2012-02-01
5 million SEK from FORMAS for research on growth promoting bacteria
The Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology together with the Department of Chemistry, SLU, has been awarded a grant of 5 million SEK from the research council FORMAS.
The interdisciplinary projectcombines practical experience of plant growth promoting Serratia bacteria with newly obtained genome & transcriptome sequence data obtained in collaboration with the US Joint Genome Institute and advanced natural product chemistry to analyze production of functional metabolites. Further analysesusing massively parallel 454® & Illumina® sequencing technologies will allow us to investigate the functional basis of differences in efficacy of different inoculants and to provide more information about a) the mechanisms underlying their effects on plant growth promotion and b) antagonism to pathogens, c) responses of the bacteria to changes in biotic and abioticconditions, and d) their impact on surrounding microbial communities.
This combination of field research & cutting edge molecular methods provides a unique opportunity to significantly advance our mechanistic understanding of sustainable growth promotion of two important crops, oilseed rape and potato. Roger Finlay is the principal investigator of the project in cooperation with Nils Högberg, Sadhna Alström, Björn Andersson and Anders Broberg.
Bacteria from the genus Serratia growing on agar plates (photo Saraswoti Neupane).