Agriculture & Agri-food

Triticale, the only man-made crop, results from a recent hybrid between rye and wheat. Triticale is a high yield grain and biomass plant that has an excellent degree of adaptability to abiotic stress and resistance to numerous diseases plaguing other cereal crops in North America. The development of triticale as an industrial platform has been […]

This project aims to sequence the genome of Brassica species, including canola and assess genetic variation in the protein coding regions of the genome. This is a collaborative project involving the National Research Council, Agriculture and Agri‐Food Canada, and nine Industrial partners. The genomic resources developed from this project will be a major milestone in

A key to maintaining and improving Canada’s position as leaders in grain production lies in crop improvement, a field of research that increasingly uses genomic approaches to identify genetic factors involved in the climatic adaptation of particular crops. The project will focus on three economically important crops – wheat, barley, and rye. Drawing on extensive

The objective of this project is to improve the value of canola meal. Research for the DOTM project is divided into three major themes: 1) developing a strategy for lowering the fibre content of the seed coat of Brassica napus and the resulting canola meal, 2) understanding the genetics behind the yellow seed colour in

The goal of this project is to develop a powerful and efficient computing algorithm for whole-genome sequence association and prediction analyses. This project will provide the Alberta beef industry and research institutions with a powerful tool for fast integration of sequence information into genomic research and applications. Specifically, the newly developed algorithm and platform are

The recent advent of sequencing technologies has enabled the generation of a large amount of bee microbiome data from different sources. There is an urgent need for those bee microbiome datasets to be made more accessible so that information can be applied for scientific discoveries and can be translated for stakeholder use. The goal of

Campylobacteriosis, an acute intestinal illness and most commonly reported bacterial foodborne infection in Alberta, is caused by Campylobacter jejuni (Cj) through the consumption of contaminated chicken. Decades of research suggest that human infections are a result of a small proportion of high-risk Cj strains in the Canadian chicken supply chain and that these pathogenic strains

Animal resilience directly affects the profitability of livestock production. The goal of this project was to develop tools and methods for selection of pigs that are resilient in the face of multiple natural infections. Analysis of detailed physiology, genomics, and health data of pigs will be analyzed using machine learning technologies. This will allow the

A previous study identified an association between DRGA, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on chromosome 7, and a substantial improvement in fetal viability following PRRSV infection of pregnant dams. This region includes a gene associated with metabolism of a hormone-linked to growth and other processes. Levels of this hormone decrease in fetal and maternal serum

Disease is a major problem in animal production, resulting in reduced performance and animal welfare with rising treatment costs. Genetic selection of pigs that are more resistant and resilient to infection by pathogens is recognized as a promising tool to reduce the impact of disease. The goal of this project is to develop an experimental