The John Innes Centre receives strategic funding from BBSRC
The John Innes Centre receives strategic funding from BBSRC
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Merton Worcester apples, one of eight commercial varieties developed at the John Innes Horticultural Institution JI breeders inspecting fruit plots LinksJohn Innes & Apple BreedingFruit breeding was important in shaping the early history of the John Innes, and a new exhibition and film on the six decades of research on apples is being launched to coincide with Apple Day at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse. The John Innes was founded in Merton, South London, to study fruit breeding and the new science of genetics; a word coined by the first John Innes director, William Bateson. However it was soon realised that the important characteristics in apples, such as size, colour and flavour, were not inherited in a simple way and a long-term programme of research was started. This work carried on for sixty years, and led to 8 commercial varieties of apples, under the name Merton. In 1948 the John Innes moved from Merton to Bayfordbury, in Hertfordshire, where much greater space allowed for large scale breeding programmes. In conjunction with the East Malling Research Station in Kent, rootstocks resistant to woolly aphids were developed and sent all over the world to where these aphids were a major problem. These rootstocks, onto which apple varieties are grafted, are still in use today. The John Innes was the first place to successfully cross apples and pears. However, the resulting ‘papples’ failed to survive for more than a few years. When the John Innes transferred to Norwich, the fruit breeding work continued on a farm at Stanfield, East Dereham, where sweetness and resistance to apple scab disease were studied. The farm was sold when fruit breeding research at the John Innes discontinued in 1976, and today there is no research on apples at the John Innes Centre. More information about the John Innes’ contribution to apple breeding will be on display at Apple Day at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse on Sunday 26th October. As well as displays on the John Innes’ historical work on apples, a short film has been made from vintage 1959 footage of the scientists at work. The film was produced as the John Innes Centre gears up for celebrations to mark the centenary of its founding. 2009 marks the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the John Innes, and from September 2009 there will be a series of events to celebrate the centenary.
The film was originally shot by Gordon D. Rowley in 1959 at the John Innes Horticultural Institution in Bayfordbury, Hertfordshire. Contacts: Andy Chapple, Press Office Assistant, John Innes Centre Notes to editors The John Innes Centre, www.jic.ac.uk, is an independent, world-leading research centre in plant and microbial sciences with over 800 staff. JIC is based on Norwich Research Park and carries out high quality fundamental, strategic and applied research to understand how plants and microbes work at the molecular, cellular and genetic levels. The JIC also trains scientists and students, collaborates with many other research laboratories and communicates its science to end-users and the general public. The JIC is grant-aided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
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