1. GENRES Leafy Veg Project 1st Annual project meeting in Angers, France 12 th & 13 th December 2007 Partner 1 – Warwick HRI Inputs in year 1

2. Research Department of the University of Warwick April 2004 became the Plant and Crop Science Research Department of the University of Warwick Sites at Wellesbourne, Warks. and Kirton, Lincs.

3. Modern Laboratories 6500m 2 Computer Controlled Glasshouses Glasshouses Controlled Environment facilities Wellesbourne campus 192 hectares of land Bioconversion unit Genetic Resources Unit

4. Funded by

5. International Board for Plant Genetic Resources Base Collections AlliumBrassicaDaucusLactucaRaphanus

6. >13,800 accessions in long term storage at -20 0 C

7. WP1 Documentation Start-up meeting agreed partners to decide material for regeneration, characterization and evaluation. P1 completed the selection of material for regeneration (lettuce, chicory & spinach), characterization (lettuce & spinach) and evaluation (lettuce for post harvest discolouration). P1 provided passport data for lettuce, chicory, spinach & Eruca to the relevant database managers. Characterization data were recorded for lettuce and spinach in the formats provided by the database managers.

8. WP2 Regeneration & Characterization Regeneration Seed produced for 31 accessions of leafy veg following best local practice. Lettuce (20 accessions) grown in GH with inflorescences isolated using bread bags. Spinach (5 accessions) isolated in sealed GH compartments to prevent cross pollination via air-borne pollen. Chicory (6 accessions) isolated in insect-proof cages in GH with flies introduced as pollinators. Threshed clean seeds were dried to 5% moisture content based on standard ISTA test & currently are being packed in foil for long term storage & safety duplication.

9. WP2 Regeneration & Characterization Characterization Seeds sown in modules and thinned with individuals transplanted & grown on in a Dutchlight frame. Agreed characters were scored & images captured. Data were recorded in the agreed format for each crop. Lettuce - 10 accessions of Cos type Spinach - 10 accessions

10. Lettuce crop improvement research

11. Quality of Processed salad

12. WP3 Evaluation All 24 lettuce accessions identified for inclusion in the screen for post harvest discolouration (browning/pinking) were grown in year 1. Plants harvested at commercial maturity were evaluated following a standard protocol by PhD student Laura Atkinson

13. “Pinking”

14. “Browning”

15. WP4 Utilization WP coordination WP5 Project management Attend project meetings; WP coordinators meetings; Write WP annual report!

16. Thank you