Enabling novel trait discovery for precision breeding, starting with banana

Precision breeding or gene editing is increasingly recognised as a critical tool for improving global food security and sustainability, with over 500 precision-bred crop products in development worldwide. Gene editing enables the implementation of complex traits into agricultural products, without the need for long breeding cycles. Importantly, this approach is the primary method used to introduce novel traits into sterile crops such as banana.

Significant strides have been made in implementing precision breeding (e.g., using CRISPR/Cas9 technologies), while commercial adoption is increasingly enabled by favourable regulations, exemplified by the entry into force in England of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023, which permits the development and marketing of precision-bred crops and livestock.

Yet, precision breeding continues to face a significant bottleneck at the gene discovery stage. While traditional breeding screens have been vital to identify trait genes, such a technique can take many decades and cannot be employed in sterile crops such as banana. Alternative gene discovery methods are required to enable trait development in crops that have long-breeding cycles or are sterile.

Innovate UK funding brings together a world-class industry-academic consortium, entirely based in Eastern England, to address the gene discovery bottleneck and unlock precision breeding. Project lead Tropic (global leader in advanced plant breeding and gene editing technologies, based in Norwich) will collaborate with the John Innes Centre (JIC; a world-leading international centre of excellence in plant science, genetics, and microbiology, based in Norwich), and AI Digital (service delivery consultancy based in Lincoln, with expertise in life science applications).

Our integrated experimental and bioinformatics approach will accelerate novel trait discovery for precision breeding by addressing challenges in the generation, analysis and visualisation of large-scale multi-dimensional functional datasets.

We will develop and demonstrate our innovative approach in banana, the world's fourth largest crop by production volume. Banana plays a vital role in global food security and ensuring the livelihoods of millions of small-scale farmers. Yet, banana production is increasingly threatened by climate change, with rising global temperatures and more extreme weather conditions reducing yields, as well as driving a rise in rapidly spreading emerging pathogens.

Tropical race 4 and black-sigatoka disease are already causing global annual banana production losses of billions of dollars. Bananas also suffer from high wastage throughout their supply chain. Over 60% of exported bananas go to waste in the supply chain (i.e. before reaching the consumer), often because of browning and bruising.