Division of Plant Biotechnology
Vegetable oil, starch and protein are central to human food supply and the development of a biobased economy. Our major research questions focus on genetic factors that are crucial for the quality and quantity of these various storage products.
Oil and starch crops
The domestication of Lepidium campestre (field cress) as a new oil and catch crop is a strategic long-term project to increase diversity in agriculture. Our research questions are focused on resistance to lodging, glucosinolates, oil content and oil quality where we use both mutations and integration of new genetic elements to achieve desired improvements.
Plant transformation has resulted in Crambe abyssinica with oil of different qualities such as erucic acid or containing wax esters. Erucic acid is used to facilitate the separation of plastic films and wax esters are fantastic lubricants.
We conduct basic research with the aim of finding new enzymes of importance for lipid and starch biosynthesis and exploring their properties using molecular biology and biochemistry. Other basic research questions concern how transcriptional and metabolic networks channel fixed carbon dioxide to the storage products oil, starch and protein. To investigate this regulation, we study, for example, groundnut and oats, which store oil in tubers and seed endosperm, respectively.
Biotic and abiotic stress tolerance are important traits in breeding to future-proof plant breeding in a changing world and we are investigating susceptibility and resistance factors in barley, oilseeds, and potatoes with the aim of finding ways to robust plant varieties with increased crop safety.
Protein crops
To contribute to a plant-based protein shift, we conduct research with the aim of improving field beans for food use and to increase the quality of protein in side streams from the processing of rapeseed and potatoes. We are also studying crops such as quinoa and field bean to understand which factors control protein content and properties with the aim of developing molecular tools for plant breeding.
Modern techniques
Genome editing has been successfully implemented in potatoes with new starch qualities for better usability in foods and technical products but also for a low-GI potato. Oilseeds and cereals are other crops where we use site-directed mutagenesis. Our broad expertise in tissue culture forms an important basis for these applications.
Possibilities for "molecular farming" are being explored through plant production of hemoglobin and myoglobin for use in blood substitute products, as well as plant-based production of insect pheromones for environmentally friendly control of insect pests.