Computomics: Discussions On Innovations To Drive Advanced Agriculture Solutions Computomics

In this episode, Matthias Krön, delves into the inception of Donau Soja, its mission, and its pivotal role in European soy production. Discover the intricacies of protein production and consumption in Europe, and the potential for transitioning from imported soy to European soy to substantially reduce CO2 emissions. Gain insights into how our agricultural system has inadvertently fostered a culture of overconsumption.



Matthias Krön was born in Salzburg in 1969. He studied Chinese studies, philosophy and history in Vienna and Taipei. Subsequently he spent one year at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York. After his return to Austria in 1995 he started working in the dairy sector for milk variants based on soy, rice and oats in Austria. Krön acted as CEO and partner of the Mona Group, stepping down as CEO in fall 2011 to concentrate on the soy associations. The Austrian soya association was founded in 2008 as an initiative of the Austrian soy businesses. In spring 2012 the International Danube Soya association was established.Krön now serves as President of the Donau Soja association and advocates a sustainable and regional protein supply in Europe.

Shownotes:

Donau Soja

Legume Hub

In this episode, Garlich van Essen, Secretary General at Euroseeds discusses the brand new regulation on New Genomic Techniques (NGT). Discover the intricacies of the NGT regulatory framework, from its impact on plant breeding to the distinctions between NGT and GMO. Uncover the power of lobbying and understand how Euroseeds acts as the eyes and ears of the European Seed sector. Get insights on the evolving Euroseeds Congress in Copenhagen and what changes and innovations to expect.

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EuroseedsInnovaction Stage at Euroseeds Congress



Garlich is German and studied Agriculture and Economics at the University of Göttingen. He started his professional career in the European Commission’s DG Agriculture before graduating in Administrative and Political Sciences from the College of Europe. Before joining the seed industry in 1999, he worked in the European Parliament in agricultural and structural policy, specifically on the EU’s R[&]D policy and funding instruments. Joining ESA as Director Public Affairs, he became Secretary General in 2004.In Euroseeds, Garlich takes responsibility for the overall management of the association and its staff, the development of strategic policy campaigns on Euroseeds’ priority issues and the positioning of Europe’s seed industry vis-à-vis EU and international bodies and decision makers.

In this episode with Kai Voss-Fels we dive into the complex world of grapevine breeding. Discover the unique challenges of breeding grafted crops. Enhancing genetic gain becomes multifaceted due to the fact that grapevines consist of two genetically distinct parts, the scion (upper) and rootstock (lower). Our discussion centers on addressing challenges such as water limitation, and drought stress for the lower section, while simultaneously focusing on improving sustainability by introgression of resistances in the uppper part. Moreover, we explore the ACGG (Accelerating Crop Genetic Gain) program, an international research initiative funded by the DFG in Germany, aimed at training PhD students and postdocs to tackle different questions with relevance to speeding up the varietal development process.

Kai Voss-Fels is Professor of Grapevine Breeding at Geisenheim University where he leads a team of researchers, students and technical staff working on genetics, genomics and breeding of grapevine. After completing his PhD in plant breeding and quantitative genetics at Justus Liebig University Giessen in 2016, he was a senior research fellow and group leader at the University of Queensland, Australia from 2017-2021. In 2021, he moved to Geisenheim University to develop a new research program focussed on genomics-assisted rootstock improvement and clonal selection in grapevine.



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Department of Plant Breeding, HS Geisenheim
ACGG (Accelerating Crop Genetic Gain

In this episode Jörg Hagmann, Product Manager Pantograph, explores the concept of pangenomes, a collection of individual whole genome sequences. Discover the reasons why pangenomes and their associated research field is experiencing growth and increasing significance. Jörg discusses the vision behind the development of the interactive browser Pantograph and illustrates practical applications in pre-breeding and the identification of gene editing targets. Join us as we delve into the landscape of DNA exploration and the promising future of genomic navigation with Pantograph.

 

Dr. Jörg Hagmann, Product Manager Pantograph, joined Computomics 8 years ago. He studied Bioinformatics at University of Tübingen and McGill, Montréal, and graduated with researching the evolution of epigenetic marks in plants at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen. Besides his broad
experience in multiple omics data analysis, Jörg is now working on propelling the representation, use, and visualization of pangenomes forward. He develops a
novel interactive pangenome browser called Pantograph.

Contact Jörg for more information: joerg.hagmann@computomics.com

Pantograph

In this episode Helen Brabham, Team Lead at 2Blades, provides a glimpse into the diverse projects of 2Blades. As a nonprofit organization 2Blades is bridging academia and industry, focusing on advancing scientific technologies for disease-resistant crops. Explore how they translate research into practical solutions for smallholder farmers, such as their Africa Soybean Program combating soybean rust. Delve into the NLRseek initiative, aimed at identifying crucial resistance genes to bolster crop resilience against threats like stem rust. Discover their utilization of gene sequences, harnessing machine learning and protein modeling to enhance predictions.

Helen is a Team Leader at 2Blades, a non-profit organisation dedicated to delivering sustainable and environmentally-friendly genetic solutions to protect crops from plant pests and disease. Helen is based with the 2Blades research team embedded at The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, UK and develops a platform for rapidly identifying resistance genes from plants. Helen completed her PhD at The Sainsbury Laboratory part of the University of East Anglia in 2020, and her BSc in Biology from the University of Bristol. Helen’s research focuses on understanding plant-microbe interactions to build disease resistant crops.

Links:https://2blades.org/https://computomics.com/news-reader/2blades-computomics.html

In this episode Addie Thompson, Assistant Professor in the Plant, Soil & Microbial Sciences Department at Michigan State University, discusses her research on disease resistance to tar spot, a fungal pathogen affecting maize. Learn about different modeling prediction techniques and data collection approaches, ranging from manual measurements to high-throughput lidar data obtained via drones. Emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach,
Thompson underscores the pivotal role of collaboration in staying at the forefront of research. Additionally, Addie touches on her educational approach in science, teaching her students on how to think about science, how to ask the right questions, and then how to work together in a collaborative group and how to communicate.


Addie Thompson is an Assistant Professor in the Plant, Soil & Microbial Sciences Department at the Michigan State University, and affiliated with the Plant Resilience Institute and NRT-IMPACTS. She earned a BS in Genetics from Iowa State University in 2008 and a PhD in Plant Breeding and Molecular Genetics from the University of Minnesota in 2014. Prof. Thompson’s research focuses on using quantitative genetics, high-throughput phenotyping, and statistical and physical models to predict how varieties will grow in diverse and challenging environments, and to discover genes contributing to these differences.


Link:
https://www.thompsonmaizelab.org/