Genome-edited potatoes with novel starch

Denmark has a leading position in the world within modern potato production. To maintain and expand this status key issues addressing quality robustness, storage stability, food processing characteristics and health must be addressed. The current project will generate tubers with health beneficial suppressed sugar accumulation during storage and health-promoting new starch while additionally addressing process stability qualities of starch. These qualities will be introduced directly into known elite cultivars, thereby circumventing the significant obstacles of current Classical breeding methods, which are   slow, imprecise and unpredictable. The project will establish Precise Gene Editing (PGE), notably the CRISPR/Cas9 technology as a revolutionary and innovative part of Danish potato breeding to overcome the current severe breeding limitations. PGE introduces controlled, targeted mutations in the potato genome and is gradually regarded as a non-GMO by authorities. Target gene loci are already identified and mutation scored at the single cell level. This project will consolidate and expand the Danish position within potato and food production. The partnership includes academic scientists within plant biotechnology at Copenhagen University and KMC.

The project is supported by a grant from Kartoffelafgiftsfonden (KAF), Denmark and Kartoffelmelcentralen (KMC) amba, Denmark and is entitled ”Helt nye stivelseskartofler genereret ved Præcis Genom-Editering” (Novel Industrial potatoes generated by precise genome editing) Project members: Bent Larsen Petersen (PI), Elisabeth Johansen, Bodil Jørgensen, Andreas Blennow.