Pre-breeding lines combining canola quality with sclerotinia resistance, good agronomy and genomic diversity from PAK93
Seed of PAK93-based pre-breeding lines will be more attractive to plant breeding companies than the original germplasm such as PAK54, primarily because it will be faster to develop hybrid varieties that combine the desirable traits from PAK93-derived lines with other important traits such as herbicide tolerance and resistance to the diseases, blackleg and clubroot.
Enabling Canola Protein Optimization (ECPO)
Increase canola protein inclusion rates in monogastric animal feeds, followed by canola germplasm that produces protein better suited for human diets, and finally specialty varieties that produce protein for specific technical applications.
A proteomics-based approach towards identifying host and pathogen proteins critical to clubroot establishment in canola
The proposed research will deliver knowledge and tools to improve utilization of existing clubroot resistant cultivars and to accelerate the discovery of new clubroot resistance genes, with the anticipation of exploring broad-spectrum and durable clubroot resistance that will be highly beneficial to breeders and growers of canola and other Brassica crops.
Cloning clubroot resistance genes from B. nigra and transferring the genes into canola through a CRISPR/Cas9 based technology
The pathogen (P. brassicae) populations in western Canada is evolving rapidly. It is extremely important to have canola cultivars with new sources of resistance avialabe to canola producers in Saskatchewan.
WCVM Research Chair in Pollinator Health
The Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) was the first veterinary college in North America to begin a honey bee research and teaching program, recognizing the high importance of pollinators for the long-term sustainability of agriculture and food security.
Development of an Insect Quarantine and Rearing Facility
This facility will increase the overall capacity for insect and pest related research and will therefore benefit numerous researchers and projects at the USask. Finally, this facility will result in important training opportunities.
Purifying genotypes of Plasmodiophora brassicae and developing SNP markers linked to races of P. brassicae populations collected in western Canada
Pathotying with the CCD or race profiling with the NILs is a phenotyping based approach, which can be tedious and time consuming. A genotyping based method could be an ultimate solution for race profiling.
Building bridges to success - Accessing Brassica diploid variation for canola improvement
Efficient access to alleles in crop relatives is often challenging in polyploidy crop species where the major reserve of valuable alleles often exists in diploid relatives, where reproductive incompatibility is a major impediment.
Investigating interactions of ascospores and pycnidiospores with blackleg resistance in canola and efficacy of seed applied fungicides in these specific interactions in western Canada
This is the first investigation into the infection by pycnidio- and asco-spores, as well as a mixture via wounds under the influence of cultivar resistance and fungicide seed treatment for blackleg disease in canola. The findings from this study suggested that it is feasible to produce ascospores and pycnidiospores in the lab and use these types of spores to test canola materials for blackleg resistance in both controlled environment and field conditions.
New Clubroot Pathotypes and Second Generation Resistance
Clubroot poses a significant threat to canola growers. Although genetic resistance is critical for managing the disease, changes in pathogen virulence endanger its effectiveness. Second-generation resistance offers promise against pathotypes that can overcome first-generation resistance. However, without an understanding of pathogen virulence on second-generation resistance, we risk compromising its efficacy. This project provided data on the performance of second-generation clubroot-resistant cultivars in the field, along with insights into the virulence characteristics of pathogen populations collected from these cultivars.
Enhanced understanding of cleavers populations in Western Canada
Understanding weed biology is the first BMP for reducing risk of herbicide resistance. This study will result in an understanding of different cleavers biotypes that exist across the Prairies, their emergence phenology, and some of their biological characteristics.
Continuing to watch the winds: the origin and arrival of migrant aster leafhoppers and diamondback moths
The knowledge of aster yellow index with dates of leafhopper arrival will lead to improved risk determination for aster yellow outbreaks, more robust (area wide) sampling recommendations and better prediction of ester yellow outbreaks.
Application of hyperspectral imaging for detection and mapping of small patch clubroot infestations in commercial canola fields
Detection of isolated patches of clubroot, while still in the early stages of infestation, would allow producers to develop mitigative measures for smaller more manageable sections of their operations before the disease becomes more widespread.
Collecting the carbon data needed for Climate-Smart agriculture in Saskatchewan
This work will provide crucial information needed by the agricultural industry and growers: field-scale data on how farmers may best balance agronomic and environmental outcomes by adjusting either the timing of fertilizer application or the fertilizer formulation.
Developing single-spore isolates of pathotypes of Plasmodiophora brassicae
Researchers and breeders will have greater confidence that the clubroot material they are working with is actually the correct pathotype, and that a pathotype shift hasn’t occurred part way through their research experiment and/or clubroot resistance breeding program.
Impact of Phosphorus Fertilizer Forms on Nutrition of Wheat, Pea and Canola, Soil Fate and Losses in Run-Off Water
The study will compare 1) uncoated and 2) polymer coated mono-ammonium phosphate, 3) liquid ammonium polyphosphate, 4) diammonium phosphate, 5) triple superphosphate, 6) ammonium phosphate sulfate, 7) struvite and 8) granular rock phosphate in broadcast versus banded placement.
Digital In-Field Phenotyping Vehicle
This will accelerate the breeding of improved canola varieties as breeders from academia/government/industry use this service to phenotype larger breeding programs. This builds research capacity at GIFS, and will provide a useful phenotyping platform that will be utilized in future research proposals.
Shining Light on Digital Agriculture: Linking Soil NIR measurements, Fertility and Crop Yields
The ability to measure soil fertility on the fly would revolutionize how producers test their soil. Instead of collecting soil core samples in a limited fashion in a field and mailing them for testing each year, soil fertility levels would be measured in real time by a NIR probe linked to variable rate equipment to deliver the optimal amounts of inputs.
Enhancing the Saskatchewan Soil Health Assessment Protocol – Phase 2
Healthy soils form the basis of productive farming systems, and soil health tests can be useful tools to support good management decisions. The concept of soil health recognizes soil as a living and dynamic natural system, a notion that aptly fits in the realm of biology; however, soil health tests are often dominated by indicators of soil fertility and chemistry. Biological indicators of soil health remain understudied and underrepresented in soil health assessments.
Canola Agri-Science Cluster CARP Theme 1-2
Evaluation of Canola Meal as compared to Soybean meal in Practical California Rations: Effects upon long term lactational performance, reproductive performance and metabolic disease.