Mycatok Project: Innovating cranberry farming with beneficial symbiotic microbes

用有益的共生微生物创新蔓越莓种植蔓越莓产品在全球范围内是一项价值数十亿美元的业务。加拿大在全球常规水果产量中所占份额约为25%，有机水果产量占90%。然而，蔓越莓种植面临着复杂的挑战，包括因气候变化而加剧的植物病害。我们建议通过部署生活在蔓越莓（共生体）中的有益微生物，特别是真菌和细菌微生物来应对这些挑战。事实上，许多农业植物都有类似的有益微生物，比如豆科植物中的根瘤菌，以及各种作物植物中的菌根真菌。我们的目标是分离共生微生物，抑制病原体（生物防治），向蔓越莓植物输送磷、氮和其他营养物质（生物施肥），分泌刺激植物生长的化合物，并提高对压力（高温或低温；干旱）的抵抗力。本提案的目的是对我们实验室之前分离和表征的精选微生物进行严格的现场试验，并研究一组新的微生物分离物的特性，这些分离物也将在现场实验中进行测试。开发对蔓越莓有益的共生体将把加拿大蔓越莓种植提升到一个新的水平，加强产业，通过减少农药来减轻蔓越莓种植对环境的影响，并促进我们对共生植物相互作用的理解。

INNOVATING CRANBERRY FARMING WITH BENEFICIAL SYMBIOTIC MICROBESCranberry 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.