Mycatok Project: Innovating cranberry farming with beneficial symbiotic microbes

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INNOVATING CRANBERRY FARMING WITH BENEFICIAL SYMBIOTIC MICROBES Cranberry products are a multi-billion dollar business worldwide. Canada's share of the global conventional production is ~25%, and 90% of organically grown fruit. However, cranberry farming is faced with complex challenges including plant diseases that are exacerbated by climate change. We propose to counter these challenges by deploying beneficial microbes living within cranberries (symbionts), notably fungal and bacterial microorganisms. In fact, numerous agricultural plants host similarly beneficial microbes, such as Rhizobium bacteria in legumes, and mycorrhizal fungi in a large variety of crop plants. Our goal is to isolate symbiotic microbes that suppress pathogens (biocontrol), deliver phosphorus, nitrogen and other nutrients into cranberry plants (biofertilization), secrete compounds that stimulate plant growth, and improve resistance to stress (high or low temperatures; drought). The objective of this proposal is to undertake rigorous field trials with select microbes previously isolated and characterized in our laboratory, and to investigate properties of a set of new microbe isolates, which as well will be tested in field experiments. Development of beneficial cranberry-specific symbionts will take Canadian cranberry farming to the next level, strengthen the industry, alleviate the environmental impact of cranberry farming by reducing agrochemicals, and advance our understanding of symbiont-plant interactions.