Project Description
This three years project aims to develop the optimal media formulations and transformation process to generate the highest value cannabis plants in the market. We have examined the response of different cannabis genotypes to tissue culture media formations to develop tissue culture media formulations tailored for cannabis genotypes. We will be evaluating upon flowering of the rooted clones of the selected tissue culture plants, flowers should have equal to or better yield and potency than traditional clone production and cultivation of cannabis plants. Another goal of this project is to develop a genetic transformation procedure for cannabis from callus and/or protoplast regeneration optimization. This protocol will be used to
increase pathogen resistance and improve quality traits like yield in cannabis plants.
Project Purpose and Resources
Intellectual Property, Societal, Economic and Industrial Relevance:
The purpose is to build and maintain a catalog of exclusive cannabis strains to support producers by providing genetically stronger, virus free, sterile plants through tissue culture propagation programs. Our focus is on increasing our clients’ crop yields and reducing their production costs. Our research will support this mission through creating IP that we can bring to the market through our research initiatives and partnerships.
Project Manager and Lead Scientist
Dr. Surender Khatodia
Partners
Scientist: Dr. Pankaj Bhowmik
Institute
National Research Council Canada, Saskatoon
Funding
NRC-IRAP
R&D Partner Bios
Klonetics Science Team
Dr. Surender Khatodia
Chief Tissue Culture Scientist, Klonetics
Faculty Position
Assistant Professor, Biotechnology, Amity University Haryana, India (2014-2017)
Academic Credentials
Background
Surender Khatodia, Ph.D. leads the scientific and technical operations of the commercial scale cannabis micropropagation at Klonetics for cannabis tissue culture gen zero clones production. He brings over 15 years of extensive experience in plant tissue culture and genomics work on various crops.
During the last five years, he has made progressive developments in optimizing the methods of pathogen eradication for clean cannabis clone production, genetic testing and germ-plasm conservation of the popular cannabis cultivars. He has coordinated cannabis genomics R&D project with NRC-IRAP and has established a cannabis analytical testing laboratory for cannabinoids, microbial and genetic analysis.
His deep passion for plant sciences escalated while working on hairy root cultures of medicinally important plants for enhancing secondary metabolites production. Surender obtained his Ph.D. in Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, for the development of transgenic Bt chickpea plants and went on to teach Biotechnology at University. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Plant Sciences at University of Saskatchewan before starting as a consulting specialist for the cannabis tissue culture and regulatory compliance. His academic background is centred around genetic improvement of plants for sustainable crop production by using biotechnological tools like tissue culture, molecular biology, and genome editing as evident with various scientific publications, co-edited books.
Scientific Publications
https://jcannabisresearch.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42238-020-00036-y
This three-year project aims to develop the optimal media formulations and transformation process to generate the highest-value cannabis plants in the market. We have examined the response of different cannabis genotypes to tissue culture media formations to develop tissue culture media formulations tailored for cannabis genotypes. We will be evaluating upon flowering of the rooted clones of the selected tissue culture plants, flowers should have equal to or better yield and potency than traditional clone production and cultivation of cannabis plants.
Another goal of this project is to develop a genetic transformation procedure for cannabis from callus and/orprotoplast regeneration optimization. This protocol will be used to increase pathogen resistance and improve quality traits like yield in cannabis plants.
Abstract: First, the project will focus on the genetic structure of a subset of Klonetic's extensive germplasm collection by conducting a large genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) experiment and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data analyses. Second, the project will perform phenotypic analyses at the CLS (Canadian Light Source) to quantify important biochemical and agronomic traits associated with trichomes and seed formation.
Description: Due to longstanding restrictions, our basic knowledge of Cannabis is far behind other crops (Clarke and Merlin 2017). Hence, many of the claims made by the industry regarding the various applications of Cannabis require advanced molecular, pharmaceutical, and agronomic research, all of which require an in-depth understanding of its evolutionary history, genetic structure, biochemical variability, and reproductive diversity. This research proposed here provides a roadmap combining modern genomics tools to establish a solid business model for cannabis genetic improvement to cater to future needs of the medical and recreational market in Canada.
Abstract: An integrative research project aimed at studying the pollen generated by a core set of Cannabis accessions is proposed The project will develop phenotypic analyses of pollen at the CLS whereby both surface and internal structures can be qualified and quantified. The project will focus on identifying X and Y chromosomes carrying pollen, as this could be used in a sorting procedure for the directed breeding of female plants.
Description: Medicinal cannabis is a treasure trove of phytochemicals with more than 110 different cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids. Major phytoactive compounds of interest are delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) and cannabidolic acid (CBDA) for their medicinal effects. Varying profiles of THC, CBD, and terpenes with a range of 20-30% total cannabinoids in cannabis products provide numerous opportunities for treating different diseases (medicinal applications) and various organoleptic properties in combination with THC (recreational applications). Most of the traditional cannabis breeding in North America used hybrid or varietal approaches, whereas little efforts have been made to apply modern genomics tools and breeding methods for cannabis genetic improvement and innovation.
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