Greenhouse vegetables with enhanced disease resistance goal of a new research initiative

Thursday, October 16, 2014

by SUSAN MANN

Researchers in Ontario are using gene technologies to develop new commercial traits and varieties of greenhouse vegetables with enhanced disease resistance.

The goal is to come up with varieties that are commercially available to greenhouse growers within a decade, says Jim Brandle, CEO of Vineland Research and Innovation. Researchers from the centre are working with University of Toronto researchers to develop the traits.

Brandle says the project began eight months ago. “At the end of three years we’ll know if we have the traits we’re looking for to get disease resistance.” After developing the trait, it has to be incorporated into a commercial variety and then the variety has to be tested. Overall, it could be six to eight years before any new commercial varieties are available, he estimates.

The project leaders are Keiko Yoshioka from the University of Toronto and Daryl J. Somers of the Vineland Centre.

Researchers already know what genes in tomato plants they’re going to target for disease resistance. “We’re going to knock them out so they don’t express the same way and create the resistance that way,” Brandle says.  If they discover this process works in tomato plants “we’ll be able to use the same approach in peppers and cucumbers.”

The $2.4 million project is being funded equally between the non-profit organization Genome Canada (which promotes new uses for genomics), the Vineland Centre and the University of Toronto.

The project was one of 12 selected for funding as part of Genome Canada’s Genomic Applications Partnership program. Ed Holder, federal Minister of State (Science and Technology) and Genome Canada president Pierre Meulien announced the projects Wednesday at Wallenstein’s Feed & Supply Ltd. in Wallenstein. The projects are worth a total of $56 million with about $15 million coming from the government of Canada, while the remaining $41 million comes from co-funding partners.

In the federal government and Genome Canada press release they say the Genomic Applications Partnership program is designed to move genomics-based solutions to the marketplace through academic partnerships with industry and other users of genomics. It’s also intended to stimulate investment from private and public partners to address real-world challenges and opportunities.

Some other projects getting funding include:

• The development and commercialization of new enzyme products for pork and poultry to improve the digestion of animal feeds. This project is led by Concordia University and Elanco Animal Health (a division of Eli Lilly & Co.).
• University of Saskatchewan researchers are teaming up with company Symbiota LLC to field test several crop/microbe combinations so they can develop microbial products that address the significant need for improved yield, water use efficiency and heat stress tolerance in major crops, such as wheat, maize, soybeans, canola, barley and pulses.
• Dairy co-op, Agropur, is working on a project with researchers from Université Laval to improve the understanding of the complex cheese making process. They will be monitoring the ripening process of premium washed rind cheeses as ripening that isn’t ideal can lead to reduced shelf life, returns and production delays. BF