Fryer control strategy improvement:towards acrylamide reduction in crisp manufacture

This paper describes research efforts to improve the operation of industrial scale crisp fryers to ensure that product quality targets are exceeded. The work described was undertaken within a project whose aim is to minimise the acrylamide formation arising during processing operations. The existing fryer temperature control scheme was found to be sub-optimal from an acrylamide perspective and involved considerable operator intervention, particularly at fryer start-up. A new temperature control system was designed and implemented to overcome the shortcomings of the existing strategy. Fryer temperature and crisp moisture were regulated effectively through gas flow and dwell time modifications. Interactions between loops were compensated for and start-up was automated to reduce the impact of operator-to-operator variation. The resulting scheme was found to deliver much-improved temperature control which will lead to a resultant decrease in acrylamide formation

Operational considerations for hot-washing in potato crisp manufacture

As part of an overall programme aimed at reducing the acrylamide content of crisps, this paper explores the impact of hot-washing on potato slice sugar concentration during industrial scale manufacture. We investigated cold-washing as an alternative to hot-washing, hot-wash residence time and temperature to optimise sugar removal and therefore reduce the potential for high acrylamide levels after frying. Due to the variable nature of potatoes, an extensive variability study was performed to determine confidence boundaries of results. It was found that the cold-wash unit removed on average 21% of the initial sugar content. In the hot-wash the current operational residence time of 3.5 minutes at 70oC gave a sugar reduction of 27.5%, which could be increased to 48.5% if residence time is extended to 5 minutes. Hot-wash temperatures of 40oC - 60oC were found to increase glucose and fructose content and therefore the potential for acrylamide formation. A “double cold-wash” was trialled and proved to be as successful as hot-washing at 70oC for all but the highest sugar potatoes, challenging the current operational process and offering the potential for major energy savings

Tracking disease resistance deployment in potato breeding by enrichment sequencing

Following the molecular characterisation of functional disease resistance genes in recent years, methods to track and verify the integrity of multiple genes in varieties are needed for crop improvement through resistance stacking. Diagnostic resistance gene enrichment sequencing (dRenSeq) enables the highconfidence identification and complete sequence validation of known functional resistance genes in crops. As demonstrated for tetraploid potato varieties, the methodology is more robust and cost-effective in monitoring resistances than whole-genome sequencing and can be used to appraise (trans)gene integrity efficiently. All currently known NB-LRRs effective against viruses, nematodes and the late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans can be tracked with dRenSeq in potato and hitherto unknown polymorphisms have been identified. The methodology provides a means to improve the speed and efficiency of future disease resistance breeding in crops by directing parental and progeny selection towards effective combinations of resistance genes

SMRT-AgRenSeq-d in potato (Solanum tuberosum) as a method to identify candidates for the nematode resistance Gpa5

Potato is the third most important food crop in the world. Diverse pathogens threaten sustainable crop production but can be controlled, in many cases, through the deployment of disease resistance genes belonging to the family of nucleotide-binding, leucine-rich-repeat (NLR) genes. To identify effective disease resistance genes in established varieties, we have successfully established SMRT-AgRenSeq in tetraploid potatoes and have further enhanced the methodology by including dRenSeq in an approach that we term SMR-AgRenSeq-d. The inclusion of dRenSeq enables the filtering of candidates after the association analysis by establishing a presence/absence matrix across resistant and susceptible varieties that is translated into an F1 score. Using a SMRT-RenSeq-based sequence representation of the NLRome from the cultivar Innovator, SMRT-AgRenSeq-d analyses reliably identified the late blight resistance benchmark genes Rpi-R1, Rpi-R2-like, Rpi-R3a, and Rpi-R3b in a panel of 117 varieties with variable phenotype penetrations. All benchmark genes were identified with an F1 score of 1, which indicates absolute linkage in the panel. This method also identified nine strong candidates for Gpa5 that controls the potato cyst nematode (PCN) species Globodera pallida (pathotypes Pa2/3). Assuming that NLRs are involved in controlling many types of resistances, SMRT-AgRenSeq-d can readily be applied to diverse crops and pathogen systems.</p

SMRT-AgRenSeq-d in potato (Solanum tuberosum) as a method to identify candidates for the nematode resistance Gpa5

