University of Guelph researchers at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario and Toronto-based industry partner Safeguard Biosystems are developing a point-of-contact, DNA barcode-based assay to create an identification test for animal feed material and pet food products. This work will further enable the Barcode of Life Project.
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Our work in the agriculture sector:
Controlling soybean pests
November 5, 2004Researchers at the Natural Resources Canada Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie aim to develop a transgenic virus for the velvet bean caterpillar, a severe pest on soybean crops that causes hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to crops annually.
Enhancing agronomic traits
November 5, 2004A joint effort by McMaster University, the University of Waterloo, and Performance Plants are building upon their long-term collaborative relationship to develop transgenic plants with enhanced agronomics traits.
Functional genomics of Arabidopsis
July 20, 2001In the current competitive world, agricultural and forestry industries must rely on genetic improvements to important kinds of plants to maintain an international lead. Arabidopsis is an organism which has been studied, genetically, and has many similarities to important crops such as rice, wheat, corn and canola. John Coleman, Nick Provart, and Peter McCourt of the University of Toronto created a worldwide resource for plant genomic research, setting up some of the basic tools that will enable genetic research on Arabidopsis. This will lead to a deep understanding of many aspects of plant growth that will be important for genetic improvements such as salt- and drought-tolerance, pest resistance, increased productivity, and enhanced protein content. They have made these three experimental tools available to plant researchers all over the world, speeding up research and putting Canada on the map for plant researchers everywhere to appreciate.