About Us
Bio-inoculants for the promotion of nutrient use efficiency and crop resiliency in Canadian agriculture (BENEFIT) is a Genome Canada funded research program that aims to develop bio-inoculants to improve crop growth in Canadian agriculture. Using a genomics-driven approach, we aim to identify and optimize microbes from Canadian soils for use with Canadian cereal, brassica, and legume crops.
Our Mission
We adopt an open science approach to identifying and optimizing microbial inoculants for Canadian varieties of wheat, barley, canola, kale, bean, and pea.
Learn more about our mission and valuesResearch Overview
We are: (i) establishing and sequencing a collection of agricultural soil microbes; (ii) characterizing and adaptively improving the PGPR and industrially-relevant traits of the isolate; (iii) characterizing plant transcriptional responses to microbes; (iv) studying the economics and environmental impacts of inoculants; (v) and more.
Learn more about our researchPublications
Research findings are published in a variety of venues and are generally freely available to be read by anyone who is interested. All results are made publicly available in a timely fashion.
See the full list of publicationsGenomic resources
All genomic resources (genome sequences, metagenomes, raw sequencing reads, and others) are made openly available through the appropriate public repositories.
See the full list of genomic resourcesCCASM
The Canadian Collection of Agricultural Soil Microbes (CCASM) is hosted by Queen's University and the University of Manitoba, and was designed to facilitate the sharing of agricultural soil microbes across Canada.
Visit the CCASM webpageThe Team
Lead Investigators
Our team includes 16 Principal Investigators from across six Canadian universities.
Researchers
Research in the BENEFIT project is performed by a large and growing team of postdocs, grad students, undergrads, lab techs, and others.
Project Managers
A team of Project Managers help ensure our project stays on track.
Recent News and Blog Posts
Genome Prairie
BENEFIT: How soil microbes hold a key in reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Other articles
For a complete list of news articles and blog pots, please refer to the News tab.
Our Funders
