New and Ongoing Projects
Plant establishment
Seeding dates and rates
Project: Demonstrating benefits of seeding date and rate on canola yield and quality
Principal investigator: Robin Lokken, Saskatchewan Conservation Learning Centre
Funding: SaskCanola
Purpose: To demonstrate how different seeding dates and rates can improve canola yield and quality; discuss and show methods to control flea beetles.
Water
Project: Beneficial practices for soil and water quality, excess water management and drought resiliency in an undulating soil landscape in southwestern Manitoba
Principal Investigator: David Whetter, AgriEarth Consulting
Funding: Manitoba Canola Growers
Purpose: To better understand the performance and trade-offs associated with tile drainage in undulating landscapes of Manitoba, including an evaluation of costs and benefits.
Nutrient management
Nitrogen
Project: Demonstrating the efficacy of foliar-applied nitrogen fixing bacteria for canola
Principal investigator: Chris Holzapfel, Indian Head Agriculture Research Foundation
Funding: Agriculture Demonstration of Practices and Technologies
Purpose: To demonstrate the effects of commercially-available, foliar-applied nitrogen (N) fixing bacteria products on the yield and seed quality of canola grown under varying fertility levels and contrasting environments.
Phosphorus
Project: Do we need deep banding of phosphorus in no-till systems in the Canadian Prairies?
Principal investigator: Maryse Bourgault, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To determine if deep banding phosphorus (P) fertilizer improve yields compared with P applied at 5cm depth at the same rate, and if deep banding itself
impact yields.
Phosphorus
Project: Strategies to build sustainable P levels and optimize water use efficiencies on low P soi
Principal investigator: Gursahib Singh, Irrigation Crop Diversification Corporation
Funding: SaskCanola, SaskWheat
Purpose: To identify appropriate phosphorus (P) fertilization strategies on an irrigated field with low soil-available P; investigate if P fertilizer additions influence plant Zn uptake.
Phosphorus
Project: Response of canola and flax to humic-acid-coated phosphorus fertilizer rates
Principal investigator: Gursahib Singh, Irrigation Crop Diversification Corporation
Funding: SaskCanola
Purpose: To test the assertion that humic acid reduces the fixation of available phosphorus in the soil, activates insoluble phosphorus, and increases soluble phosphorus or directly reacts with the phosphate fertilizer to promote phosphorus absorption by plants.
Integrated pest management
Disease
Project: The Prairie Crop Disease Monitoring Network: Fostering further network development
Principal investigator: Kelly Turkington
Funding: SaskCanola, Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers and others
Purpose: To formalize the Prairie Crop Disease Monitoring Network; refine survey protocols; refine the Quick Disease Reporter Tool; develop disease assessment tools and blackleg pathogen mapping.
Blackleg
Project: Monitoring changes in Leptosphaeria maculans races and blackleg impact on canola after the introduction of the new R genes Rlm2, Rlm4 and Rlm7
Principal investigator: Gary Peng, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Alberta Canola, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To update on pathogen race changes and assess the impact of newly introduced R genes. The project may also identify new virulent pathogen races, providing breeders and industry
early warning.
Clubroot
Project: Understanding the role of the clubroot pathogen kinases in disease progress and resistance
Principal Investigator: Edel Pérez-López, Université Laval
Funding: Alberta Canola, SaskCanola, Manitoba Canola Growers
Purpose: To identify and characterize the role of clubroot pathogen kinases in disease progress and resistance.
Clubroot
Project: Evaluation of the root-associated fungus Olpidium brassicae and its interactions with Plasmodiophora brassicae
Principal investigator: Jennifer Town, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To examine the relationship between Olpidium brassicae colonization and Plasmodiophora brassicae infection and disease severity; analyze O. brassicae distribution during canola production in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Flea beetles
Project: Cover crops for flea beetle management
Principal Investigator: Yvonne Lawley, University of Manitoba
Funding: Manitoba Canola Growers, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To evaluate the impact of fall rye and oat cover crops on flea beetles and their natural enemies in canola.
Insects and climate
Project: Insect response to climate change and ag-inputs across the Prairies
Principal investigator: Meghan Vankosky, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers and others
Purpose: To understand insect pest population dynamics and forecast populations; assess the current status of insecticide resistance in Western Canada; develop insect information resources.
