Why is this research important to Alberta?
- Clubroot disease represents a formidable challenge for canola cultivation in Alberta owing to its spore’s persistence in contaminated soil, even in the absence of suitable host crops.
- At present, the agricultural community submits soil samples for polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assays to confirm pathogen presence and to estimate inoculum density.
- Currently, no commercial methodologies exist for facilitating molecular pathotyping of clubroot.
- Correspondingly, the goal of this proposal is to further develop our AI-enabled protein-based technology for the rapid and reliable identification and quantification of clubroot pathotypes.
- The anticipated outcomes of this Genome Alberta project will yield cutting-edge diagnostic tool for the broader canola agriculture community.
- This is aligned with a multitude of Alberta agricultural and entrepreneurial / translational priorities, especially with Canola representing one of the largest, high value crop exports from Alberta.
What is the goal of this work? How will genomics be used?
- The objective is develop an AI-enabled protein-based technology for the rapid and reliable identification and quantification of clubroot pathotypes.
- This involves the application of advanced AI computational approaches to precisely process the acquired quantitative omics data.
- Partners involved include Alberta Canola and Sask Oil as part of a Canola Council of Canada (Co-Funding the project).
- The project involves a collaboration between Dr. R. Glen Uhrig and co-applicants Dr. Stephen Strelkov and Dr. Guohui Lin from the University of Alberta.
- The project utilizes quantitative protein-level analyses to generate data for the project and to more broadly understand the clubroot pathosystem.
What are the expected benefits, and how will the research findings be shared?
- Economic Benefits: Increased canola productivity year-over-year for Alberta growers. Develop world-leading, made-in-Alberta IP for pathogen detection in crops that have substantial opportunities in the broader market.
- Environmental: Better management of clubroot across Alberta fields leading to increased yields for growers.
Related Resources
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