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

开发适应气候变化的玉米和小麦，通过增强植物微生物群来对抗镰刀菌病

• 批准号: 521124-2018
• 负责人: Raizada, Manish
• 金额: $ 3.6万
• 依托单位: University of Guelph
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Strategic Projects - Group
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=697848
• 关键词: Developing; climate; change; resilient; corn

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.

据预测，气候变化将增加危害人类/牲畜的真菌病原体，包括加拿大玉米和小麦中的镰刀菌。F. graminearum通过花柱（丝）进入玉米，花柱是出现在玉米棒顶端的线。丝是精子使卵子受精的通道，从而产生谷物。我们建议发现天然存在于玉米丝中的抗镰刀菌益生菌。和人类一样，植物也被益生菌所覆盖。先前，我们证明了被细胞壁固定的植物细胞具有维持益生菌（内生菌）的活性，这些益生菌具有移动性，类似于人类免疫细胞寻找和摧毁病原体的作用。然而，科学家们忽视了丝绸/风格中的益生菌。我们有两种策略来利用这一潜在的自然资源。首先，我们建议发现并测试益生菌喷雾剂，种植者可以将其喷洒在玉米丝上，当附近发生疾病爆发时，这种喷雾剂可以转移到小麦籽粒上，以提供快速、实时的保护。具体来说，基于我们团队最近的发现，我们建议培养和测试来自世界各地的不同玉米基因型的蚕丝益生菌，这些玉米基因型已被报道对镰刀菌具有部分抗性。在一个平行的策略中，我们将对部分抗镰刀菌的玉米蚕丝的DNA进行取样，以揭示复杂的微生物亚群落（亚微生物组），作物育种者可以在以后选择这些微生物亚群落来预防与气候变化相关的疾病爆发。这些益生菌策略也可以保护加拿大种植者免受由于气候变化而可能入侵蚕丝的新病原体的侵害，因为在温暖气候下（如拉丁美洲、非洲）的其他破坏性真菌病原体已经通过蚕丝进入玉米谷物。我们的益生菌应该可以转移到这些地区，让我们的研究也惠及那些最容易受到气候变化影响的自给自足的农民。该项目是学术界、政府和私营部门科学家之间的一项研究合作，其目标是促进对商业化的投资，并为不断增长的微生物组领域培养年轻科学家。