Kochia
Project: Balancing economic, action, and seed production thresholds for glyphosate-resistant kochia in canola
Principal investigator: Charles Geddes, AAFC Lethbridge
Funding: SaskCanola, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To determine how canola planted at five versus 10 plants per square foot changes the economic, action and seed production thresholds to manage glyphosate-resistant kochia in canola.
Verticillium stripe
Project: Digging out the unknown: Finding the resistance against verticillium stripe in canola
Principal Investigator: Dilantha Fernando, University of Manitoba
Funding: Alberta Canola, SaskCanola, Manitoba Canola Growers, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To identify resistance genes and sources that work against V. longisporum, the pathogen that causes verticillium stripe.
Genetics
Disease
Project: Identifying novel genetic factors contributing to durable disease resistance in canola
Principal investigator: Isobel Parkin, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To determine epi-alleles contributing to adaptation to Prairie conditions; assess the role of DNA methylation (epigenetics) in quantitative resistance to blackleg and clubroot in canola.
Blackleg
Project: Functional use of core pathogenicity genes to develop mitigation strategies against blackleg of canola and FHB of wheat
Principal investigator: Hossein Borhan, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Funding: SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund, Western Grains Research Foundation, Manitoba Crop Alliance
Purpose: To define the core effector (pathogenicity) genes of F. graminearum and L. maculans; assess functional diversity of these core effectors; see if any induce broad-spectrum resistance.
Blackleg
Project: Exploiting susceptibility genes in canola to improve blackleg resistance
Principal Investigator: Gary Peng, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: Alberta Canola, SaskCanola, Manitoba Canola Growers, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To generate novel resources and markers for blackleg resistance to be used in breeding for canola varieties with potentially broad-spectrum and durable disease resistance traits.
Climate
Project: Capturing ancestral diversity for developing climate ready canola
Principal Investigator: Isobel Parkin, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: Alberta Canola, SaskCanola, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To generate significant germplasm and data resources that could be exploited in the study of additional agronomic traits.
Clubroot
Project: Clubroot resistance gene function based on whole genome sequences, genome editing and resistance phenotypes
Principal investigator: Stephen Strelkov, University of Alberta
Funding: SaskCanola, Alberta Canola, Alberta’s Results Driven Agriculture Research
Purpose: To characterize clubroot resistance genes based on genome-wide association analyses between clubroot disease data and the whole genome sequence data from University of Alberta clubroot resistance donors and 28 Brassica hosts.
Clubroot
Project: Virus-induced gene silencing in hairy roots to test root pathogen resistance
Principal investigator: Chris Todd, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola
Purpose: To establish protocols for virus induced gene silencing (VIGS) in Plasmodiophora brassicae infected canola hairy roots; to use VIGS to silence canola genes identified as interacting partners of clubroot effector proteins.
Clubroot
Project: Evaluation of the A-genome genes for resistance to Plasmodiophora brassicae pathotypes, and their combined effect with the C-genome resistance
Principal investigator: Habibur Rahman
Funding: Alberta Canola
Purpose: To investigate the combined effect of A- and C-genome resistances to different clubroot pathotypes, to be used to develop cultivars with resistance to multiple pathotypes.
Clubroot
Project: Dissecting the genetics of B. napus resistance to clubroot
Principal investigator: Hossein Borhan, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Funding: Alberta Canola
Purpose: To characterize, map and develop markers for PbR1, a robust resistance gene against clubroot.
Clubroot
Project: Enhancing clubroot resistance in canola through regulating a transcription factor AIL7
Principal investigator: Gavin Chen, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola
Purpose: To generate canola AIL7 knockout and overexpression lines, and test their resistance to prevalent clubroot pathotypes in Alberta; to assess the value of this trait for use in commercial lines.
Yield
Project: Elevating canola yield and oil and protein content by altering cellular carbon partitioning
Principal investigator: Gavin Chen, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola
Purpose: To generate homozygous double-haploid canola lines with high yield and seed quality.
Ongoing Projects
Plant establishment
Climate
Project: Climate change resilience of Prairie oilseed crops and their below-ground microbiota under drought stress in controlled and field environments
Principal investigator: Tim Dumonceaux, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola
Purpose: To examine the soil, rhizosphere and root microorganisms that canola plants recruit under stress conditions; isolate microbes (or groups of microbes) that could help plants adapt to changing conditions on the Canadian Prairies.
On-farm research
Project: Using Modulated On-farm Response Surface Experiments (MORSE) to develop evidence based, agronomic recommendations
Principal Investigator: Steve Shirtliffe, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola, Sask Wheat, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To develop methodology that will allow crop input experiments to be performed using Modulated On-farm Response Surface Experiments, to refine image-based technology as a tool to assess crop response variables, including yield.
