2016 Participants
James Fortune
It is projected that food productivity must increase by 70% to feed an additional 2.3 billion people by 2050. Plant diseases are responsible for a large proportion of global crop losses, therefore reducing global food security. Spot Blotch is a fungal plant disease, caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana, responsible for losses of up to 15-20% of wheat production in South Asia annually. Compounds produced by cultivated or formulated Trichoderma harzianum T22 spores were extracted, and a very small volume of the extracted compound suspension was pipetted onto B.sorokiniana samples. Cultivated spores were more effective than formulated spores, 51% and 43.4% respectively after 48 hours. This research provides evidence that a potential solution for reducing the severity of Spot Blotch disease may lie within the use of compounds produced by Trichoderma harzianum spores.
Funding source: BSPP
Supervisor: Dr Ethan Hack