Potato is the third most important food crop in the world. Diverse pathogens threaten sustainable crop production but can be controlled, in many cases, through the deployment of disease resistance genes belonging to the family of nucleotide-binding, leucine-rich-repeat (NLR) genes. To identify effective disease resistance genes in established varieties, we have successfully established SMRT-AgRenSeq in tetraploid potatoes and have further enhanced the methodology by including dRenSeq in an approach that we term SMR-AgRenSeq-d. The inclusion of dRenSeq enables the filtering of candidates after the association analysis by establishing a presence/absence matrix across resistant and susceptible varieties that is translated into an F1 score. Using a SMRT-RenSeq-based sequence representation of the NLRome from the cultivar Innovator, SMRT-AgRenSeq-d analyses reliably identified the late blight resistance benchmark genes Rpi-R1, Rpi-R2-like, Rpi-R3a, and Rpi-R3b in a panel of 117 varieties with variable phenotype penetrations. All benchmark genes were identified with an F1 score of 1, which indicates absolute linkage in the panel. This method also identified nine strong candidates for Gpa5 that controls the potato cyst nematode (PCN) species Globodera pallida (pathotypes Pa2/3). Assuming that NLRs are involved in controlling many types of resistances, SMRT-AgRenSeq-d can readily be applied to diverse crops and pathogen systems.</p

Utilizing "Omic" technologies to identify and prioritize novel sources of resistance to the oomycete pathogen <i>Phytophthora infestans</i> in potato germplasm collections

The biggest threat to potato production world-wide is late blight, caused by the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora infestans. A screen of 126 wild diploid Solanum accessions from the Commonwealth Potato Collection (CPC) with P. infestans isolates belonging to the genotype 13-A2 identified resistances in the species S. bulbocastanum, S. capsicibaccatum, S. microdontum, S. mochiquense, S. okadae, S. pinnatisectum, S. polyadenium, S. tarijense and S. verrucosum. Effector-omics, allele mining and diagnostic RenSeq (dRenSeq) were utilized to investigate the nature of resistances in S. okadae accessions. dRenSeq in resistant S. okadae accessions 7129, 7625, 3762 and a bulk of 20 resistant progeny confirmed the presence of full-length Rpi-vnt1.1 under stringent mapping conditions and corroborated allele mining results in the accessions 7129 and 7625 as well as Avr-vnt1 recognition in transient expression assays. In contrast, susceptible S. okadae accession 3761 and a bulk of 20 susceptible progeny lacked sequence homology in the 5’ end compared to the functional Rpi-vnt1.1 gene. Further evaluation of S. okadae accessions with late blight isolates that have a broad spectrum of virulence demonstrated that, although S. okadae accessions 7129, 7625 and 7629 contain functional Rpi-vnt1.1, they also carry a novel resistance gene. We provide evidence that existing germplasm collection are important sources of novel resistances and that ‘omic’ technologies such as dRenSeq-based genomics and effector-omics are efficacious tools to rapidly explore the diversity within these collections

Fostering global data sharing: Highlighting the recommendations of the Research Data Alliance COVID-19 working group

© 2020 Austin CC et al. The systemic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic require cross-disciplinary collaboration in a global and timely fashion. Such collaboration needs open research practices and the sharing of research outputs, such as data and code, thereby facilitating research and research reproducibility and timely collaboration beyond borders. The Research Data Alliance COVID-19 Working Group recently published a set of recommendations and guidelines on data sharing and related best practices for COVID-19 research. These guidelines include recommendations for researchers, policymakers, funders, publishers and infrastructure providers from the perspective of different domains (Clinical Medicine, Omics, Epidemiology, Social Sciences, Community Participation, Indigenous Peoples, Research Software, Legal and Ethical Considerations). Several overarching themes have emerged from this document such as the need to balance the creation of data adherent to FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable), with the need for quick data release; the use of trustworthy research data repositories; the use of well-annotated data with meaningful metadata; and practices of documenting methods and software. The resulting document marks an unprecedented cross-disciplinary, cross-sectoral, and cross-jurisdictional effort authored by over 160 experts from around the globe. This letter summarises key points of the Recommendations and Guidelines, highlights the relevant findings, shines a spotlight on the process, and suggests how these developments can be leveraged by the wider scientific community