Rotation
Project: Optimizing crop rotations to enhance agronomic, economic and environmental performance
Principal investigator: Ramona Mohr, AAFC Brandon
Funding: Manitoba Canola Growers
Purpose: To generate a reliable, research-based dataset of production and economic information for a range of climate smart cropping systems and crop rotations.
Weather
Project: A meta-analysis of small-plot trial data to examine the relationship between crop development and environmental conditions in canola
Principal investigator: Christiane Catellier, Indian Head Agriculture Research Foundation (IHARF)
Funding: SaskCanola, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To use archived small-plot canola agronomic trial data and regional weather data to conduct a meta-analysis of the relationship between environmental conditions, canola emergence, maturity
and survivability.
Nutrient management
4R Plus
Project: Using a 4Rs Plus approach to improve growth and sustainability of annual cropping systems in Saskatchewan
Principal investigator: Blake Weiseth, Discovery Farm
Funding: SaskCanola, SaskWheat
Purpose: To assess the impact of 4R Nutrient Stewardship practices on nitrogen and phosphorus crop uptake and nutrient load in run-off water. Project includes a cost-benefit analysis of 4R practices.
Carbon
Project: Collecting the carbon data needed for climate-smart agriculture in Saskatchewan
Principal Investigator: Kate Congreves, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola, SaskWheat, SaskOats, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund
Purpose: To provide year-round measurements of greenhouse gas emissions from a representative cropping system in Saskatchewan; to assess 4R practices to minimize carbon footprints; to test if Saskatchewan cropping systems are a net carbon sink.
Nitrogen
Project: Climate-smart canola: quantifying soil- and fertilizer-derived nitrogen sources and greenhouse gas emissions under canola hybrids
Principal investigator: Melissa Arcand, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola, Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To bring together physiological (plant-based; e.g. nitrogen harvest index) and agronomic (fertilizer-based; e.g. yield per unit nitrogen fertilizer) understanding of canola nitrogen use efficiency (NUE).
Nitrogen
Project: How does fall-applied nitrogen fertilizer influence soil-emitted nitrous oxide emissions during the over-winter and spring thaw period in the semi-arid Prairies?
Principal investigator: Reynald Lemke, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: Alberta Canola
Purpose: To quantify soil-emitted N2O from treatments of urea, dual-inhibitor urea or no nitrogen fertilizer during the non-growing season period under semi-arid conditions; examine factors affecting timing and magnitude of soil-emitted N2O.
Nitrogen
Project: Discovering the optimal rate of a dual-inhibitor nitrogen fertilizer for maximum N2O emissions reduction
Principal investigator: Reynald Lemke, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund, Western Grains Research Foundation, Sask Wheat
Purpose: To compare yield and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions for a dual inhibitor product applied at a reduced nitrogen rate to urea at the standard rate; assess maximum N2O reduction with an DI fertilizer product while maintaining crop yields.
Nitrogen
Project: Evaluation of variable rate applied enhanced efficiency N fertilizers on wheat and canola – field scale management zones comparison
Principal investigator: Haben Tedla, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, SaskWheat
Purpose: To evaluate the agronomic potential of variable-rate application and performance of enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertilizer; compare SuperU, ESN-urea blend and eNtrench to urea.
Nitrogen
Project: Biological nitrogen fixation in canola
Principal Investigator: Alicja Ziemienowicz, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Lethbridge
Funding: Alberta Canola, Alberta Innovates, Western Grains Research Foundation, Alberta’s Results Driven Agriculture Research
Purpose: To generate canola with “biological nitrogen fixation”. This trait would allow crops to grow more efficiently in nitrogen-deficient soil, making them independent of nitrogen fertilizers.
Nutrients
Project: Tracing carbon and nitrogen during crop residue decomposition to optimize C sequestration and predict N transfer credit
Principal investigator: Bobbi Helgason, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola, SaskWheat, SaskBarley
Purpose: To study plant residue factors controlling decomposition of wheat, barley, canola, lentil, field pea and soybean; to more accurately assess the potential contribution of residue-nitrogen to the next crop.
