PROJECT TITLE: Effect of pasture type and dietary fatty acid supplementation on production performance, meat quality, energy metabolism of ruminant livestock
Internship location in Canada:
Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC),
Truro, Nova Scotia
Internship Duration:
24 months
Contact: Yousef A. Papadopoulos
Email: PapadopoulosY@agr.gc.ca
Phone: 1-902-896-2452
Mailing address: 100-5 Haley Institute, 58 RIVER ROAD, P.O. BOX 550, TRURO, NS, CANADA B2N 5E3
Website: http://www.agr.gc.ca/science
A – The Research Team
Supervisor of the student: Yousef A. Papadopoulos, Ph.D, MBA., P.AG., Research Scientist, Innovation and Renewal
The Science Director: Dr. Peter Hicklenton, Crop Production Systems, Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Kentville, NS
Other AAFC scientist: Dr. John Duynisveld, Nappan, Nova Scotia
University partners: Drs. Kathleen Glover and Alan Fredeen, Nova Scotia Agricultural College
Industry partners: Sheep Producers Association of Nova Scotia, Cattleman Association of Nova Scotia and Dairy Farmers Association of Nova Scotia
B – Project Description: objective, duration, value of the project for Canada and China, Outcome expected
Both in Canada and China, beef and sheep meat are typically characterized as having high saturated fatty acid content. Altering the lipid content and fatty acid composition of foods to increase the proportion of beneficial polyunsaturated fatty acids such as CLA, DHA and EPA is an effective way to help consumers meet their nutritional requirements and increase market appeal and product sales. Forage-based feeding systems are central to ruminant livestock production in Nova Scotia and China and increasing legume content has been demonstrated to improve stand and animal productivity. Pasturing also offers the opportunity to increase the CLA and omega-3 fatty acid content of meat and in bovine, red clover has been shown to be more effective than other legume and grass species. This research will compare two pasture types (red clover and bluegrass) for effects on ruminant livestock production and will also consider effects of dietary supplementation of CLA (derived from sunflower oil) and long chain omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) or incomparison to a source of saturated fat (Megalac) during the finishing stages of production. Growth of livestock, feed intake, carcass composition, muscle and adipose fatty acid composition and energy metabolism will be studied. This project will provide producers with relevant information on the expected changes in fatty acid composition of muscle and adipose tissue and the carcass composition (leanness) when livestock graze red clover or grass-based pastures. This project also increases scientific knowledge in this area particularly as it considers the potential interaction between pasture species and dietary fatty acid supplement during finishing, for which very limited information is available.
C – Internship: Describe the internship program, the expected student qualifications, and the benefits to student
The student will be expected to participate in the design and the execution of this grazing/feeding trial. In addition to assisting the research farm staff in the evaluation of animal performance over two grazing seasons and during the fall feeding, the student will be responsible for evaluating animal metabolic status and carcass quality by collecting and analyzing blood samples and animal tissues. Furthermore, the student will be responsible for the statistical analysis of the above data and drafting at least two scientific manuscripts. The student qualification should include good command of the English language, knowledge of animal husbandry, capability to conduct the above biochemical assays and able to work with ruminant livestock. The student will work with a dynamic group of researchers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in a research and educational institution which embraces the training of new researchers from Canada and international destinations such as China.
PROJECT ID: 2009_Ottawa_01
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PROJECT TITLE: Breeding Corn for Short Season Areas and Disease Resistance
Internship location in Canada:
Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (ECORC),
Ottawa, Ontario
Internship Duration:
12 months
Contact: Lana Reid
Email: reidl@agr.gc.ca
Phone: 1-613-759-1619
Mailing address: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Eastern Cereal & Oilseed Research Centre,
Building 99-CEF, 960 CARLING AVENUE, OTTAWA, ON, CANADA K1A 0C6
Website: http://www.agr.gc.ca/science
A – The Research Team
Supervisor of the student: Dr. Lana Reid, Sustainable Production Systems
The Science Director: Dr. Lianne Dwyer
Other AAFC scientist: Dr. Xiaoyang Zhu
University partners:
Industry partners:
B – Project Description: objective, duration, value of the project for Canada and China, Outcome expected
To allow a Chinese student an opportunity to work in the Canadian corn breeding industry with the intent of facilitating the exchange of corn germplasm and technology between Canada and China. Dr. Reid recently visited (June 2008) several universities in China and determined that many breeders would like to send their students to Dr. Reid’s program to initiate the establishment of greater research co-operation between their institute and ECORC. Initial co-operative projects will involve the evaluation of corn germplasm from China in Canada and vice versa. Some molecular characterization of the germplasm will also be done if the suitable student candidate is accepted.
