Help us sample wild strawberries!

You most likely have seen wild strawberry plants growing close to your home or workplace or your favorite local forest. Wild strawberries grow across almost all of Europe and are common in many habitats. You can find populations of wild strawberries with flowers during late spring, with fruits during summer season  or without in early spring or fall.

Black yeast - a microbial bodyguard

Strawberries are, like many plants, threatened by plant diseases. Examples are grey mould, common leaf spot disease, anthracnose disease and leaf scorch. Fortunately, certain wild microbes are beneficial and may function as plant bodyguards against the diseases. The black yeast Aureobasidium pullulans, is one of wild strawberries’ most important microbial bodyguards. This yeast is present in almost all strawberry populations across the European continent.

How do resistance and traits vary?

In this project, we will investigate how plant resistance and yeast traits vary – and perhaps co-vary – across Europe and across different environments. This will help us understand how plant-microbe associations evolve at the continental scale and may provide insight into how crop protection can be optimized for cultivated strawberry.

Therefore, we ask you to sample some wild strawberry plants from at least one location in your European country and send them to us. If we are able to isolate the black yeast from your plants, then we will offer you to be a co-author of the first scientific publication! To be eligible for co-authorship you need to be affiliated with a university or a research institute. Other contributors will be mentioned in the Acknowledgement section of the publication.