The Next Generation Agriculture: Role of Functional Microbiome in Cannabis Breeding strategies against biotic stress

Plants including Cannabis host distinct beneficial microbial communities on and inside their tissues designated the plant microbiota from the moment that they are planted into the soil as seed. Understanding the microbial partnerships with Cannabis has the potential to affect agricultural practices by improving plant fitness and production yield of Cannabinoids. Much less is known about these beneficial Cannabis-microbe interactions, particularly,the role that Cannabis may play in supporting or enhancing them. This proposal aims to characterize the bacterial diversity, associated with susceptible and resistant Cannabis varieties to grey mold (GM) and Powdery mildew (PM) on Cannabis. We hypothesize that different varieties (susceptible and resistant) recruit and maintain different microbial communities and that select microbial strains are able to suppress GM and PM infections and increase protection. We also intend to compare the efficacy of CELEXT07, a new botanical product developed by the industrial partner proven effective against both diseases in greenhouse trials alone or with combination of the best endophytic microbes.

Faculty Supervisor:

Suha Jabaji

Student:

Aidee Ximena Florez-Buitrago

Partner:

BioSun Products Inc.

Discipline:

Forestry

Sector:

Other

University:

McGill University