Improving early plant growth in sweet corn by engineering the soil microbiome

通过改造土壤微生物组改善甜玉米的早期植物生长

• 批准号: 572867-2022
• 负责人: Yergeau, ÉtienneE
• 金额: $ 2.88万
• 依托单位: Institut national de la recherche scientifique
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Alliance Grants
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=743847
• 关键词: Improving; early; plant; growth; sweet

In Canada, sweet corn is the most widely planted vegetable crop that is grown in all provinces. One of the challenges of growing sweet corn in Canada is that the short growing season necessitates planting sweet corn in the spring when outdoor temperatures are low. These low temperatures reduce germination and growth rates, ultimately leading to small plants with low yields. Incidentally, corn seedlings that undergo rapid early growth have improved cold tolerance, flower earlier, and have more dry biomass and higher yields. For these reasons, rapid early growth is a highly sought-after agronomic trait for Canadian corn farmers. An approach that has the potential to meet this demand is similar to probiotic supplements for the human gut microbiome, in which specific plant growth-promoting microbes are introduced to the plant microbiome. Using this approach, early growth has been improved in corn grown in greenhouses and fields. However, only a handful of these studies have been undertaken on sweet corn, and more specifically in Canada. The main objective of this project is to improve early sweet growth and promote earlier flowering in greenhouse and field-grown Canadian sweet corn. To do so we will assess how early sweet corn growth and time to flowering changes after we introduce different microbial species isolated by the Yergeau lab at INRS-CAFSB. Based on preliminary data, 13 of these isolates increased early plant growth in wheat and tomato seedlings. These experiments will be carried out in a greenhouse provided by our industrial partner Agro-100, a leading Canadian supplier of fertilizers, as well as at the INRS experimental field and an agricultural field site. The underlying mechanisms that enable these microbes to promote plant growth will also be investigated on a biochemical and genetic level. The microbes that show the most promise will then be developed into commercial products by our industrial partner and distributed nationwide for use by Canadian farmers.

在加拿大，甜玉米是所有省份种植最广泛的蔬菜作物。在加拿大种植甜玉米的挑战之一是，生长季节短，需要在室外温度较低的春季种植甜玉米。这些低温降低了发芽和生长速度，最终导致产量低的小植株。顺便说一句，经历快速早期生长的玉米幼苗具有改善的耐冷性，开花更早，并且具有更多的干生物量和更高的产量。由于这些原因，快速早期生长是加拿大玉米农民非常抢手的农艺性状。有可能满足这一需求的方法类似于人类肠道微生物组的益生菌补充剂，其中将特定的植物生长促进微生物引入植物微生物组。使用这种方法，在温室和田间种植的玉米的早期生长得到了改善。然而，这些研究中只有少数是在甜玉米上进行的，更具体地说是在加拿大。该项目的主要目标是改善温室和大田种植的加拿大甜玉米的早期生长和促进提早开花。为此，我们将评估在我们引入INRS-CAFSB的Yergeau实验室分离的不同微生物物种后，早期甜玉米生长和开花时间的变化。根据初步数据，这些菌株中有13个在小麦和番茄幼苗中增加了早期植物生长。这些实验将在我们的工业合作伙伴Agro-100提供的温室中进行，Agro-100是加拿大领先的肥料供应商，以及INRS实验田和农业现场。使这些微生物能够促进植物生长的潜在机制也将在生物化学和遗传水平上进行研究。最有希望的微生物将由我们的工业合作伙伴开发成商业产品，并在全国范围内分发给加拿大农民使用。