University of Saskatchewan

Purpose

Legal production and sale of Cannabis is a relatively new, but valuable, industry in Canada. This sector is still maturing and has not benefitted from a long history of research into plant-pathogen interactions. The presence of pathogens as well as the potential presence of pesticides are important health concerns for a product destined for human consumption. By sequencing gene expression products produced by both the plant and pathogen early in the infection process we will catalogue processes implicated in the infection process. The Todd lab will be working directly with the NRC in establishing and standardizing protocols for Botrytis cineria infection of Cannabis sativa. Once established, the two groups will work together establish conditions and time points to sample for RNA extraction, sequencing, and data analysis. Identifying some of the basic early molecular interactions between Cannabis and Botrytis will set the stage for further research with a long-term goal of understanding this process to identify targets for Cannabis crop improvement