Triticale (x Triticosecale Whitm.) is a cereal with favorable agronomic traits for a Canadian bioproduction platform crop. Appropriate tissue sampling times were determined and gene expression profiles were evaluated in five triticale seed tissues and eleven vegetative tissues using the Affymetrix Wheat GeneChip®. Genes that were expressed, not expressed, tissue-specific, tissue-enriched and developmentally regulated were identified. The percentage of probe sets on the wheat GeneChip with gene ontology annotations was improved from less than 3% to over 76% using homologous sequence identification and annotation transfer. This information was used to determine functions and processes over-represented within the identified gene lists and provide biological meaning to the results. Expression of candidate genes was further evaluated using qRT-PCR, RNA in situ hybridization and promoter characterization. This study has provided a comprehensive triticale gene expression atlas; knowledge regarding triticale development, gene function, expression and regulation; and tools enabling further triticale research and development. / xxiii, 425 leaves : col. ill. ; 29 cm

Municipal treated wastewater entering rivers contain biologically active pharmaceuticals capable of inducing effects in aquatic life. Phytoremediation of three of these pharmaceuticals and an herbicide was investigated using Sandbar willow (Salix exigua) and Arabidopsis thaliana. Both plants were effective at removing compounds from solution, with removal of 86% of the synthetic estrogen, 17α-ethynylestradiol, 65% of the anti-hypertensive, diltiazem, 60% of the anti-convulsant, diazepam (Valium®), and 51% of the herbicide atrazine, in 24 hours. Distribution of compounds within roots and shoots, in soluble and bound forms, differed among compounds. Uptake and distribution of pharmaceuticals within the study plants confirmed pharmaceutical behaviour can be predicted based on a physiochemical property, their octanol-water partitioning coefficients. An effective method for detection of 17α-ethynylestradiol within surface water using solid phase extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was developed. Previously unreported breakdown of 17α-ethynylestradiol into another common estrogen, estrone, during preparative steps and gas chromatography was resolved. / xv, 216 leaves ; 29 cm.