Research / Industry reciprocal benefits
The workshop interactive sessions were designed to benefit both research scientists and plant breeders and foster long-term partnerships to optimise the advancement of research and application in Industry.

Research scientists were informed of the needs and constraints of legume breeders in terms of genetic resources (diversity, evaluation, exploitation, management), breeding objectives (priority-settings for specific agro-ecological zones and specific end-uses), and will and capacity to integrate molecular technologies in their breeding strategies.

The plant breeders’ needs and interests were addressed by updates on genomics-assisted breeding, new molecular and tissue culture technologies, new genetic resources and molecular markers to assist breeding.

Broadening the genetic base of legume breeding
One of the top priorities of GL-TTP is to facilitate the exploitation of genetic resources to broaden the genetic base of legume breeding. Towards this goal, curators of key legume germplasm banks around the world were invited to present their collections and interact directly with the plant breeders to facilitate their access to genetic resources of interest. Experts in genetic diversity presented the population structure of several legume species, and showed how genetic diversity could be measured, within and in-between breeding programmes and in relation to exotic accessions, to propose rational uptake or exchanges of genetic resources based on genetic distance. Finally, our keynote speaker brilliantly and passionately showcased how molecular technologies can assist the exploitation of wild germplasm in breeding programmes, uncover and introgress previously hidden positive traits from the wild and lift long-standing barriers of yield.

New technologies and resources...
Specific research talks and lectures addressed how candidate genes can be identified using transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and in silico data mining, how gene function can be validated using TILLING, and how research on model legumes can expedite the improvement of crop legumes.

...for targeted applications
In this first GL-TTP workshop, the research scientists focused on how these strategies contribute to
(1) the understanding of seed development for the improvement of seed composition,
(2) the identification of genes responsive to and responsible for salinity and drought tolerance, and
(3) the genetic improvement of legume resistance to diseases such as Aphanomyces root rot, chocolate spot, powdery mildew, fusarium wilt, broomrape, pea seed-borne mosaic virus.

Outputs
At the interface, in consultation with scientists and breeders, GL-TTP has initiated different levels of technology transfer for the legume industry: short term (eg transfer of seeds of interest, application of available markers), middle term (eg. development and validation of molecular markers for marker-assisted selection), longer term (eg. generation of near-isogenic lines of current elite breeding lines by marker-assisted introgression of traits of agronomic interest from new genetic resources, validation of candidate genes from model to crop, analysis of allelic diversity, development of perfect markers, etc).

Subsequently, projects for Research & Development or Technology Transfer have been submitted to the GL-TTP members. In the case of shared interests, research/industry partnerships were set up to collaborate and refine a common project, share resources, and either directly co-finance their project, or seek external funding together. Suitable calls for proposals (eg from EU FP7) are currently considered to assist the new partners in funding their collaborative projects.