Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

Canada is a world leader in the production of the two key oilseed crops Canola and linseed flax. Despite their significant contributions to the Canadian economy, the processing of both crops demonstrates sub-optimal use of the biological material: oil is produced through the crushing of seeds with the remaining seed hulls being largely disposed of as waste by-products. We propose to enhance the economic value of these key oilseed crops by converting these waste hulls to valuable co-products through the production of novel bioproducts in the seed coat epidermal ceils. These mucilage secretory cells (MSCs) produce massive quantities of pectinaceous mucilage that is released following hydration, making these cells excellent biofactories from which novel products can be easily isolated. In order to harness these biofactories, we will first test and optimize chromoprotein targeting to the MSCs in Arabidopsis, then express the proteins in Canola and linseed flax in collaboration with Performance Plants and Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada, respectively. These chromoprotein constructs will have direct application as an easily visible marker for detecing adventitious presence of transgenic seeds in non-transgenic lots, an important biosafety concern. Our experiments will include the identification and construction of seed coat-specific promoters that will serve as a resource for the research community for tissue-specific expression and containment of products within the seed coat. Our work will support the bioeconomy and Canada's current research priorities through providing a platform for the production of novel co-products in key biorefinery crops. Finally, this collaboration between academic, industrial and government research laboratories will lead to the training of personnel who will be well-poised to make significant contributions to the bioeconomy through the pursuit of jobs in research, industry or public policy.