Drivers and mechanisms in biological control of plant pathogens to improve plant health

对粮食增产的需求导致了化肥和杀虫剂的广泛使用， 农业系统。其中一些化学品对环境和食物链有不利影响。与此同时，土壤和植物部分中有许多微生物能够控制疾病（生物控制剂- BCA）和促进植物生长（植物生长促进根际细菌-PGPR）。 大多数研究充分的生物属于假单胞菌属和芽孢杆菌属。 我的实验室已经发现了三种细菌菌株（2种假单胞菌和1种芽孢杆菌），它们产生抗生素和其他几种次级代谢产物，有助于控制油菜中经济上重要的植物病原体。油菜籽是加拿大第一大经济作物。油菜籽产业仅去年一年就为加拿大经济带来了145亿美元的收入。核盘菌属和黑胫病病原体是加拿大油菜最具经济破坏性的病原体。 我研究的长期目标是促进我们对生物防治主要机制的理解。我计划应用这些原则来发展基于生态的疾病管理实践。利用我们在过去6年工作中取得的进展，我们将研究抗生素在控制引起油菜感染的植物病原体中的作用。重点将放在细菌代谢物（即抗生素）是如何增强或减少营养和环境参数。我们还将研究这些细菌中的每一种如何相互作用，以及如何与植物部位上的病原体相互作用，并帮助改善植物健康。这些研究将评估生物防治机制，改进疾病防治，并可能有助于开发新的方法或产品，以管理加拿大大田作物的重要经济疾病。研究结果将发表在高影响力的期刊上，为科学界的知识库做出贡献。它将帮助培养年轻学生成为科学和农业领域的研究人员，找到合适的职业生涯，并为我们的经济做出贡献。

The demands for increased production of food has led to extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides in agricultural systems. Some of these chemicals have adverse effects on the environment and on the food chain. At the same time, there are numerous microorganisms in soil and on plant parts that are capable of controlling diseases (biocontrol agents - BCA) and improve plant growth (plant growth promoting rhizobacteria -PGPR). Most of the well studied organisms belong to Pseudomonas and Bacillus genera. My lab has found three bacterial strains (2 Pseudomonas and 1 Bacillus) that produce antibiotics and several other secondary metabolites that help control economically important plant pathogens in canola. Canola is the number one cash crop in Canada. The canola industry supported the Canadian economy with 14.5 Billion dollars in revenue last year alone. Sclerotinia and Blackleg pathogens are the most economically devastating pathogens of canola in Canada. The long term objective of my research is to advance our understanding of principal mechanisms in biocontrol. I plan to apply these principles to develop ecologically based disease management practices. Using the advances made from our work in the past 6 years, we will investigate how antibiotics function in controlling plant pathogens causing infection in canola. Emphasis will be placed on how bacterial metabolites (i.e. antibiotics) are enhanced or decreased by nutritional and environmental parameters. We will also investigate how each of these bacteria interact with each other, and with the pathogen on plant parts, and help improve plant health. Studies will evaluate biocontrol mechanisms, improve disease control and possibly contribute to new methods or products for the management of economically important diseases of field crops in Canada. Findings will be published in high impact journals contributing to the knowledge base of the scientific community. It will help train young students to become researchers in fields of science and agriculture, find suitable professional careers, and contribute to our economy.