A team from The University of Western Ontario is one of two groups of Ontario researchers awarded nearly $8 million in funding for environmental genomic research from the Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI).
Western’s team, led by Biology professors Miodrag Grbic and Vojislava Grbic, and Law professor Mark Perry, who is also cross-appointed to the Department of Computer Science, is developing solutions for pest control in the vegetable production industry.
Grbic’s team has a total budget of $6.3 million to create tools and technologies that stem the devastating damage spider mites cause to the $550-million greenhouse vegetable industry in Ontario. Currently insects and mites destroy 13 per cent of all potential crops.
By understanding the interactions between plants and spider mite genes, the team hopes to identify genes that confer pest-resistance, and insert them into some of the 1,000-plus plant species on which these pests commonly feed, making them more robust and reliable food producers.
The researchers are also looking to develop tools that turn off pest-specific genes, opening up a new tool for biological pest control and reducing these pests’ ability to reproduce.
“Creating new, environmentally sound approaches that lessen growers’ reliance on pesticides while effectively reducing crop damage from pests will help increase Canada’s competitiveness, lead to more sustainable crop production, and help preserve our natural environment,” says Miodrag Grbic. “The tremendous scope and power of genomics research is enabling us to build on our previous work and help Ontario to continue its leadership in this area.”
The project, called Genomics in Agricultural Pest Management, includes collaborators from Spain, Belgium, France and the United States.
“These projects exemplify the broad applicability of genomics technology and methodology to create research resources that serve a very broad spectrum across life sciences, and which create the potential for breakthrough approaches to societal needs and economic opportunities,” says Christian Burks, President and CEO of OGI. “We look forward to working with Ontario’s outstanding scientific leadership on these projects as well as with their national and international collaborators.”
The project is expected to begin in the fall, 2009.