Getting a leg up on blackleg

Aug 30, 2022

New genomic research from Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) could give agronomists a leg up in the fight against blackleg in canola.

Blackleg (Leptosphaeria maculans) is a severe fungal disease of canola plants, and with canola generating about one-quarter of all farm crop receipts in Canada, it is a serious threat to producers.

The new research was led by AAFC’s Dr. Fengqun Yu and her team of scientists at AAFC’s research and development centre in Saskatoon. The team recently completed the first large-scale resequencing of the blackleg pathogen.

Blackleg was first discovered in northeast Saskatchewan in 1975. The first sequencing was done by French and Australian scientists more than a decade ago. But while those efforts created a useful reference genome, they focused only on islolates collected in France.

“Our work focuses on sequencing Canadian isolates,” says Yu. “We collected isolates from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta over about two decades. We really wanted to look at the whole picture; at the genetic variation in the isolates across the Prairies.”

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Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?