Indexing and enhancing bioactivities of seaweed and seaweed products for use in agriculture

索引和增强农业用海藻和海藻产品的生物活性

• 批准号: 459260-2013
• 负责人: Prithiviraj, Balakrishnan
• 金额: $ 2.47万
• 依托单位: Dalhousie University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=576032
• 关键词: Indexing; enhancing; bioactivities; seaweed; products

A number of companies around the world harvest marine algae (seaweeds) to produce liquid and powdered extracts that are used in agriculture to improve plant growth and crop yield. Despite over 40 years of study, the specific compounds in these seaweed extracts that improve plant growth and the mechanisms by which they influence growth remain largely unknown. One of the major problems is the lack of rapid and robust bioassay systems to assist in targeting potential bioactives. This project will attempt to develop cell culture based and whole plant bioassays using model plant systems Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana tabacum to determine the specific effects of seaweed extracts on plant growth. To help understand how these biologically active compounds influence growth, powerful molecular and biochemical techniques including microarray analysis will be used to determine which genes in the plant are influenced by application of seaweed extracts. This research will generate both a suite of sensitive reliable bioassays to test the biological activity of seaweed products and new information on the identity and mechanism of action of the bioactive chemicals in seaweed extracts. The results will lead to development of new and more effective seaweed-based agricultural products and new export markets. Further, this project will train two undergraduate students, one M.Sc. graduate student and a post-doctoral fellow providing them with a unique opportunity to interact with industry. The outcome from this research project will position Canadian seaweed extract industry to manufacture consistently active seaweed products giving a competitive edge over competition from around the world. This will lead to increased market share for Canadian seaweed extracts and ultimately generating more jobs and economic activity in Canada.

世界各地的许多公司收获海藻（海藻）生产液体和粉末提取物，用于农业，以提高植物生长和作物产量。尽管经过40多年的研究，这些海藻提取物中改善植物生长的特定化合物及其影响生长的机制在很大程度上仍然未知。其中一个主要问题是缺乏快速和强大的生物测定系统，以帮助靶向潜在的生物活性物质。本项目将尝试使用模式植物系统拟南芥和烟草来开发基于细胞培养的全植物生物测定，以确定海藻提取物对植物生长的具体影响。为了帮助了解这些生物活性化合物如何影响生长，将使用强大的分子和生物化学技术，包括微阵列分析，以确定植物中哪些基因受到海藻提取物的影响。这项研究将产生一套敏感可靠的生物测定方法来测试海藻产品的生物活性，并提供有关海藻提取物中生物活性化学物质的身份和作用机制的新信息。其结果将导致开发新的和更有效的海藻农产品和新的出口市场。此外，该项目将培养两名本科生，一名硕士研究生和一名博士后研究员，为他们提供与行业互动的独特机会。 该研究项目的成果将使加拿大海藻提取物行业能够生产持续活性的海藻产品，从而在来自世界各地的竞争中具有竞争优势。这将增加加拿大海藻提取物的市场份额，并最终在加拿大创造更多的就业机会和经济活动。