Scottish spin-out targets £50m potato disease problem

A Scottish-developed treatment for potato blackleg and soft rot, diseases estimated to cost the UK industry £50 million a year, is moving towards commercialisation through a new spin-out company.

The technology is being developed by researchers led by Dr Joel Milner at the University of Glasgow and will be taken towards market by Casdu Crop Solutions.

Early-stage support came from the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), with further backing from the University of Glasgow’s Impact Accelerator Fund and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Blackleg and soft rot are caused mainly by the bacterium Pectobacterium atrosepticum and are among the most damaging diseases affecting potato production.

Infections are commonly introduced into crops through infected seed tubers.

The issue is particularly significant in Scotland, one of Europe’s leading seed potato-producing regions, where strict certification rules are used to prevent infected material entering the supply chain.

Even infection levels above 0.1% can result in a crop being downgraded, with losses potentially reaching £100,000 in a single incident.

The new treatment uses bacteriocins, proteins naturally produced by bacteria to kill competing bacteria.

Researchers believe these could provide a more targeted and environmentally sustainable alternative to copper-based treatments and antibiotics.

Unlike conventional antibiotics, bacteriocins can attack specific harmful strains while leaving much of the beneficial bacterial population unaffected.

Dr Milner’s team has spent more than 15 years identifying and studying the compounds.

Using genome-mining techniques, researchers identified around 50 possible bacteriocins before narrowing these down to seven with promising disease-fighting properties.

Four proved effective against UK strains of blackleg, while others showed activity against related bacteria responsible for the disease elsewhere in the world.

The team also found that combining different bacteriocins could improve effectiveness.

Because individual types act against harmful bacteria in different ways, researchers believe combining them could also help reduce the risk of resistance developing.

Early glasshouse trials have shown the treatment can suppress infection in seed tubers.

However, the technology is still being tested, with field and storage trials now under way with the James Hutton Institute.

The team believes the treatment could eventually be produced at relatively low cost and deployed at scale if those trials are successful.

Researchers say the technology could also offer wider environmental benefits by reducing reliance on copper and antibiotic-based treatments.

Lower disease losses could reduce crop waste, while improved control of bacterial infection could potentially reduce the need for strict low-temperature storage used to slow bacterial growth.

That, in turn, could help cut energy use and storage costs for growers.

The need for improved control is becoming more pressing as changing weather patterns create additional disease risks.

Wetter summers linked to climate change could make it easier for infection to spread, while growers in drier areas face a difficult balance between using enough irrigation to limit common scab without creating wetter conditions that could encourage blackleg.

Dr Milner, one of the founders of Casdu Crop Solutions, said: “What we’re working on is a novel antimicrobial solution to one of the most devastating diseases affecting potatoes.”

He added: “It’s likely to be affordable, easy to apply, and environmentally friendly.”

However, he stressed that the technology should not be viewed as a complete cure.

“This isn’t about a silver-bullet cure. It’s about delivering a genuine improvement in the sustainability of an industry that matters hugely to Scotland, the wider UK, and indeed all countries where potatoes are grown.”

Dr Liz Fletcher, director of impact and deputy chief executive at IBioIC, said the research had both scientific and commercial potential.

“What's exciting here isn't just the science, it's that the team has a genuine route to market, with a treatment that could meaningfully cut reliance on the environmentally damaging methods growers have had to rely on until now,” she said.

With field and storage trials continuing, Casdu Crop Solutions is now being prepared to take the technology towards commercial deployment.