Scottish Government

> RESEARCH PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

RESULTS OF NEW COMPETITION FOR SEERAD RESEARCH FUNDING

In 2001, ABRG introduced a new competition for additional grant-in-aid funding (reported in the 3rd edition of re>SEARCH). 6 million over 2.5-years has been awarded to the sponsored bodies (in addition to ABRG's approximately 30 million annual grant-in-aid funding) to build on their scientific strengths, take advantage of new scientific opportunities and widen the end-uses of their research.

This extra funding will contribute to important research in areas such as:

• preventing cancer, diabetes, obesity
• preserving Scotland's unique natural heritage
• improving farm animal welfare
• producing new and improved foods - spreadable butter; new varieties of fruit, potatoes and cereals; healthier meat and milk products

The new research projects began in October 2001.

FLEXIBLE FUND - RESULTS OF NEW COMPETITION FOR COLLABORITIVE RESEARCH

As reported in the 3rd edition of re>SEARCH, ABRG introduced a 3.3 million competition for new collaborative research. Of the 33 proposals submitted, 7 were successful:

• Genomic sequencing and proteomic analyses of the potato pathogen, Erwinia carotovera sub species atroseptica and the animal pathogen Chlamydophila abortica - SCRI, MRI and the Sanger Institute.
• Assessment of plant germplasm for bioactive molecules - SCRI, RBGE and the Strathclyde Institute for Drug Research.
• Biodiversity: taxonomy, genetics and ecology of subartic willow scrub - RBGE, SCRI, SAC, University of Edinburgh, Macaulay Institute and BioSS.
• Effects of grazing management on upland bird populations: disentangling habitat structure and arthopod food supply at appropriate spatial scales (GRUB) - Macaulay Institute, SAC, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
• Diagnosis and control of caseous lymphadentitis in sheep - MRI and SAC.
• Biochemical and molecular determinants of differential porcine foetal growth - RRI, SAC and University of Aberdeen
• Developing an evolutionary fitness function for energy intake - SAC, Macaulay Institute, RRI and University of Edinburgh.

These new projects began in November 2001.

OTHER NEW FLEXIBLE FUND PROJECTS

In addition to those above, 26 new research projects were commissioned from SEERAD's Flexible Fund between August 2001 and January 2002. 6 of these are jointly funded projects:

• Effects of foot and mouth disease on farming practice on the Solway in 2001, and the consequence for the Svalbard barnacle goose population in winter 2001-2002 and subsequently- Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) - SEERAD, WWT and RSPB- funded
• Resampling the national soil inventory - a scoping study - Macaulay Institute - SEERAD and the Forestry Commission-funded
• Development of robust, broad based QTL maps to improve barley breeding- SCRI, National Institute of Agricultural Botany and Herriot Watt University - SEERAD and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded
• Transfer of newly acquired resistance genes between bacteria in different gut and non-gut environments - RRI and University College London - SEERAD and BBSRC-funded
• Molecular analysis of lumenal and mucosal biofilms in the human large intestine - RRI and University of Dundee - SEERAD and BBSRC-funded
• Winter barley reference cropping to provide an improved understanding of growth and yield formation and produce a growth guide for growers - ADAS - SEERAD and Home Grown Cereals Authority-funded

And 1 new LINK project:

• Control of potato storage diseases by laser treatment - SAC - SEERAD and Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs-funded.