b"Marcus Samuel and Sabine Scandola have identified a key protein in canola thats involved in the pollination process.Why CANOLA Needs an UpgradeNew discoveries have the potential to boost canola breeding well beyond its impressive achievements to date. Treena Hein IN LIGHT OFthe ongoing trade dispute10 years showed a drastic drop in thewild and land races, and the screen-with China, its important to note thatgenetic diversityand missing pro- ing of cultivar genetics. canola is an undisputed Canadiangress in grain yield growthamongThe other main research avenue is success story. Many across the agri- the major crop plants such as wheat,the development of molecular tool-culture world would consider whatrice, maize and canola due to thekits such as the apomixis (a form of has already been achieved in breed- breeding focus on herbicide resist- asexual seed production) into classic ing canola traits related to crop pro- ance and yield, he says. breeding schemes.duction and end uses as legendary.Just 15 crops provide roughly But canolas story is far from over,90% of the world's food, and thoseTaking Sex out of the Equationand thats thanks to some new bio- face a genetic bottleneck, makingMau and his team have success-chemistry research developments.them very vulnerable for pandemicfully demonstrated the transfer In fact, according to Marcuspests. On the other hand, the worldof apomixis into a model plant, Samuel, an associate professor andpopulation is steadily growing. Nowand they have received $625,000 director of the BiSci Greenhousewe need another agricultural revo- from Saskatchewans Agriculture at the University of Calgary, with- lutionor some say an evolutionDevelopment Fund to proceed with out new science, canola yields will which means the development ofdoing the same in canola.remain stagnant.disruptive, groundbreaking methodsApomixis, explains Mau, is a We have currently reached thein order to avoid genetic bottlenecksfemale trait that results in all prog-maximum potential of the existingin our crop plants and [to achieve]eny of a plant being clones of their technology, he explains. Major dis- improvement of the genetic gain inmother. So, while apomixis does not coveries and translation [of these dis- grain yield. have an influence on what specific coveries into breeding] are requiredMau says two main crop sciencetraits are bred, he says, it allows their to further increase the yield potentialresearch avenues have been the focusfixation in future generations. or sustain yield under challengingduring the last few years, one beingIt also allows for the combination conditions. so-called Gene Bank 2.0 projectsof novel traits (e.g. from wild acces-Martin Mau, a post-doctoralaround the world.sions or land races) with traits from fellow in the department of SeedThese involve digitizing (input- elite cultivars without losing a plants and Developmental Biology at theting data into storage for later access/ basic trait set. Global Institute for Food Security atsharing) the genetic and phenotypicCanola happens to be a crop the University of Saskatchewan, alsoinformation in germplasm collections.thats threatened by various dis-points to yield stagnation as an issue.This will lead to improved breed- eases (blackleg, clubroot, downy Utilizing the methods establisheding strategies by enabling bettermildew) and its been difficult, up to during the Green Revolution of theprediction models of trait heritabilitythis point, to breed a single variety 1960s for many decades now, the lastrates, as well as the incorporation ofresistant to all of them. Incorporating 38GERMINATION.CA NOVEMBER 2019"