Phosphorus
Project: Impact of phosphorus fertilizer forms on nutrition of wheat, pea and canola, soil fate and losses in run-off water
Principal Investigator: Jeff Schoenau, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola, SaskWheat, SaskPulse, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To assess how phosphorus fertilizer forms, placement and rate affect crop responses, fate in the soil, and run-off losses in Saskatchewan soils.
Phosphorus
Project: Understanding canola root morphology and microbiomes in response to soil phosphorus fertility
Principal Investigator: Bobbi Helgason, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola, Global Institute for Food Security
Soil
Project: SKSIS-3: Synergies and Sustainability for the Saskatchewan Soil Information System
Principal Investigator: Angela Bedard-Haughn, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund, Western Grains Research Foundation, SaskWheat
Purpose: To enhance Saskatchewan Soil Information System (SKSIS) with predictive soil mapping tools, and to create a standalone SKSIS feature for efficient use in internet-deficient areas.
Soil
Project: Enhancing the Saskatchewan Soil Health Assessment Protocol – Phase 2
Principal Investigator: Kate Congreves, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola, SaskWheat
Purpose: To build on the Saskatchewan Soil Health Testing Protocol so that it outputs soil zone-specific scores; to incorporate novel microbial measurements of soil health into the testing protocol; to explore early-indicators of soil health change.
Soil
Project: Shining a light on digital agriculture: Linking soil NIR measurements, fertility and crop yields
Principal Investigator: Derek Peak, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola, SaskWheat, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund
Purpose: To use spectral sensing to produce spatially-resolved soil based yield potential maps; and develop methodology to link field near infrared (NIR) data and laboratory analyses.
Integrated pest management – Disease
Aster yellows
Project: The role of insect feeding and plant defense responses in aster yellows disease epidemiology
Principal investigator: Sean Prager, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers
Purpose: To quantify the feeding behaviour of aster leafhoppers on different host plants and examine the relationship between feeding time and aster yellows phytoplasma.
Blackleg
Project: Biocontrol of blackleg using carnivorous bacteria
Principal investigator: Paul Holloway, University of Winnipeg
Funding: Manitoba Canola Growers
Purpose: To isolate various myxobacterial and mycophagous bacteria from Manitoba sources, then determine whether the isolates can kill or inhibit the growth of Leptosphaeria maculans, the pathogen that causes blackleg in canola.
Blackleg
Project: Investigating interactions of ascospores and pycidiospores with blackleg resistance in canola and efficacy of seed applied fungicides
Principal investigator: Dilantha Fernando, University of Manitoba
Funding: SaskCanola
Purpose: To develop a protocol to efficiently produce ascospore and pycnidiospore inoculum with defined Avr profile for resistance screening; assess interactions of inoculum types with blackleg resistance; evaluate seed-applied fungicides.
Clubroot
Project: Influence of pH on the clubroot pathogen: are there pH-insensitive strains?
Principal investigator: Stephen Strelkov, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola, SaskCanola, Manitoba Canola Growers
Purpose: To determine whether strains of the clubroot pathogen respond differentially to soil pH and whether pathogen strains can become adapted to high pH conditions.
Clubroot
Project: Clubroot inoculum management for sustainable canola production
Principal investigator: Stephen Strelkov, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola, Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development
Purpose: To determine the spore population levels that are safe for the use of clubroot-resistant cultivars and develop a knowledge-based resistance deployment strategy.
Clubroot
Project: A rapid molecular assay to identify Plasmodiophora brassicae pathotypes from plant and soil samples
Principal investigator: Stephen Strelkov, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola, Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development
Purpose: To generate an effective rapid molecular assay (PCR-based) to identify abundance and diversity of P. brassicae pathotypes in soil and plant samples; and to use genetic variability among pathotypes to identify genes of interest.
Clubroot
Project: Study of the effects of Brassica root architecture and fertilizer application on clubroot disease severity
Principal investigator: Stephen Strelkov, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola, Western Grains Research Foundation, Alberta’s Results Driven Agriculture Research
Purpose: To investigate the association between brassica root architecture and nitrogen treatments on clubroot severity and crop yield.
Clubroot
Project: Managing small patches of clubroot infestation in canola fields
Principal investigator: Bruce Gossen, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Manitoba Canola Growers
Purpose: To develop practical recommendations to manage small patches of clubroot.
Clubroot
Project: Application of hyperspectral imaging for detection and mapping of small patch clubroot infestations in commercial canola fields
Principal investigator: David Halstead, Saskatchewan Polytechnic
Funding: SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund
Purpose: To identify readily applied diagnostic features for mapping small clubroot patches and develop a diagnostic tool; to refine and validate diagnostic tool for identifying small patch clubroot infestations.
