Project description
New potato breeding methods for global food security
The potato, one of the world’s top three food crops, is a staple for 1.3 billion people. Yet, potato breeding has lagged behind due to its complex tetraploid genome, which complicates modern breeding methods. With this in mind, the ERC-funded BYTE2BITE project aims to revolutionise potato breeding by developing a near-complete pan-genome and innovative genome-graph tools for precise genotyping and genome analysis. BYTE2BITE will also implement a genomics-assisted pre-breeding programme to produce new potato cultivars with low mutational loads. This pioneering approach aims to unlock the potato’s genetic potential, ensuring enhanced productivity and food security for decades to come.
Objective
Potato is one of the three most important food crops in the world. Around 1.3 billion people rely on potato as a staple food every day. But despite this exceptional socio-economic importance, the improvement of potato during the past 150 years has been limited. The main reason for this deficit is the highly heterozygous, autotetraploid genome of potato. This complicates several important aspects of breeding including the fixation of beneficial alleles and the implementation of modern, genomics-assisted breeding techniques.
Recently it has been suggested to convert tetraploid potato into a diploid crop, and thereby overcome all the difficulties associated with tetraploid potato breeding. However, the creation of diploid potatoes is hampered by the large number of deleterious recessive mutations that have accumulated in the tetraploid genome and are exposed in the diploid potatoes.
In BYTE2BITE we will address the fundamental issues that hold back the success of potato breeding. We will generate the first-of-its-kind, near-to-complete pan-genome of potato and use this resource to develop unprecedented genome-graph tools for efficient genotyping and haplotype-resolved genome analysis. We will then use this new computational toolbox to establish a genomics-assisted pre-breeding programme in which we will generate novel potato cultivars with low mutational load. This new resource will open the doors to efficient breeding unleashing the genetic potential of potato and thereby help to secure the way we feed the world for the decades to come.
Specifically, in BYTE2BITE we want to achieve the following goals:
1. A near-to-complete pan-genome describing almost the entire haplotype diversity of potato
2. A genome graph tool for cost-efficient genotyping and haplotype-resolved genome analyses
3. A genomics-assisted pre-breeding programme for potatoes with low mutational load
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.