- Research Grants
Genome Canada and Génome Québec funding will fund a tool to detect harmful algal blooms.
Cyanobacteria bloom in a stream
Climate change and increasing urbanization are having repercussions all over the world. In Québec, lakes and rivers are not spared and there is a need for monitoring, especially with increased reports of cyanobacteria blooms.
Professor Jérôme Comte of the Eau Terre Environnement Research Centre (ETE), has received $5.4M for the RosHAB: Rapid on-site detection of harmful algal blooms. This funding from Genome Canada and Génome Québec will be spread over three years.
The announcement was made today by the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, as part of Genome Canada’s Genomics Applications Partnership Program (GAPP).
“Exposure to toxins produced by certain cyanobacteria can lead to acute and chronic health problems in humans and animals. There is an urgent need for rapid diagnostic tools to effectively detect and identify these cyanobacteria.”
Jérôme Comte, researcher specializing in microbial diversity and function.
An innovative tool for field surveillance
Conducted in partnership with the Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP) and the team of Professor Roger C. Levesque of Université Laval, this project will enable the development of an innovative metagenomic tool to monitor cyanobacteria in the field, in Québec.
It will implement field sampling and analysis procedures that will allow rapid detection in water bodies. A bioinformatics platform including a user-friendly cyanobacteria sequence database will also be implemented in the MELCCFP.
The implementation of this tool in the MELCCFP will reduce the time required to identify cyanobacteria in Québec water bodies. Results that may take up to four days to become available could now take less than 24 hours. The overall goal of the project will be to expand its use to other jurisdictions.
“Cyanobacterial blooms are sensitive to many environmental changes including nutrient influx or climate change. Even before blooms are visible, toxins can compromise the drinkability of water in affected water bodies,” explains Professor Louise Hénault-Éthier, Director of the ETE Research Centre.
“The development of molecular tools to see what is invisible to the naked eye is a major advance for the protection of Canada’s water bodies and populations, and it is perfectly in line with our Centre’s scientific programming.”
Louise Hénault-Éthier, Director of the ETE Research Centre.
A comprehensive and rapid information system to observe and predict harmful cyanobacteria blooms could be worth at least $130 million per year for Canada.
“This funding supports the unique expertise of Professor Jérôme Comte and his team in the field of environmental genomics in order to protect our health and that of our water bodies, an invaluable resource in Québec.”
Luc-Alain Giraldeau, Chief Executive Officer of INRS.
Génome Québec is pleased to highlight the performance of Québec researchers in a Canada-wide competition. This funding will help accelerate the commercialization and application of genomics.
About Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP)
GAPP was created to promote partnerships between industry end users, public end users and university researchers. This program helps to harness the potential of economics to increase the competitiveness of key sectors of the Québec economy. The GAPP is a solutions-based program that demonstrates how mature the technology is and how eager users are to accelerate its adoption. The program follows a cyclical process, launched two times per year.
For more information on the program, click here.