Fusarium wilt
Project: Understanding fusarium wilt and root rot of hybrid canola occurrence, host range, disease development, resistance and yield
Principal investigator: Sheau-Fang Hwang, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola, Alberta’s Results Driven Agriculture Research
Purpose: To optimize cultural methods to control the fusarium pathogens causing seedling blight and root rot and wilt of canola.
Sclerotinia stem rot
Project: Biopesticides as a novel management strategy for sclerotinia in canola
Principal investigator: Tim Dumonceaux and Susan Boyetchko, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Manitoba Canola Growers
Purpose: To screen and evaluate the biopesticide potential of selected bacterial strains that are indigenous to the Canadian Prairies and determine their ability to control disease development and growth of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in canola.
Verticillium stripe
Project: Verticillium stripe – The disease management
Principal investigator: Sheau-Fang Hwang and Stephen Strelkov, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola, SaskCanola, Manitoba Canola Growers
Purpose: To determine the effects of growth stage and inoculation techniques on host infection, and to evaluate the effects of disease severity on plant growth and yield at different inoculum concentrations.
Integrated pest management – Insects
Beneficial insects
Project: Identifying key predators and their role in canola insect pest suppression
Principal investigator: Boyd Mori, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To identify the key natural enemies in the canola agroecosystem by detecting pest insect DNA in guts of predators, and to begin quantifying their pest suppression ability.
Biocontrol
Project: Exploring further possibilities and advancements of using bio-control entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs)
Principal investigator: Shabeg Briar, Olds College of Agriculture & Technology
Funding: Alberta Canola
Purpose: To assess the management of cabbage root maggots and cutworms to determine the persistence of entomopathogenic nematodes in Prairie soils.
Flea beetles
Project: Insecticide susceptibility and resistance monitoring of flea beetles in canola
Principal investigator: Boyd Mori, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola, Western Grains Research Foundation, Alberta’s Results Driven Agriculture Research
Purpose: To determine the susceptibility of the striped and crucifer flea beetle to various registered insecticides and investigate the mechanisms of insecticide tolerance.
Flea beetles
Project: Incorporation of abiotic and biotic factors for development of stage-structured predictive models of flea beetles
Principal investigator: Maya Evenden, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola, Alberta’s Results Driven Agriculture Research
Purpose: To develop a weather-dependent, stage-structured deterministic developmental model for both flea beetle species and evaluate appropriate base temperature thresholds for predictions of flea beetles
in canola.
Leafhoppers and diamondback moth
Project: Continuing to watch the winds: the origin and arrival of migrant aster leafhoppers and diamondback moths
Principal investigator: Tyler Wist, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To pinpoint the southern origins of diamondback moth and aster leafhopper; to see if alfalfa could be a “green bridge” for aster yellows phytoplasma in Saskatchewan; to develop aster yellows risk index.
Lygus
Project: Biological control of lygus plant bugs in established and emerging crops
Principal investigator: Hector Carcamo, AAFC Lethbridge
Funding: Alberta Canola
Purpose: To determine the impact of an exotic parasitoid of lygus bugs on native parasitoids, to determine if relocation of an exotic parasitoid would be beneficial for lygus control.
Pesticides
Project: Comprehensive investigation of pesticides in honey, pollen, bees and soil collected from canola fields
Principal investigator: Elemir Simko, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund
Purpose: To accurately document residues of 93 pesticides (including all neonicotinoids and their metabolites) in honey, pollen, bees and soil samples collected from canola fields and boreal regions across Saskatchewan.
Pollen beetle
Project: Develop and assess different strategies to reduce the impact of pollen beetle Brassicogethes viridescens (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), a new invasive insect pest on canola
Principal investigator: Christine Noronha, AAFC Charlottetown
Funding: Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers, Alberta’s Results Driven Agriculture Research and Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To evaluate the efficiency of monitoring techniques for pollen beetles; survey fields in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba for pollen beetles; and survey for parasitoids in the Maritimes.
Pollinators
Project: Effects of heat and drought on canola – pollinator interactions and crop yield
Principal investigator: Shelley Hoover, University of Lethbridge
Funding: Alberta Canola, Alberta’s Results Driven Agriculture Research
Purpose: To analyze the effects of heat and drought on seed yield and quality for five canola cultivars, with and without supplemental pollination by bees; examine benefits of supplemental pollination prior to heat and drought stress versus at the time of stress.
