Project Grant 20246701742482

** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** PLANT MICROBIOMES, THE MICROBES THAT LIVE IN AND ON PLANTS, HOLD PROMISE FOR SUSTAINABLE DISEASE PROTECTION IN CROPS THREATENED BY SERIOUS PANDEMIC DISEASES. ALTHOUGH RESEARCH HAS REVEALED MANY ISOLATED BENEFICIAL MICROBES, EACH PLANT LIKELY HOSTS THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENT MICROBES THAT MAY WORK TOGETHER TO COOPERATIVELY PROTECT PLANTS. THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON MICROBIOMES IN BANANA (GENUS MUSA), WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST GLOBALLY VALUABLE FRUITS. COMMERCIALLY, BANANAS ARE AMONG THE HIGHEST PRODUCTION GLOBAL CROPS, AFTER WHEAT, RICE, MAIZE, AND SOYBEANS. THEY ARE THE TOP FRUIT COMMODITY GLOBALLY, PRODUCED IN 130 COUNTRIES AND VALUED AT US$44 BILLION. ABOUT 85% OF BANANAS AND PLANTAINS SERVE AS A STAPLE FOOD OR SUPPORT LOCAL ECONOMIES, PARTICULARLY IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIES. HOWEVER, PANDEMIC PLANT DISEASES LIKE PANAMA DISEASE, WHICH IS CAUSED BY THE FUNGUS FUSARIUM OXYSPORUM F. SP. CUBENSE RACE 4 (FOC TR4), ARE A MAJOR THREAT TO FOOD SECURITY. CURRENT PREDICTIONS ARE THAT THIS FUNGUS WILL DECIMATE THE LEADING CAVENDISH CULTIVAR, IN THE NEAR FUTURE, WITHOUT ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE RESISTANCE. THEREFORE, THE MAJOR GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO INVESTIGATE DISEASE-PROTECTIVE SYNERGISTIC PROCESSES HIDDEN IN THE BANANA PLANT'S MICROBIOME, TO LAY THE FOUNDATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DISEASE CONTROL. DATA SHOW THAT DIFFERENT BANANA VARIETIES AND DIFFERENT CULTIVATION HISTORIES AFFECT DISEASE-PROTECTIVE MICROBIOMES. HOWEVER, TO DATE, MOLECULAR ANALYSES HAVE BEEN LIMITED, WITH FEW WHOLE-COMMUNITY STUDIES. THE PROJECT OBJECTIVES ARE TO FIRST CHARACTERIZE HOW MICROBIOMES AND PLANTS FORM METABOLIC SYNERGISMS, AND HOW THESE VARY ACROSS BANANA VARIETIES AND DIFFERENT TISSUES FROM ROOTS TO LEAVES. THEN, WE SEEK TO DIRECTLY TEST THE ANTI-FUNGAL (I.E., ANTI-FOC) SYNERGISTIC PROCESSES BY TRANSFERRING MICROBIOMES BETWEEN RESISTANT AND SUSCEPTIBLE PLANTS, BOTH IN PETRI PLATE CULTURES AND IN GREENHOUSE PLANTS. THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT LESS CULTIVATED BANANA PLANTS WILL HAVE THE GREATEST MICROBIOME METABOLIC NETWORK COMPLEXITY AND SYNERGISTIC DISEASE-PROTECTIVE FUNCTIONS. RESULTS WILL BE COMMUNICATED TO THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNITIES, INCLUDING STUDENT TRAINEES, THROUGH HIGH-IMPACT PUBLICATIONS, CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS, AND IN TEACHING GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. OUR PROJECT WILL ALSO TRAIN A POSTDOC, A PHD STUDENT, AND UNDERGRADUATES TO BE LEADERS IN THE STUDY OF AGRICULTURAL MICROBIOMES. WE EXPECT TO DEVELOP NEW METHODS, SUCH AS MICROBIOME ENRICHMENT, MICROBIOME TRANSFER BY INJECTION, AND NEW ANALYSIS METHODS. THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO UNCOVER DIVERSE AND NOVEL SYNERGIES AND BIOACTIVITIES THAT WILL SET THE GROUNDWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE MICROBIOME-BASED STRATEGIES FOR DISEASE MANAGEMENT THAT MAY BE RELEVANT TO A WIDE RANGE OF CROP SYSTEMS. SPECIFIC TO BANANA, GIVEN THE IMMINENT DISEASE THREATS TO CAVENDISH, AND ITS IMPORTANCE AS A TRADE COMMODITY AND SOURCE OF GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY, OUR PROJECT OUTCOMES HAVE POTENTIAL FOR ENORMOUS IMPA,CT THAT WILL INFORM MODERN SUSTAINABLE BIOCONTROL AND BIOFORTIFICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR THIS PLANT. THIS FOCUS ALIGNS WITH THE GOAL OF REDUCING USE OF CHEMICALS (PESTICIDES, ANTIBIOTICS, AND BIOCIDES) IN BANANA PRODUCTION, AND LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAFER ALTERNATIVES.