The Defra1 Pulse Crop Genetic Improvement Network (PCGIN), which started with effect from 1 April 2005, will establish a platform that serves the process of legume crop improvement in the UK. It will:
>  formally establish the route by which scientific resources, results and knowledge will be delivered to breeders, producers and end users, providing a link between these groups and the research base to achieve added value for pulse crops,
>  provide resources, expertise and understanding that will be drawn upon by both public and commercial sectors in breeding, analysis, and in the definition and improvement of product quality relating to both commercial and public goods,
>  promote and execute the translation of genomic research tools to crop improvement, consistent with both the needs of UK industry, and Defra objectives relating to sustainable agriculture,
>  provide a direct link with, and involvement in, European pulse crop research programmes.

The PCGIN will be managed by JIC, PGRO, NIAB and Defra, with ex officio input provided by the commercial sector, initially Unilever plc and Advanta Seeds UK. Core scientific research underpinning pulse crop genetics will be performed jointly by the first three organisations in projects that combine phenotypic and performance character assessment with genetic tool development. The Management Group will oversee an integrated set of related projects that exploit the activity of the core programme.

During the negotiation phase, commercial input and consultation with the broader legume breeding community led to a set of priority traits that are to be the focus of the genetic improvement strategies for pulses. The results of this consultation highlight the major obstacles to increased pulse production in the UK and, by inference, priorities for research.

Primary objectives and core scientific activities
The Network has six inter-related ‘core’ objectives:
1. Communication and delivery to establish effective communication between the major players with interest in the genetic improvement of pulse crops. Central to the mission of the PCGIN will be establishing a platform with a pipeline for delivery of research outputs to breeders and end-users. This mission will be achieved through the high quality of the integration of the activities of PCGIN with the needs of the commercial sector and related public bodies, together with the impact that PCGIN will have on the activities of these groups.

2. Phenotyping* to establish a common approach to the evaluation of germplasm, with particular attention to diverse germplasm selected on the basis of extensive genotype data. This material is often 'exotic' germplasm and trialling procedures may need to be adapted according to the source of the material. This objective will address the current interest of breeders in exotic germplasm as a source of novel genes.

3. Performance* data for modern cultivars are available but this material has never been genotyped extensively. The project will undertake genotyping of this material and establish Recombinant Inbred Populations from informative crosses between cultivars of contrasting performance to establish the genetic basis for priority traits.

4. Reverse genetics tools will be developed and exploited to provide access to genes regulating traits of interest to UK pulse crops. This approach will identify and confirm the role played by candidate genes in traits that are simply inherited, for example genes controlling some aspects of plant architecture or drought tolerance.
Genes proposed to exert major effects on more complex traits, e.g. quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling standing ability and yield parameters may also be investigated in this way.

5. Genetic mapping will integrate genetic maps developed within the Network with emerging sequence data from legume genome sequencing projects, and will test the feasibility of generating an ordered set of deletion mutants for one UK pulse crop to enable gene identification associated with QTL. The mapping activities will be closely integrated with European projects to maximise the benefit to UK priorities; for example, populations already established within a European Vicia project (EUFABA) will be exploited to identify genes for UK priority traits and synteny among maps of closely-related legumes will be exploited, thus providing Defra and UK agriculture alike with added-value from Defra investment.

6. Quality traits in the dry seed used for animal feed will be the initial focus of
investigation, with specific reference to quality issues and associated perceptions that limit the current exploitation of the UK pulse crops in animal feed. Defining these parameters will necessarily involve consultation with feed manufacturers and will set quality standards that provide assurance and the means to improve end use quality in breeding programmes. This consultation will include additional, and potential, end-users of legume seed products (e.g. manufacturers of bio-fuel and human food).

*Note that 1 and 2 provide the direct means to link genetic results obtained with laboratory lines to genotypes selected on the basis of phenotypic 'superiority' in the field, thus enabling the identification of genes and markers associated with agronomic traits not hitherto investigated at a molecular level.

An international dimension
The PCGIN is targeted at UK needs in relation to legumes, excluding forage species, in agriculture. However, the UK needs are not in isolation and are closely related to the needs of other European countries, as well as other regions with similar climatic conditions. There are several ways in which the PCGIN relates to activities external to the UK; in particular, the coordination of GLIP by JIC will mean that the PCGIN will be well-placed to interact with the EU project.

1Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, UK.
Source and further information: http://www.pcgin.org