Integrated pest management – Weeds
Chaff lining
Project: Suitability and efficacy of chaff lining for weed control in western Canada
Principal investigator: Breanne Tidemann, AAFC Lacombe
Funding: Alberta Canola
Purpose: To see if weed seeds under chaff lines (from four different crops) have reduced viability over winter. Also ran pot studies to see how much chaff is needed to reduce weed emergence.
Cleavers
Project: Enhance understanding of cleavers populations in western Canada
Principal investigator: Breanne Tidemann, AAFC Lacombe
Funding: Alberta Canola, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To look for cleavers biotypes on the Prairies, evaluate emergence timing of cleavers populations, screen for quinclorac resistance.
Cleavers
Project: Screening false cleavers from the Prairie Herbicide Resistance Surveys for quinclorac and glyphosate resistance
Principal investigator: Breanne Tidemann, AAFC Lacombe
Funding: Alberta Canola
Purpose: To indicate how quickly quinclorac and glyphosate resistance in cleavers may be increasing or spreading on the Prairies.
Critical period
Project: Updating the critical weed free period in canola
Principal investigator: Rob Gulden, University of Manitoba
Funding: SaskCanola, Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers, Alberta’s Results Driven Agriculture Research
Purpose: To update the critical weed-free period (CWFP) for canola using modern canola hybrids, and determine how crop density affects CWFP; collect data from sufficient locations and years to make sound recommendations for various scenarios.
HR weed survey
Project: Herbicide-resistant weed survey
in the Prairies
Principal investigator: Charles Geddes, AAFC Lethbridge
Funding: Alberta Canola
Purpose: The current round of herbicide-resistant weed surveys ends this year with the Alberta survey.
Seedbank
Project: Manipulating weed seed production through phenology-based weed control
Principal investigator: Charles Geddes, AAFC Lethbridge
Funding: Alberta Canola, Alberta Wheat Commission, SaskWheat, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To improve our understanding of weed phenology in Western Canada, and use that information to develop strategies to reduce the amount of weed seed returned to the soil.
Weed survey
Project: Prairie weed surveys
Principal investigator: Julia Leeson, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: Western Grains Research Foundation, SaskCanola and other commodity groups
Purpose: To determine the distribution and abundance of glyphosate-resistant or auxinic-resistant kochia and other targeted weeds, including Russian thistle, waterhemp, and ragweed species in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Integrated pest management – Other
IPM
Project: Promotion of wetland stewardship best management practices through a targeted water monitoring project
Principal investigator: Tony Ciarla, Millenium EMS Solutions
Funding: Alberta Canola and various other public and private funders
Purpose: To evaluate wetland management practices in mitigating the movement of crop protection products into wetlands and aquatic ecosystems.
Genetics
Breeding strategy
Project: Preserving hybrid vigour through a novel apomixis breeding strategy in brassica crops
Principal investigator: Tim Sharbel, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund
Purpose: To generate diploid, hybrid unbalanced apomictic boechera backcrosses; to transfer apomixis from these lines into sexual bridging species; to generate apomictic brassica crops via intergeneric crosses.
Blackleg
Project: Towards better understanding of genetics in Leptosphaeria-Brassica interactions via international collaborations to standardize the nomenclature of blackleg resistance genes
Principal investigator: Hossein Borhan, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: Alberta Canola, SaskCanola
Purpose: To help in the international effort to locate new blackleg resistance genes, researchers need a universal protocol so they’re not finding the same gene multiple times but giving it different names.
Blackleg
Project: Developing allele specific molecular markers for the B.napus blackleg resistance (Rlm) genes
Principal investigator: Hossein Borhan, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To sequence blackleg resistance genes Rlm1 and Rlm11 and PCR-based markers for these genes as well as Rlm2. This information will be publicly available.
Blackleg
Project: Identification of genetic mapping of novel genes for resistance to blackleg in Chinese and Canadian Brassica napus
Principal investigator: Dilantha Fernando, University of Manitoba
Funding: SaskCanola, Alberta Canola
Purpose: To identify and map new sources of blackleg resistance.
Blackleg
Project: Building bridges to success – Accessing brassica diploid variation for canola improvement
Principal investigator: Steve Robinson, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers, SaskCanola
Purpose: To test new technology for blackleg resistance breeding. Domesticated diploid bridging species in combination with targeted diploid germplasm will increase the efficiency to introduce and evaluate new resistance alleles into B. napus.
