Grant: Alliance Grants

The canola (Brassica napus L.) crop is continually threatened by the clubroot disease, which significantly affects canola seed quality by reducing oil content and seed weight. Growing clubroot-resistant (CR) cultivars in appropriate rotations remains the most effective solution to control this disease. However, currently available CR varieties carry a single, race-specific, dominant R gene, which cannot provide durable resistance and are easily broken down with a shift in the pathogen population. A new alternative strategy based on susceptibility (S) genes has been proposed as they have the potential to be durable in the field. Different from conventional breeding, disease resistance can be easily conferred by introducing site-specific mutations to disrupt S genes via a precise genome-editing tool. In this proposed project, we will investigate molecular and cellular mechanisms of clubroot resistance/susceptibility and identify novel S genes. Subsequently, we will utilize advanced genome editing and nanotechnology to manipulate these S genes in canola and generate transgene-free plants with enhanced clubroot resistance. This study will expedite the breeding process and, consequently, reduce the investment costs to the canola industry in the breeding of new cultivars. Eventually, the knowledge, germplasm, molecular markers and nanoparticle-mediated genome editing tools generated from this project will accelerate breeding cycles and benefit the Canadian canola industry.