Geno-hunting: creating super parents for cannabis-R1

大麻具有悠久的历史，人类将其用于各种用途，包括纤维、食品、医药和它的精神活性。尽管它在经济、医学和社会上具有重要意义，但由于长期禁药的历史，缺乏严格的研究。不可否认，大麻行业从育种和遗传、种植、加工和采后的几乎所有方面都缺乏以经验为基础的最佳做法和优化的方案。来自近亲交配过程的稳定品种为大麻种植者提供了一个独特的机会，不仅可以生产统一的产品，还可以探索大麻基因的新组合，以开发抗病能力、新的味道和香味、改变大麻素水平和提高总产量。在这里，我们的目标是1)表征大麻关键性状的遗传基础，为“等位基因挖掘”和基因组学辅助育种打开大门，以及2)通过采用新开发的基因组学工具在培育大麻自交系和纯种的育种计划中迅速将研究转化为切实的好处。这将有助于确保加拿大在大麻研究方面保持领先地位，并朝着从克隆繁殖和栽培战略向种子系统过渡的长期目标迈进。

Cannabis sativa L. has a long history of human use for a variety of applications including fibre, food, medicine, and for its psychoactive properties. Despite its economic, medicinal, and societal importance, there is a lack of rigorous research due to the long history of prohibition. Scarcity of empirically based best practices and optimized protocols for almost all aspects of the cannabis industry ranging from breeding and genetics, cultivation, processing, and postharvest is undeniable. Stabilized cultivars derived from the inbreeding process represent a unique opportunity for cannabis growers to not only produce uniform products but also explore new combinations of cannabis genetics to develop disease resistance, new flavours and aromas, alter cannabinoid levels, and boost total yields. Here, we aim to 1) characterize genetic basis of key traits in cannabis to open the door for "allele mining" and genomics-assisted breeding, and 2) rapidly translate research into tangible benefits through the adoption of newly developed genomics tools in breeding programs for development of inbred lines and pure seeds in cannabis. This will contribute to ensuring Canada remains at the forefront of cannabis research and move toward a long-term goal of transitioning from clonal propagation and cultivation strategies to a seed-based system.