Climate
Project: Drought tolerance in canola through modulating the Kanghan gene family
Principal investigator: Zou Jitao, National Research Council
Funding: SaskCanola, Manitoba Canola Growers, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To conduct CRISPR gene editing of the Kanghan genes in canola to generate knockout lines with improved drought tolerance; demonstrate the Kanghan technology under field conditions.
Climate
Project: Modification of surface waxes for improved water retention in canola
Principal investigator: Mark Smith, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To study the role of wax components in maintaining the cuticular water barrier of canola; to use genome editing to prevent expression of target genes in the epidermis without disrupting wax in other parts of the plant, such as pollen.
Climate
Project: Modified lipid metabolism to deliver improved low temperature tolerance in Brassica napus
Principal investigator: Mark Smith, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund
Purpose: To apply a targeted approach to identify new traits to confer improved low temperature tolerance in seedling canola.
Climate
Project: Increasing abiotic (drought) and biotic (clubroot) resistance in Brassica species by modifying auxin response
Principal investigator: Jocelyn Ozga, University of Alberta
Funding: SaskCanola, Alberta Canola, NSERC
Purpose: To develop novel genetically-improved canola, using a biotechnological approach, that is more resistant to both biotic (clubroot disease) and abiotic (drought) stress.
Climate
Project: Improving heat and drought resistance in canola through regulating diacylglycerol acyltransferase activity
Principal investigator: Gavin Chen, University of Alberta
Funding: SaskCanola and Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To diversify Canadian canola with stress-resistance genes, identify candidate genes involved in the control of heat and drought resistance, and collaborate with canola breeders to develop molecular markers for these genes.
Clubroot
Project: Using avirulence markers to predict the phenotypes of clubroot pathotypes
Principal investigator: Edel Pérez-López, Université Laval
Funding: Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To optimize a hydroponic bioassay to phenotype the interaction between canola and P. brassicae; to identify P. brassicae avirulence markers; to design and implement a multiplex PCR assay to differentiate P. brassicae isolates.
Clubroot
Project: New clubroot pathotypes and second generation resistance
Principal investigator: Stephen Strelkov, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola, SaskCanola, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To evaluate the infectivity of the most important P. brassicae pathotypes on a suite of canola cultivars with second-generation resistance.
Clubroot
Project: Efficient identification of Plasmodiophora brassicae pathotypes by metabardocing
Principal investigator: Stephen Strelkov, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola
Purpose: To generate a DNA metabarcoding assay that can aid in efficient, accurate, replicable and high-resolution identification of clubroot pathotypes to allow early detection.
Clubroot
Project: Understanding the molecular basis of NLR-mediated clubroot resistance in Brassica napus
Principal investigator: Edel Pérez López, University Laval
Funding: SaskCanola, Alberta Canola, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To identify clubroot-resistance genes of the nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) family and characterize their mechanisms in existing commercial canola germplasm.
Clubroot
Project: A proteomics-based approach towards identifying host and pathogen proteins critical to clubroot establishment in canola
Principal investigator: Christopher Todd, University of Saskatchewan
Funding: SaskCanola, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To identify P. brassicae effector proteins and to identify differentially expressed proteins in clubroot-susceptible and clubroot-resistant canola lines.
Clubroot
Project: Developing single-spore isolates of pathotypes of Plasmodiophora brassicae
Principal investigator: Mary Ruth MacDonald
Funding: SaskCanola
Purpose: To develop techniques for whole-genome sequencing of single spores of P. brassicae, the pathogen that causes clubroot.
Clubroot
Project: Purifying genotypes of P. brassicae and developing markers linked to races of P. brassicae collected in Western Canada
Principal investigator: Fengqun Yu, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Manitoba Canola Growers, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To develop markers linked to races of P. brassicae, the pathogen that causes clubroot. This would be similar to the technology used to identify blackleg races.
Clubroot
Project: Exploring Brassica oleracea for resistance to the newly emerged P. brassicae pathotypes.
Principal investigator: Habibur Rahman, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola, Alberta Agriculture & Forestry
Purpose: To introgress clubroot resistance genes from the cabbage/cauliflower-type plant species (B. oleracea) into Canadian canola, and develop molecular markers for these genes.