The value of this project for Canada and China: Increased corn germplasm and corn breeding technology exchange. Both countries will obtain new sources of earliness and disease resistance. At ECORC, the student will learn how to evaluate corn for proper maturity and resistance to 8 different diseases.
The expected outcome: Increased co-operation between Canada and China for corn inbred and hybrid development.
C – Internship: Describe the internship program, the expected student qualifications, and the benefits to student
In the summer and fall, the student will work in the field to learn corn breeding and obtain a greater understanding of North American, especially Canadian, corn germplasm sources. The student will also be evaluating Chinese corn germplasm that we have recently obtained from universities in China. The student can participate in a corn disease survey in Ontario and Quebec, including visits to official corn trials and some industry partners. In the winter and spring, the student will work in the lab on the maintenance and culturing of 8 different diseases of corn and on the interpretation of scientific data collected in the field. The student will return to China with a greater understanding of Canadian corn breeding and knowledge on how to integrate this understanding into improving corn in China.
Candidate students must have some basic understanding of plant genetics and breeding. Preference will be given to students attending a Chinese university with a corn breeding program.
Preferred internship period : April 2009 to March 2010
PROJECT ID: 2009_Ottawa_02
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PROJECT TITLE: Identification of genes contributing to resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) of wheat
Internship location in Canada:
Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (ECORC),
Ottawa, Ontario
Internship Duration:
12-24 months
Contact: Thérèse Ouellet
Email: ouellettr@agr.gc.ca
Phone: 1-613-759-1658
Mailing address: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Eastern Cereal & Oilseed Research Centre,
Supervisor of the student: Dr. Thérèse Ouellet, Bioproducts and Bioprocesses
The Science Director: Dr. Lianne Dwyer
Other AAFC scientist: Dr. Linda Harris, Dr. Gopal Subramaniam and Dr. George Fedak
University partners:
Industry partners: Ontario Wheat Producers and Marketing Board
B – Project Description: objective, duration, value of the project for Canada and China, Outcome expected
Gene expression profiling using microarray has been performed on many pairs of susceptible and resistant varieties of wheat. This has generated a list of candidate genes that need to be further tested to determine which ones correlate with resistance to FHB in segregating population (resistance markers) and which ones directly contribute to resistance by their biological function. Over a one year period, many candidate genes would be tested using a range of molecular biology approaches. FHB is one of the most economically important diseases affecting wheat in temperate regions of the globe, including Canada and China. Identification of genes directly contributing to FHB resistance would be invaluable to the breeding effort of both countries to improve FHB resistance in wheat and other cereal crops. This is a priority area for Canada.
C – Internship: Describe the internship program, the expected student qualifications, and the benefits to student
Candidate students are expected to have some experience of basic plant molecular biology techniques (eg. extraction of nucleic acids, RT-PCR, cDNA synthesis, cloning, and plant growth). He/she will receive training in plant genomics approaches (microarray data analysis, bioinformatics analyses, quantitative PCR, testing of candidate genes in a wheat transient assay or in a model system for contribution to FHB resistance).
