Bacteria to Combat Wheat Scab Disease

Researchers from the US Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are looking to the possibility of using strains of flower-dwelling bacteria to combat the Fusarium head blight disease in wheat, barley and other cereal crops. The naturally occurring bacteria compete with Fusarium for nutrients exuded by the flowers’ anther. One such nutrient is choline, needed by both the bacteria and the fungal pathogen for growth. Fusarium also needs choline as a chemical cue to send a germ tube into the anther tissues. By using the flowers’ choline stores, the bacteria leave less for the fungus, depriving it of the chemical cue.

Spraying formulations of the bacteria onto plots of two commercial wheat cultivars reduced head blight disease severity by as much as 63 percent. A particular strain, a Pseudomonas species dubbed AS 64.4, was found to be the best all-around performer out of all the identified choline metabolizing bacteria. The beneficial bacteria cause no harm to wheat and pose no danger to consumers. The strain will be combined with other scab fighting microbes, like yeasts and antibiotic-secreting bacteria, to provide wider protection for cereal crops.

Read more at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2008/080403.htm