Boxwood foliage microbiome projects
Project overview
The utimate goal of boxwood foliage microbiome projects is to utilize microbiome power for enhancement of boxwood fitness against boxwood blight pathogen Calonectria pseudonaviculata.
These projects will evaluate the impacts of location, antidesiccant, fungicide, irrigation, fertilizer, etc on boxwood foliage microbiome. The results of these studies will reveal “what” constitute boxwood foliage microbiome and “how” they contribute to the boxwood defense mechanisms against the blight pathogen.
A comprehensive understanding of boxwood foliage microbiome interacting with boxwood and the blight pathogen will provide us several applications in disease management: 1) Optimize current intensified management practices in boxwood production to maximize the retention of beneficial microbes on boxwood plants, 2) Devise synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) to aid boxwood defense against the blight pathogen, 3) Elect potential individuals with biological control activities for specficially targeting and suppressing the pathogen.
With the interaction of microbe, plant host, and pathogen ever becoming more elucidate, the use of microbiome in sustainable agriculture and horticulture is attractive and promising.
