'Plant Breeding: Sustaining the Future' Abstracts of the XVIth EUCARPIA Congress, Edinburgh, Scotland, 10-14 September 2001 BIOTECHNOLOGY OF FIBRE HEMP: A MULTI PURPOSE CROP L. MacKINNON Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, Scotland

Fibre Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) has been cultivated since 2700 BC and has had a wide range of applications from cosmetics to paper.  It was prohibited in Britain in the early 1900’s due to misuse.  However it has made a comeback in the past decade due to the breeding of low THC (Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid) cultivars and the demand for novel non-food crops.  An objective in hemp improvement would be increased fibre quality.  Conventional breeding for such traits would be inefficient therefore biotechnological gene transfer methods have been investigated.  Findings indicate that Agrobacterium mediated transformation is possible and this has been confirmed by Southern Analysis.  Transformation to integrate polygalacturase inhibitory proteins (PGIPs), which convey resistance to Botrytis cinerea has been undertaken.  Molecular testing and inoculations of transformed hemp with Botrytis cinerea is underway.