Genome Canada will get more than $30 million for its
participation in the projects. The Western Grain Research Fund is putting in $5
million.
The balance comes from others, such as provincial
governments, non-profit organizations and companies.
The 11
projects, which will each receive between $5 million and about $10
million, were selected for funding under Genome Canada’s 2014 Large-Scale
Applied Research Project Competition “Genomics and Feeding the Future.”
The research will use genomics to address issues
ranging from disease resilience in pigs to methane emissions in dairy to
genetic selection in wheat.
“We are working to develop genomic tools and tests to
improve our ability to select for desired characteristics such as yield,
disease and pest resistance, and heat and drought stress resilience.
The end result will be more productive, profitable and
environmentally-sustainable wheat varieties for farmers,” said Curtis Poziak,
plant scientist at the University of Saskatchewan.
Pozniak is involved in a $8.5 million project focused on
understanding the wheat genome and using genetic markers and predictive genetic
tests to improve selection efficiency in Canadian wheat breeding programs.
Details about these 11 projects can be found on the Genome
Canada website):
.
Canadian Triticum Applied Genomics
(CTAG2 )
Project leaders: Curtis Pozniak, University of
Saskatchewan; Andrew Sharpe, National Research Council Canada
Lead Genome
Centre: Genome Prairie
Total funding: $8.5 million
.
Application of genomics to innovation
in the lentil economy (AGILE)
Project leaders: Kirstin Bett and Albert Vandenberg,
University of Saskatchewan
Lead Genome Centre: Genome Prairie
Total funding:
$7.9 million (includes funding from Western Grains Research Foundation)
.
Sustaining and securing Canada’s
honey bees using ‘omic tools
Project leaders: Leonard Foster, University of British
Columbia; Amro Zayed, York University
Led Genome Centre: Genome British
Columbia
Total funding: $7.2 million
.
Genomics of abiotic stress resistance
in wild and cultivated sunflowers
Project leaders: Loren H. Rieseberg, University of British
Columbia; John M. Burke, University of Georgia
Lead Genome Centre: Genome
British Columbia
Total funding: $7.9 million
.
Application of genomics to improve
disease resilience and sustainability in pork production
Project leaders: Michael Dyck, University of Alberta; John
Harding, University of Saskatchewan; Bob Kemp, PigGen Canada Inc.
Lead Genome
Centres: Genome Alberta, Genome Prairie
Total funding: $9.8 million
.
Increasing feed efficiency and
reducing methane emissions through genomics: A new promising goal for the
Canadian dairy industry
Project leaders: Filippo Miglior, University of Guelph;
Paul Stothard, University of Alberta
Lead Genome Centres: Genome Alberta,
Ontario Genomics Institute
Total funding: $10.3 million
.
SoyaGen: Improving yield and disease
resistance in short-season soybean
Project leaders: François Belzile, Université Laval;
Richard Bélanger, Université Laval
Lead Genome Centre: Genome Québec
Total
funding: $8.3 million
.
Reverse vaccinology approach for the
prevention of mycobacterial disease in cattle
Project leaders: Andrew
Potter, VIDO-InterVac, University of Saskatchewan; Robert Hancock, University
of British Columbia
Lead Genome Centres: Genome Prairie, Genome British
Columbia
Total funding: $7.4 million
.
A Syst-OMICS approach to ensuring
food safety and reducing the economic burden of salmonellosis
Project Leaders: Lawrence Goodridge, McGill University;
Roger C. Levesque, Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (IBIS), Université
Laval
Lead Genome Centre: Génome Québec
Total Funding: $9.8 million
.
Enhancing production in Coho:
Culture, Community, Catch (EPIC4)
Project leaders: William S. Davidson, Simon Fraser
University; Louis Bernatchez, Université Laval
Lead Genome Centres:
Genome British Columbia, Génome Québec
Total funding: $9.9 million
.
Towards a Sustainable Fishery for
Nunavummiut
Project leaders: Virginia K. Walker, Queen’s University;
Stephen C. Lougheed, Queen’s University; Peter Van Coeverden de Groot, Queen’s
University; Stephan Schott, Carleton University
Lead Genome Centre: Ontario
Genomics Institute
Total funding: $5.6 million
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