$3.6 million in funding for genomic solutions in agriculture, bio-food, and environment
Génome Québec and the Fonds de recherche du Québec – secteur nature et technologies (FRQ), have announced the 15 research projects that have won major funding through the third round of the Genomics Integration Program – Agriculture and Biofood, Forestry and Environment, including two led by McGill University researchers in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The total investment, including public and private partners, represents nearly $3.6 million.
The research projects were selected as part of the funding cycle launched at the end of last summer and will use genomics to help industry and public organizations address issues in biodiversity, animal health, water quality and ecosystem health, as well as the detection of pathogens, pests and invasive species.
“The projects supported as part of this third cycle of the Genomics Integration Program will enable researchers to work in close collaboration with various stakeholders to develop innovative and sustainable genomics-based solutions to crucial issues in agriculture, bio-food and environmental fields. Congratulations to the recipients,” says Stéphanie Lord-Fontaine, Vice-President, Scientific Affairs at Génome Québec.
“I would like to warmly congratulate the winning teams, whose cutting-edge research on a variety of themes will ensure a better understanding of issues relating to biodiversity, ecosystem health and animal health, in particular. I’m very proud of the partnership and of the Genomics Integration Program – Agriculture and Biofood, Forestry and Environment, which aims to preserve the global health of our planet,” says Janice Bailey, Scientific Director of the Fonds de recherche du Québec – secteur Nature et technologies.
Funded research projects in McGill University's Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Jessica Head: New transcriptomic approaches inform water quality guidelines in Quebec and Canada
Canadian lakes and rivers may contain chemicals that could be harmful to wildlife and humans. Government scientists are tasked with developing guideline concentrations for chemicals at which no harmful effects are expected. This task is complicated by a lack of data describing the toxicity of individual chemicals in aquatic vertebrates such as fish and frogs. Scientists are looking for new ways to evaluate toxicity of chemicals that are efficient and do not rely on vertebrate animal testing.
This project, led by Natural Resource Sciences professor Jessica Head, measures the expression of genes in larval fish and frogs to determine the lowest chemical concentration eliciting a biological change. The species of fish and frogs are all native to Canada, including some endangered species. This work may allow government regulators to make informed decisions about chemicals more quickly and lead to better protection for Quebec’s aquatic wildlife.
Martina Strömvik: Going wild with potato genomics
Potato is the most important vegetable crop in the world, and it is consumed in many different ways. However, climate change threatens the health of the potato plant and therefore varieties are needed that are climate-smart, that is, they are resilient to sudden, dramatic weather events, pests and pathogens, and they have a small environmental footprint. These are traits that can be found in the genome—the collection of all genetic material in an organism—though not all genomes are alike. The potato has over 100 wild relatives, most of which are not edible, but that may carry the beneficial genetic diversity needed to improve our modern potato varieties.
Crossing a wild and domesticated potato can be tricky as we want to keep the good traits of the domesticated varieties, and just introduce the needed traits from the wild relative. Genomics, with its view of the whole genome, can really help this process by providing landmarks and indicators that the cross was successful. The potato breeder will select from these mixed offspring the best tasting, and most stress resistant potatoes, that can be economically successful and environmentally friendly crops for the growers, and for the consumer to enjoy. This project, led by Plant Science Professor Martina Strömvik, aims to use genomics to uncover key knowledge that will allow improvements to the potato through its wild side.