Cereals represent the primary calory intake around the globe. To ensure sufficient access and yield to these resources,
but also their innocuity, is of outstanding importance for the future. The fungal pathogens of cereals represent a major
risk and lead to various issues such as yield loss, but also to the apparition of harmful molecules such as mycotoxins,
from the field to the storage.
Until now, the main solution for the control of moulds are the application of fungicides. However, misuse and excessive
use of these fungicides can lead to environmental pollution, pesticide resistance, and public health concerns. As a
consequence, agricultural policies aims are more and more directed towards the promotion of alternative
technologies/strategies development for the management of pests and diseases. One of these alternative strategies is
the use of agroecological concepts such as biocontrol of plant pathogens or pests by microorganisms which are
naturally present in the soil ecosystems.
Among these soil inhabitants, actinomycetes bacteria show some of the most promising features for the biocontrol
applications. Carrying a large toolbox of molecules of interests (e.g. enzymes, active metabolites such as antibiotics)
that allow them to settle in the soil environment, they are also able to interact directly with the plant (endophytic habitat,
plant growth promoting traits). If they have been thoroughly studied for their secondary metabolites production (i.e.
antibiotics), their use as biocontrol agents is increasingly considered, but only a scarce number of products is available
on the market. Their ability to inhibit the growth of filamentous fungi has been largely documented in vitro and showed
some promising applications for the control of phytopathogens and mycotoxigenic moulds. Unfortunately, there is still a
lack of studies performing in planta or field tests, and most studies are limited to the in vitro characterization of
actinomycetes isolates, hampering the potential development as biocontrol agents.
The main objective of this project is to propose a global approach to evaluate the potential of actinomycetes isolates for
the control of wheat fungal diseases from in vitro testing till in plantaefficacy. Moreover, the identification of active
metabolites will provide useful information about the mechanisms of inhibition, but will also offer the opportunity to
discover new molecules of interest. This project gathers four complementary research teams from UMR Qualisud, UMR
BGPI, and TUB (Germany) to build a pluridisciplinary consortium able to answer the whole problematic. This consortium
is composed of microbiologists, molecular biologists, phytopathologists, biochemists and chemists, all expert in their
domains. This multidisciplinary collaboration will allow to perform competitive and high quality research for the
development of biocontrol solution based on actinomycetes action.
The main objective of this project is to propose a global approach to evaluate the potential of actinomycetes isolates for the control of wheat fungal diseases from in vitro testing till in planta efficacy. Moreover, the identification of active metabolites will provide useful information about the mechanisms of inhibition, but will also offer the opportunity to discover new molecules of interest. This project gathers four complementary research teams from UMR Qualisud, UMR BGPI, and TUB (Germany) to build a pluridisciplinary consortium able to answer the whole problematic. This consortium is composed of microbiologists, molecular biologists, phytopathologists, biochemists and chemists, all expert in their domains. This multidisciplinary collaboration will allow to perform competitive and high quality research for the development of biocontrol solution based on actinomycetes action.
The overall approach will consist in the selection of actinomycetes strains previously isolated by UMR Qualisud. In accordance with the convention on biological diversity (Nagoya Protocol) and to facilitate their putative industrial applications, all actinomycetes strains used in this project were isolated in France.
Two main applications will be considered for the valorization of the strains: their potential as biocontrol agents and/or as producers of new metabolites of interest. Strains will be selected on the basis of in vitro and in silicocriteria to reduce the number of studied strains to the most
promising ones regarding:
their antagonist activity against the selected toxigenic and phythopathogenic fungi (direct confrontation and Cell-Free Extracts CFEs);
their enzymatic activities that could reflect a potential to degrade fungi cell wall, but also to grow on poor substrates such as residuals and wastes from agriculture (lignocellulosic residues from beetroots, grape pellicles, coffee pulps…);
Their technological properties (growth yield, sporulation, dehydration)
Their ability to colonize the rhizosphere, to ensure a sustainable effect (endophyte capacity).
Their potential as plant growth promoters (PGPR) mostly through in vitroand molecular method analysis
Strains selected regarding their in vitro characteristics will then be studied for their in planta activity and active metabolites fractions.
Project Number : 1605-052
Year : 2016
Type of funding : AAP OS
Project type : AAP
Research units in the network : BGPI-PHIM
Start date :
01 Sep 2017
End date :
31 Dec 2019
Flagship project :
Non
Project leader :
Sabine Galindo
Project leader's institution :
UM
Project leader's RU :
QUALISUD
Budget allocated :
126000 €
Total budget allocated ( including co-financing) :
126000 €
Funding :
Labex