Grant: Canada Research Chairs

Plants play a pivotal role in Canada's economy, which is to a great extent dependent on agriculture and forestry. However, the stability of our resource base is increasingly at risk from stresses intensified by climate change. As part of the evolutionary strategies that plants developed to adapt to land, they produce lipid barriers that accumulate outside the cells and cover plant surface tissues. These barriers are known as the plant cuticle that shields all the aerial primary organs, and suberin deposited on the cell walls of tree bark, roots, seed coats and tubers. Extracellular lipids are vital to plants, protecting them from drought, high salinity, high temperatures, and pathogens. Chemically, they are composed of waxes and lipid polymers, large molecules made from linked fatty acids. Dr. Molina uses a combination of genomic, molecular genetic, and biochemical approaches to address complex questions on the biosynthesis, structure and functions of plant lipid polymers and waxes. This knowledge is crucial to devise innovative strategies to improve crop drought tolerance, prevent premature seed germination, and increase seed viability when stored for extended periods of time. Thus, this basic research on protective lipid barriers is key to effectively solve applied problems in forestry and agriculture, including food quality and crop yield. It will also allow the development of plants and microorganisms that produce large amounts of biopolymers or their precursors as sources of energy and bio-based industrial chemicals and polymers. Students and other personnel involved in this research program will develop critical skills of value to Canada's emerging and priority economic sectors.