PROJECT ID: 2009_Ottawa_03
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PROJECT TITLE: Deriving crop information from multi-frequency radar data
Internship location in Canada:
Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (ECORC),
Ottawa, Ontario
Internship Duration:
24 months
Contact: Heather McNairn
Email: mcnairnh@agr.gc.ca
Phone: 1-613-759-1815
Mailing address: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Eastern Cereal & Oilseed Research Centre,
Supervisor of the student: Dr. Heather McNairn, Environmental Health
The Science Director: Dr. Lianne Dwyer
Other AAFC scientist: Dr. Jiali Shang, Dr. Xianfeng Jiao (PDF from China), Catherine Champagne, Dr. Elizabeth Pattey
University partners:
Industry partners:
B – Project Description: objective, duration, value of the project for Canada and China, Outcome expected
The objectives of this project are to:
1) develop methods to map crop type and estimate crop acreages in China and Canada using the integration of multi-frequency (X and C-Band) satellite radar data; and
2) develop methods to estimate Leaf Area Index (a biophysical descriptor of crop growth) using physical radar models. The method will make use of the crop maps derived from objective 1.
AAFC-Research Branch (Ottawa) has ongoing research collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture (Beijing, China) in several capacities.
1) Dr. Xianfeng Jiao is on leave from MOA and is working with the AAFC research team in Ottawa as a Visiting Scientist in Government Labs. She has been assisting with a number of radar-related projects.
2) In 2008, AAFC and MOA signed a letter of cooperative arrangement for a project entitled “Agriculture Land Use Mapping Using Advanced Radar Technology”. The signatory for MOA was Mr. Ming Zhu, President, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Engineering, MOA.
3) AAFC and MOA submitted a joint proposal to the German Space Agency to acquire X-Band satellite data over sites in Canada and China. Data collection began in 2008. The site in China is located at Xuwen, Guangdong Province.
4) Dr. McNairn and Dr. Shang, at the invitation of MOA, delivered seminars and training to MOA scientists in 2006 and 2007. These seminars were directed primarily to the use of radar data for agricultural applications.
Due to the breadth of collaboration in this domain, a 24-month internship would be preferred, but is negotiable.
AAFC has a number of on-going radar projects and an extensive amount of data has been collected over sites in Canada and China. An intern could accelerate the development of methods for crop acreage and crop biophysical estimation. In addition, methods already developed over Canadian sites can be evaluated and adapted to sites in China, under different cropping systems and parcel sizes. This exercise tests the adaptability and robustness of AAFC methods. Joint publications are expected.
The MOA is mandated to monitor China’s main cropping regions and is required to report on acreages planted, crop growth conditions and production estimates. National crop area estimation currently relies on the use of optical imagery. In China’s southern provinces, cloud and haze significantly impact the success of optical acquisitions. Unlike optical imagery, radar data are unaffected by these atmospheric conditions. The use of radar data (alone or in combination with optical imagery) would assist in MOA’s delivery of crop information over these sites. Canada is a leader in radar technology and method development and AAFC has several on-going projects dedicated to radar research. An intern would have an opportunity to work on radar data collected by several new advanced radar satellites, including RADARSAT-2 and TerraSAR-X. This project would provide training in radar processing and in the tools and methods to derive crop information.
By the end of the project, methods will have been developed to map crops and estimate crop acreages using C and X-Band data, over sites in China and Canada. It is also expected that a method will have been developed to estimate LAI from radar data, over Canadian sites. It is expected that LAI models developed for wheat crops in Canada will be adaptable to rice crop canopies. However, testing and adaptation of these models to sites in China will most likely be beyond the scope of this internship, given the time allotment. Joint publications in peer reviewed publications are expected.
C – Internship: Describe the internship program, the expected student qualifications, and the benefits to student
The student will be expected to have some experience in the domain of remote sensing and image processing. Experience in the use of optical data is required, and some exposure to image processing software is an asset. It is not expected that the intern have experience in radar data processing and analysis. Dr. McNairn will provide training in this domain. The student will have the opportunity to work with the most advanced radar data available, and will learn the steps in programming radar acquisitions, pre-processing and correction of radar imagery as well as classification and post-classification processing. He/she will also learn about radar modelling and inversion of radar models to estimate variables of interest. AAFC uses ArcGIS, PCI Geomatica, eCognition, see5, ENVI and matlab in the processing of remote sensing data and model development. The intern will have the opportunity to learn all of these software tools.
