Subventions et des contributions :

Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier (2017-2018 à 2018-2019).

Increasing the productivity of agricultural fields is essential to secure our existing food supplies and provide forx000D
the growing world population. In this context, agrochemicals play an essential role in both increasing cropx000D
yields and enhancing crop defenses against environmental stresses such as drought, pests, or diseases.x000D
However, the application of existing chemical pesticides and fertilizers can lead to potential downstreamx000D
environmental issues and rarely can effectively support plant survival against abiotic stresses (e.g. heat,x000D
drought), an issue becoming more critical to address as a result of climate change and the correspondingx000D
increase in extreme weather worldwide. In response, Suncor has developed a new category of plant immunex000D
aids which activate a plant's native immune system to induce a range of beneficial responses, including greaterx000D
resistance to both pest-based and weather-based stresses. However, current formulations of the immune aidsx000D
have relatively low availability to plants and degrade rapidly in sunlight, thus requiring frequent and costlyx000D
administration to have a positive effect. Initial interactions with the lab of Dr. Todd Hoare at McMasterx000D
University have led to new formulations of these immune aids into a variety of nanoparticle-based controlledx000D
release vehicles that have shown initial promise in improving the availability of the immune aid to plants.x000D
However, the light stability of the immune aids remains too low for effective commercialization. As such, thex000D
proposed research aims to develop a new bacterial assay to assess the functional light-induced degradation ofx000D
the immune aids under different conditions and develop new nanoparticle-based formulations that can protectx000D
the immune aid from photodegradation, either by co-encapsulating conventional antioxidants used in foods orx000D
by modifying the chemistry of the nanoparticle-based controlled release vehicles. Successful optimization ofx000D
such a formulation will lead to significantly prolonged activity of the immune aid, allowing farmers to apply itx000D
less frequently (and thus more inexpensively) without compromising the positive biological effects; such ax000D
result would substantially increase the potential for commercialization.