Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Climate change is putting unprecedented pressure on the sustainability of crop and food production systems, as well as natural resources in general, to meet global demands. Canada is highly exposed to the climate challenge, but has the potential for global leadership in adapting production systems through science and innovation. Scientists must develop a better understanding of the impacts of climate change on crop and plant physiology and ecology, and provide farmers and other stakeholders with adaptation and mitigation strategies for sustainable high-value crop, forest and food production. This proposal requests funding support for the purchase of a single-quadrupole mass spectrometer (MS) for analyzing small metabolites in plants, foods and beverages, and bioproducts. The MS will be combined with an Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography system (UHPLC) that is already available, and that, in combination with the MS will be used by the applicants in metabolomics research to identify and quantify small molecules (e.g., primary and secondary metabolites such as sugars, organic acids, phenolics, etc.) in crops (e.g., grapevines, raspberries), forest trees (e.g., spruces, pines), medicinal plants, foods and beverages, and in microbiological and bioengineered production systems (e.g., fermentations). This equipment is urgently needed to support more than a dozen ongoing and anticipated future research projects by the applicants. Several NSERC-funded and other research projects are currently at risk of being significantly impacted due to the lack of instrument capacity to perform high-throughput MS analysis. This issue has become acute due to the decommission of older equipment. The requested MS will be used by Castellarin, Yang, and Measday (Land and Food Systems, LFS) and Bohlmann (Michael Smith Laboratories, MSL) to i) understand crop responses to climate change, ii) support the genomic selection for climate adapted crops and forest trees, iii) develop novel plant-derived anti-diabetic compounds, iv) develop innovative technologies and advanced materials to improve the safety, sustainability, and resilience of agricultural and food systems, and v) identify wild yeast strains that the wine industry can adopt for terroir driven wines. The need for this equipment is urgent as older-generation equipment that was previously used by the applicants is out of service and no longer supported with parts or repairs by the manufacture. The applicants' research projects are funded by NSERC DG, the CRC Program, Genome Canada, and other sources. The research conducted with the requested equipment will provide critical knowledge to support Canada's international research and economic leadership by developing strategies to optimize production and improve quality of crops, forest, foods, and beverages. This instrument will be a crucial resource for the training of hundreds of current and future trainees, over the next decade in the LFS, MSL, and UBC.