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

世界各地的一些公司采集海洋藻类(海藻)来生产液体和粉末状提取物，用于农业，以改善植物生长和作物产量。尽管经过了40多年的研究，这些海藻提取物中促进植物生长的特定化合物以及它们影响生长的机制在很大程度上仍不清楚。主要问题之一是缺乏快速和强大的生物检测系统来帮助瞄准潜在的生物活性物质。该项目将尝试开发基于细胞培养的和使用模式植物系统拟南芥和烟草的全植物生物测定，以确定海藻提取物对植物生长的特定影响。为了帮助了解这些生物活性化合物如何影响生长，将使用包括微阵列分析在内的强大的分子和生化技术来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灵敏可靠的生物测试方法来测试海藻产品的生物活性，以及关于海藻提取物中生物活性化学物质的身份和作用机理的新信息。这一结果将导致开发新的、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，一名理科硕士。一名研究生和一名博士后，为他们提供了与行业互动的独特机会。这一研究项目的结果将使加拿大海藻提取物行业能够生产持续活跃的海藻产品，从而在来自世界各地的竞争中获得竞争优势。这将导致加拿大海藻提取物的市场份额增加，并最终在加拿大创造更多的就业机会和经济活动。

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.