Date – 2 April 2025
Time – 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Dive into the diversity of genebanking with our webinars this spring!
Dr Charlotte Allender is Head of the UK Vegetable Genebank (UKVGB).
Genetic diversity underpins the development of crop varieties we need for food production, particularly in the context of farming systems that use fewer inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides and irrigation. Crops that are more resilient can be developed through using the diversity present across the whole crop genepool, including that of wild species related to crops. A key project is the UK Vegetable Genebank, a collection of thousands of samples of seed from a range of vegetable crops such as carrot, onion, lettuce and brassicas like cauliflower and cabbage. My team and I conserve this seed under long-term storage conditions and make it available as a resource for researchers, breeders and growers to use. We collaborate with others within the UK and internationally to ensure that conservation is carried out as effectively and efficiently as possible. I also use molecular markers to understand diversity in the collections; this can help target conservation efforts.
I am interested in understanding and conserving genetic variation, particularly in crops and related wild species. My teaching focuses on ecology and biodiversity; an understanding of these topics is key to topics such as weed management, invasive species as well as modules which focus directly on the principles and applications of ecology.
Dr Matt Ordidge is Scientific Curator for the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale. As part of a project funded by Defra, the University is responsible for maintaining and curating the collection along with our project partners the Farm Advisory Services Team (FAST). The National Fruit Collection contains over 3,500 named cultivars of apple, pear, plum, cherry, bush fruit, vine, and cob nut. In line with Defra’s commitments to protecting plant genetic resources, we aim to maintain the collection as a genetic resource and increase its value for use in future breeding programmes.
Previous studies include an interdisciplinary project looking into the ‘Implications of a nutrition-driven food policy for land use and the rural environment’, funded as part of the RELU programme by RCUK (ESRC, BBSRC, NERC). This was in collaboration with colleagues in the Centre for Horticulture and Landscape, the Schools of Food Biosciences and Agriculture, Policy and Development, and the Soft Fruit Technology Group. We investigated the effects of novel UV-filtering plastics on the nutritional content of protected soft fruit and lettuce. My other interests are in the molecular control and physiology of floral development.
Members: £5.00 (discount code required – members have been contacted with this information)
Non-Members: £10.00