Research Project

Summary

Canadians depend on agricultural plants for food, on trees for housing and paper products, and, increasingly, on distillation products from many plants for energy. In the current, competitive world, the ability of agriculture and forestry to maintain an international lead depends more and more on genetic improvements to important kinds of plants. But there are so many types of significant plants; how can we choose the best ones to study?

A tried and true answer is to work with a simple plant that can represent all others. This project team and other plant researchers around the world have chosen Arabidopsis – a small plant that has attracted much genetic study and resembles major crops such as canola, corn, rice, and wheat.

The team set up some basic tools for genetic research on Arabidopsis. The resulting understanding of plant growth should lead to such genetic improvements as tolerance of drought and salt, and resistance to pests, greater productivity, and more protein content.  The team established three kinds of experimental tools. First, it created over 10,000 gene mutations using advanced genetic methods; this team and many others will apply these to study how plant growth reacts to adverse environmental conditions and which genes determine plant survival. Second, the team set up a state-of-the-art technology called DNA micro-arrays that allowed it to measure which plant genes are active under many different growth conditions. Third, it provided high-performance computers and software that allowed the team to deposit and analyse its genetic results. The team makes these three experimental tools available to plant researchers all over the world, speeding up research and putting Canada on the map in this area.

Fast Facts

• Highlighted outcome: A worldwide resource for plant genomic research.
• Number of research personnel: 10.
• Number of peer reviewed publications: 10 plus 9 indirectly.
• Resources generated: 10,000 gene mutations and plants with potential new characteristics, DNA micro-array facility, high-speed computer capability, gene database, and analysis software.
• Number of public outreach events: Several references and appearances in newspapers and television news.

Notable Publications
Ilic K , Berleth T ,  and Provart NJ.  2004. BlastDigester - a web-based program for efficient CAPS marker design.  Trends in Genetics 20: 280-3.

Scarpella E , Francis P , and Berleth T. 2004. Stage specific markers define early stages of procambium in Arabidopsis leaves and correlate termination of higher-order vein formation with mesophyll differentiation. Development 131: 3445-55.

Austin R , Provart NJ , Sacadura NT , Nugent KG , Babu M , and Saville BJ. 2004. A comparative genomic analysis of ESTs from Ustilago maydis. Funct Integr Genomics 4(4): 207-18.

Provart NJ and, McCourt P. 2004. Systems approaches to understanding cell signaling and gene regulation. Curr Opin Plant Biol. 7: 605-9.

Donaldson S and Coleman  JR. 2004. Comparison of transcript profiles following short term exposure of Arabidopsis to elevated CO2 or glucose. Progress Photosyn 4: 329-32