New collaborative project
NATURAL organisms found in soil and their use as novel fungicides is being explored in a new collaborative project to help farmers overcome potato late blight.
The work centres on utilising the latest cutting-edge technology to analyse soil microbiomes – the complex interaction of billions of microbial organisms found within soil. The aim is to identify bacteria with fungicidal properties against Phytophthora infestans, with a view to harvesting the active compounds.
Discovery of such novel solutions with new modes of action could significantly improve crop disease management, provide growers with alternative plant protection tools, and support a more sustainable approach to soil management.
The 18-month feasibility study is being led by London-based biotechnology company, Bactobio Ltd, supported by Agri-Tech Innovation Centre, Crop Health and Protection (CHAP).
Dr Mark Wilkinson, Chief Scientific Officer at Bactobio, said: “Providing growers with additional support in the fight against potato late blight is essential, as this disease is a major UK crop threat causing annual losses of up to £0.8 bn.
“To address this, we’ll use Bactobio’s innovative Bacterial Community Cultivation platform (BACCU), which harnesses next generation sequencing, synthetic biology and machine learning approaches.
A source: https://www.potatoreview.com
