Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

There are urgent environmental and economic pressures to develop renewable sources of energy. Biofuels represent an important component of such renewable energy provided that production does not compromise land use for food production and production costs are kept low. Biodiesel derived from the triacylglycerols of oilseed crops is preferred over starch or sugar-derived ethanol because it has higher energy per unit volume and processing costs are low. Canada is a world leader in the production of oilseed crops and could be a major supplier of biodiesel. However, a barrier to a more widespread adoption of biodiesel is associated with the cost and limited supply of seed oils. To overcome this barrier oilseed yields need to be improved. One approach to enhancing oil yield would be to alter the partitioning of carbon in seeds to favour the synthesis of oil over storage protein and seed carbohydrate. Such an approach requires knowledge of the genetic determinants governing seed development and reserve accumulation in seeds. We propose to collaborate with industry(Linneaus Plant Sciences), government (NRC Plant Biotechnology Institute) and a French research team with expertise in seed biology to identify regulatory genes that control the production of seed oil relative to other seed storage reserves. These genes will be used to engineer novel varieties of Camelina sativa, an emerging oilseed crop for production of alternative oils, with enhanced seed oil yield. Such varieties will be valuable not only for the production of biodiesel, but also oils for diverse industrial applications.