Dr. Xander Wang, Associate Professor, School of Climate Change and Adaptation, UPEI, reveals how gene-sequencing data is being collected to identify spud varieties on the Island that are both potato wart-resistant and resilient to climate change.
“While immediate actions have been put in place to mitigate the risk of spread of potato wart for the time being, finding ways to minimize the risk of occurrence of potato wart in PEI from a climate change perspective for the long term is a top research priority,” said Wang. “In particular, a changing climate with more favourable weather conditions—a cool spring followed by a rainy summer—can be conducive to potato disease development. But the changing climate may bring more unfavourable weather conditions—long-lasting droughts, for example—for potato production. Therefore, it is extremely important to explore both climate-resilient and wart-resistant potato varieties that are suitable for the changing climate of PEI.” – Dr. Xander Wang, UPEI
Genome Atlantic gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through Genome Canada, as well as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the provincial governments of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.
Genome Atlantic is one of 7 Genome Centres in Canada that are part of the Genome Canada Enterprise. This network encourages collaboration, with each centre focusing on the needs of their respective regions.
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WE FOCUS ON CLIENT LED SOLUTIONS.
BRING US AND IDEA AND WE’LL HELP YOU GET IT INTO ACTION.
WE FOCUS ON CLIENT LED SOLUTIONS.
BRING US AND IDEA AND WE’LL HELP YOU GET IT INTO ACTION.