Clubroot
Project: Improvement of the clubroot-resistant canola germplasm of canola × rutabaga cross, and fine mapping of the resistance gene
Principal investigator: Habibur Rahman, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola, Alberta Innovates, Alberta Agriculture & Forestry
Purpose: To develop canola lines that carry the clubroot resistance gene of rutabaga, resulting in clubroot-resistant hybrid canola cultivars.
Clubroot
Project: Introgression of clubroot resistance from B.rapa into B.napus canola and identification of molecular markers for resistance
Principal investigator: Habibur Rahman, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola, SaskCanola
Purpose: To introgress clubroot resistance (CR) from B.rapa to B.napus canola. The B.rapa germplasm used in this research carries resistance to pathotypes 3 and 3A. This could be a new source of resistance.
Clubroot
Project: Cloning clubroot resistance genes from B. nigra and transferring the genes into canola through a CRISPR/Cas9 based technology
Principal investigator: Fengqun Yu, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To identify best candidates among the clubroot resistance genes identified in B. nigra; then isolate those genes and deliver candidate genes into canola using CRISPR/Cas9.
Clubroot
Project: Re-synthesizing Brassica napus with clubroot resistance from C-genome
Principal investigator: Fengqun Yu, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: Alberta Canola, Alberta Innovates
Purpose: To generate new and unique germplasm and make it available to canola breeders to develop cultivars with broad spectrum of resistance to clubroot in Western Canada.
Clubroot
Project: From field to the genome. Application of third generation sequencing to direct genotyping of canola pathogens
Principal investigator: Hossein Borhan, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: Alberta Canola, SaskCanola
Purpose: To develop a sensitive and rapid diagnostic tool to detect the presence of clubroot pathogen and determine the pathotypes present and the relative abundance.
Disease
Project: Deploying calcium-dependent protein kinases to fight canola pathogens
Principal investigator: Jacqueline Monaghan, Queen’s University
Funding: SaskCanola, Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To use precision gene editing to enhance the function of single genes that could provide canola plants with enhanced, durable, broad-spectrum resistance to disease without any growth tradeoff.
General
Project: Identification and exploitation of genome structural variants for trait improvement in Prairie crops
Principal investigator: Andrew Sharpe, Global Institute for Food Security
Funding: SaskCanola, SaskWheat, Alberta Grains, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To develop canola and wheat pan-genome structural variant (PanSV) atlases; to develop high-throughput structural variant (SV) genotyping pipeline; to associate SVs with important agronomic traits.
General
Project: Manipulating recombination in crop polyploids
Principal investigator: Isobel Parkin, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, National Research Council (NRC), SaskWheat
Purpose: To identify homologues of gene candidates controlling homoeologous recombination in wheat and Camelina sativa, to develop constructs for gene knock-outs using CRISPR technology.
Nitrogen
Project: Identifying the optimal root system architecture (RSA) for Brassica crops
Principal investigator: Isobel Parkin, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund
Purpose: To understand the level of natural variation of root system architecture (RSA) for Brassica napus, to identify the regions of the genome contributing to variation in RSA and to assess the variation for improving nitrogen-use efficiency.
Photosynthesis
Project: Evaluating Canola germplasm for photosynthetic efficiency
Principal investigator: Linda Gorim, University of Alberta
Funding: Alberta Canola
Purpose: To identify canola germplasm with superior photosynthetic efficiency, to contribute to the development of high yield varieties.
Sclerotinia stem rot
Project: Pre-breeding lines combining canola quality with sclerotinia resistance, good agronomy and genomic diversity from PAK93
Principal investigator: Sally Vail, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers, SaskCanola, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To develop resistant pre-breeding lines that combine desirable traits in PAK93 with canola seed quality and shatter resistance from AAFC’s elite lines; form a consortium of breeding companies to fund final selection of pre-breeding lines.
Sclerotinia stem rot
Project: Determine the contribution of specific defense genes to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum resistance in canola (Brassica napus)
Principal investigator: Lone Buchwaldt, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund
Purpose: To determine the contribution of lectin genes, penetration-resistance genes and other candidate defense genes to sclerotinia resistance in canola.
Yield
Project: Addressing yield stability drivers of canola in a changing climate using high throughput phenotyping
Principal investigator: Sally Vail, AAFC Saskatoon
Funding: Manitoba Canola Growers, SaskCanola, Western Grains Research Foundation
Purpose: To run field trials of the B. napus nested association mapping (NAM) germplasm resource in contrasting climatic environments; provide a sufficient datatset to test and apply phenotyping and selection techniques to improve canola yield stability.