This project will help improve canola production efficiency and improve the national and global competitiveness of the Canadian canola industry (in the long term).

Improving crop tolerance to drought is essential for maintaining yield stability under the continued threat of climate change and a key factor for achieving sustainability in agriculture by saving water resource usage. Molecular breeding focusing on monogenic transgenic intervention has so far achieved limited success in the development of drought tolerance in crops. This project focuses on a gene family that is the basis of quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting drought tolerance in Brassicaceae.

This has the potential to open up plant breeding to a whole new way to identify germplasm variation in breeding programs.

Clubroot disease in canola and other brassicas is caused by the pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae. Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan conducted a five-year study to identify and characterize effector proteins and their role in the establishment and progression of clubroot disease.

New sources of clubroot and blackleg resistance are needed in western Canada because virulent pathogen populations have been reported that are able to overcome the resistance of canola cultivars for both diseases.

Cultivar resistance is considered the most effective and practical approach for clubroot management. However, current resistant canola cultivars, available in Canada since 2009, were based on a single clubroot resistance (CR) gene.

Surveillance monitoring has shown that blackleg is again increasing in incidence and severity in western Canada, in part due to breakdown of a widely used major resistance gene. Sclerotinia stem rot is also a serious disease for canola growers, particularly in severe wet and cool growing seasons.

Researchers initiated a four-year project in 2014 to develop a set of differential lines of spring type Brassica napus with single genes for identification of races of Plasmodiophora brassicae and for durable resistance to clubroot.

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan conducted a two-year project to further the discovery and subsequent genetic transformation for the introduction of apomixis technology into agriculture crops.

Clubroot, a serious threat to canola (Brassica napus) yields across Canada, is caused by the intracellular parasite Plasmodiophora brassicae.

Flea beetles are the most economically-damaging pest of canola. Researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada initiated a project to develop canola lines with superior resistance to the crucifer flea beetle by enhancing a natural insect control system.

Modern canola varieties are derived from a relatively small subset of the genetic diversity found within available collections of Brassica napus germplasm. Intensive selection for specific quality traits has further narrowed the genetic diversity within elite breeding lines.

Clubroot, resulting from an infection by Plasmodiophora brassicae is a devastating disease of canola. Researchers initiated a five-year study in 2010 to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of P. brassicae infection, and to develop molecular markers and tools for utilizing pathogen protein targets for improved resistance to clubroot disease in canola.

Clubroot, caused by the pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae (Pb) can be a devastating disease to canola crops. Since 2009, resistant canola cultivars have been available in Canada but all of them are based on a single dominant R gene.

Researchers in Saskatchewan conducted a three-year project to identify virulence genes in the Leptosphaeria maculans genome, the pathogen that causes blackleg in canola.

Developing genetically resistant canola varieties is the best and only effective method for controlling blackleg to date. Researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada have been able to locate the resistance gene LepR4 and develop DNA based markers in close proximity to this gene.

Sclerotinia stem rot is one of the major diseases affecting canola production. New varieties of Brassica napus canola with improved levels of sclerotinia resistance are required as part of an integrated management strategy.

Although the majority of canola producers currently swath Brassica napus prior to combining, many producers would prefer to have the option to straight combine and therefore avoid the cost and time associated with swathing.

Clubroot is a serious soil-borne disease of canola caused by the pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae. Multiple genes that can be clearly identified and stacked or rotated are required for long-term effectiveness of clubroot management toward protecting canola yield.

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan initiated a study in 2000 to develop a non-transgenic, GMS system in canola (Brassica napus) using chemicals to restore fertility.