Developing climate change resilient corn and wheat to combat Fusarium disease by enhancing the plant microbiome

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Climate change is predicted to increase human/livestock-damaging fungal pathogens including Fusarium graminearum in Canadian corn and wheat. F. graminearum enters corn through styles (silks)-the threads that emerge at the tips of corn cobs. Silks are channels that sperm use to fertilize eggs, giving rise to grain. We propose to discover anti-Fusarium probiotics that naturally inhabit corn silks. Similar to humans, plants are inhabited and coated by probiotics. Previously, we demonstrated that plant cells, which are immobilized by cell walls, have maintained probiotics (endophytes) that are mobile to act similar to human immunity cells to seek-and-destroy pathogens. However, scientists have overlooked probiotics in silks/styles. We have two strategies to use this potential natural resource. First, we propose to discover and test probiotic sprays that growers can apply onto silks (in corn), and which may be transferable to wheat grain heads, when disease outbreaks occur nearby to provide rapid, real-time protection. Specifically, building upon recent discoveries by our team, we propose to culture and test silk probiotics from diverse corn genotypes from across the world that have been reported to have partial resistance to Fusarium. In a parallel strategy, we will sample the DNA of silks of corn that are partially resistant to Fusarium to uncover complex microbial sub-communities (sub-microbiomes) that crop breeders can later select to prevent climate change associated disease outbreaks. These probiotic strategies may also protect Canadian growers against new pathogens that may invade silks due to climate change, since other devastating fungal pathogens in warmer climates (e.g. Latin America, Africa) already enter corn grain through the silks. Our probiotics should be transferable to these regions, allowing our research to also benefit subsistence farmers who are the most vulnerable to climate change. This project is a research collaboration between academic, government and private sector scientists, with the goals of catalyzing investment for commercialization, and training young scientists for the growing microbiome sector.