Professor S. Jabaji, Plant Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University.

Our second project focuses on plant breeding for powdery mildew resistance in cannabis in collaboration with McGill University Professor Suha Jabaji. Powdery mildew is a foliar fungal disease that attacks most cannabis varieties and is considered a problem in the industry. Plant yields and profitability can be severely undermined by pathogen infections. Powdery mildew is challenging to deal with, and early detection can prevent crop losses and improve overall yields. The proposed research project will apply novel molecular breeding approaches to obtain durable and broad–spectrum resistance to powdery mildew. The project will characterize the susceptibility genes (S-genes) in cannabis varieties and disable their functions through reverse genetics approaches, which should confer durable disease resistance. The development of cannabis varieties with improved resistance to powdery mildew will benefit the cannabis industry by reducing and/or eliminating the need to use fungicides and by producing superior yields. This project was awarded funding by the MITACS accelerate program for three years and is currently supported by post-doctoral fellow Dr. Ines Ben Rejeb.