Grant: Engage Grants Program
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
$25,000.00
Exploring alternative non-ionic surfactant to improve bacterial penetration in plant tissue
EF 2013-14
Résumé
Several applications in agriculture require the dispersal of liquid solution on plant tissue. Surfactants are usedto decrease surface tension in the liquid and enable a better dispersal of droplets. For example, NORACConcept INC, a Canadian company, specializes in the distribution of surfactants used as additive to pesticide orherbicides solutions. These surfactants enable the formation of micro-droplets that favor better coverage of thearea to be sprayed, thus increasing the efficiency of the active ingredients. The market of NORAC ConceptINC. is actually limited to agricultural applications.Plant molecular biology laboratories also routinely use surfactant to ease the penetration of liquid into planttissue. The gold standard surfactant used is Silwet L-77. It is used throughout the world in laboratories.However, Silwet is not distributed in Canada and its purchase in United States is attached to prohibitivecustoms fees costing up to 5 times the price of the surfactant itself. Our goal is to test a silicon-basedsurfactant, distributed by the canadian company NORAC Concept INC. as a potential replacement for SilwetL-77. The project will focus on SYLGARD 309 to produce transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Arabidopsisthaliana was the first plant to have its genome fully sequenced, and is used by thousand of laboratoriesthroughout the world to generate transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Currently, researchers use Silwet for thisapplication. However, initial testing have demonstrated that SYLGARD could also be used with someefficiency for the same application. The project will involve the quantification of the transformation efficiencyusing both surfactants (SYLGARD/Silwet). Assessment of the optimal concentration of SYLGARD to be usedwill be investigated as well as plants genotypes and bacterial strains compatibility.The objective of the project is two-fold: 1) open new markets for NORAC Concept Inc. in order to diversifytheir client portfolio and 2) improve the transformation efficiency of Arabidopsis thaliana.
Programme
Engage Grants Program
Bénéficiaire
Emplacement
Quebec, Canada
Type de bénéficiaire
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
Tel que publié
Application id
447849-2013
Name nom
Germain, Hugo
Department département
Chimie-biologie
Organization id
59
Institution établissement
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Province en
Québec
Province fr
Québec
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2013
Competition year année de concours
2013
Award amount
25000
Program id
EGP
Program name en
Engage Grants Program
Program name fr
Programme de subventions d'engagement partenariat
Group en
Research partnerships programs
Group fr
Programmes de partenariat
Committee code
1552
Committee name en
Quebec Internal Decision Committee
Committee name fr
Comité de décision interne pour le Québec
Area of application code
1200
Area of application group en
Advancement of knowledge
Area of application group fr
Avancement des connaissances
Area of application en
Advancement of knowledge
Area of application fr
Avancement des connaissances
Research subject code
4900
Research subject group en
Plant and treebiology
Research subject group fr
Biologie végétale et des arbres
Research subject en
Plant and treebiology
Research subject fr
Biologie végétale et des arbres
Partie
1
Nb partie
1
Application title
Exploring alternative non-ionic surfactant to improve bacterial penetration in plant tissue
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
Several applications in agriculture require the dispersal of liquid solution on plant tissue. Surfactants are usedto decrease surface tension in the liquid and enable a better dispersal of droplets. For example, NORACConcept INC, a Canadian company, specializes in the distribution of surfactants used as additive to pesticide orherbicides solutions. These surfactants enable the formation of micro-droplets that favor better coverage of thearea to be sprayed, thus increasing the efficiency of the active ingredients. The market of NORAC ConceptINC. is actually limited to agricultural applications.Plant molecular biology laboratories also routinely use surfactant to ease the penetration of liquid into planttissue. The gold standard surfactant used is Silwet L-77. It is used throughout the world in laboratories.However, Silwet is not distributed in Canada and its purchase in United States is attached to prohibitivecustoms fees costing up to 5 times the price of the surfactant itself. Our goal is to test a silicon-basedsurfactant, distributed by the canadian company NORAC Concept INC. as a potential replacement for SilwetL-77. The project will focus on SYLGARD 309 to produce transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Arabidopsisthaliana was the first plant to have its genome fully sequenced, and is used by thousand of laboratoriesthroughout the world to generate transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Currently, researchers use Silwet for thisapplication. However, initial testing have demonstrated that SYLGARD could also be used with someefficiency for the same application. The project will involve the quantification of the transformation efficiencyusing both surfactants (SYLGARD/Silwet). Assessment of the optimal concentration of SYLGARD to be usedwill be investigated as well as plants genotypes and bacterial strains compatibility.The objective of the project is two-fold: 1) open new markets for NORAC Concept Inc. in order to diversifytheir client portfolio and 2) improve the transformation efficiency of Arabidopsis thaliana.
