Video: 2022 Canadian Plant Breeding Innovation Scholar: Geneviève Arsenault-Labrecque
Geneviève is a PhD student in plant science at Laval University and will complete her studies this year. Her work could revolutionize the tools exploited in
plant breeding for developing soybean lines resistant to one of its most devastating pathogens, Phytophthora sojae.
In the course of her PhD project, Geneviève developed a genomic approach to characterize the spectrum of variants (haplotypes) for all the avirulence genes associated with the most
common Rps genes used commercially.
She developed a predictive tool that can be easily used by breeders so that they can introgress and recommend the proper Rps genes to growers. This technology is unique in the
world and was patented.
As a result, she’s created a startup, AYOS Diagnostic, currently housed at Laval University. Her goal is to make the power of genomics accessible to breeders, growers and seed
suppliers for a smart and sustainable agriculture with optimal yield.