Norwich, United Kingdom
June 8, 2009
Research by
Lancaster University
scientists has led to a radical new approach to protecting major
food crops from pest attack and could offer farmers around the
globe an environmentally sustainable approach to crop
protection.
On 8 June 2009, Becker
Underwood Inc, of Ames, Iowa, and
Plant Bioscience Limited
(PBL) announced the signing of a commercial license agreement
granting Becker Underwood a worldwide exclusive license for the
use of a new seed treatment technology developed at Lancaster
University.
It was developed by Drs Nigel Paul, Jason Moore, Michael
Roberts, and Jane Taylor of the Lancaster University, Lancaster,
United Kingdom, and their collaborator Patricia Croft of
Stockbridge Technology Centre. The technology uses a natural
plant compound jasmonic acid (JA) as a seed treatment, resulting
in long-lasting protection against pests following germination.
The Lancaster team was investigating how wild plants cope with
insect and disease attacks but was also working with farmers and
growers to find ways of improving sustainable food production.
Dr Moore said: “We started wondering how we might use what we'd
learned from wild plants to improve pest control in crops.
Treating seed with JA might act rather like immunization,
protecting plants for an extended period after treatment: it
seemed a bit of a long shot, but we tried and it worked.”
The challenge then was finding a way to develop the idea.
Dr Paul said: “With support from AHDB-Horticulture and the
Natural Environment Research
Council (NERC)'s follow-on fund, we were able develop the
seed treatment sufficiently to show that it had real potential
in crop protection.”
Professor Alan Thorpe, Chief Executive of NERC said: “We're
pleased our follow-on funding has allowed this research to be
developed into a commercially useful technology. This is a
casebook example of how we envisaged the scheme would work at
the outset.”
The development work led to the filing of a patent application
on the technology (WO 2008/00710). Then, in 2007, the technology
was assigned to PBL, who worked to promote the technology to the
international agricultural products industry, including Becker
Underwood.
Becker Underwood's decision to develop the technology followed
extensive field trials which showed reductions in pest damage
and increased crop yields.
Dr Peter Innes, Becker Underwood Chief Executive Officer, said:
“We're delighted to announce this license agreement with PBL and
looking forward to the introduction of products utilizing the
technology as soon as possible.”
The Lancaster team is continuing to develop the technology and
the underpinning science.
Dr Mike Roberts said: “The fact that plants seem to 'remember'
the JA seed treatment many weeks after germination is an
exciting discovery, and we have recently obtained substantial
funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research
Council to investigate it further.”
This new research, in collaboration with Rothamsted Research,
will look at how the seed treatment works to “prime” a plant's
natural protective responses so they act more quickly when pests
attack, and also how it can be used alongside other natural
approaches to pest control.
Dr Paul said: “The seed treatment developed from our laboratory
research in to plant ecology, and it's been great to see it
developed in to a new technology that could really help improve
food production around the world.”
This revolutionary new seed treatment was developed within
the Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC: ). LEC focuses on cross
disciplinary research that addresses 21st century environmental
challenges, including sustainable agriculture, biodiversity &
ecosystem function and responding to environmental change.
The Natural Environment Research Council funds world-class
science, in universities and its own research
centres, that increases knowledge and understanding of the
natural world. It is tackling major environmental issues such as
climate change, biodiversity and natural hazards. NERC receives
around £400m a year from the government's science budget, which
is used to provide independent research and training in the
environmental sciences.
PBL (Plant Bioscience Limited) is an IP management and
technology development company, investing in emerging technology
across the life sciences. The Company is jointly and equally
owned by The John Innes
Centre, The Sainsbury Laboratory and the BBSRC (Biotechnology
and Biological Sciences Research Council). PBL brings together
innovative technologies from public research sources worldwide,
invests in building intellectual property protection and
technology development, and commercialises through licensing
and, where appropriate, new venture formation.
Becker Underwood creates and produces specialty bio-agronomic
and colorant products for turf management, agriculture, seed
treatment, wood recycling, aquaculture, vegetation management,
forestry, structural pest control and many other industries. |
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