proprietary material.

4. China’s policy to increase potato yield

Increasing productivity of food crops is particularly interesting for developing economies such as China; a country that has to deal with continuing economic growth and a shrinking supply of arable land while confronting severe water shortages. Although the productivity of rice, wheat and corn could still be further enhanced, there is still much to gain in other, traditionally less popular crops such as potato. This is why the Chinese government has an agreement with the International Potato Center to jointly launch a major potato research center in Beijing. There is no doubt that the potato genome sequence drafted by the Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium will be playing an important role in this initiative.

The complete EU-SOL Newsletter can be downloaded here (in PDF format, 3.5 Mb).