Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

Many beneficial bacteria living in the rhizosphere of plants (i.e. the soil in close proximity to roots) canx000D
promote plant growth. These organisms are known as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and mayx000D
belong to different taxonomical groups, including Pseudomonas sp. and Bacillus sp. Some strains ofx000D
Pseudomonas sp. and Bacillus sp. can stimulate plant growth directly and/or indirectly by various mechanisms.x000D
Pseudomonas sp. and Bacillus sp. are ideal candidates for replacing and/or reducing the use of chemicalx000D
fertilizers as they can be easily cultured and inoculated, and their production cost represents a reasonablex000D
alternative to chemical fertilizer applications. Although numerous strains of Pseudomonas sp. and Bacillus sp.x000D
have been identified as potential PGPR in different systems, combinations of Pseudomonas sp./Bacillus sp.x000D
strains that can synergistically impact on plant growth have not been widely studied. Over the years, myx000D
research team has isolated and characterized numerous strains of Pseudomonas sp. for their plant growthx000D
promoting capacities. In parallel, Biotechnology Ulysse has developed a large expertise in isolating andx000D
characterizing Bacillus sp. strains for plant growth promotion. Therefore, our expertise is complimentary andx000D
can lead to the development of microbial consortia that display superior synergistic plant growth promotingx000D
activity. Biotechnologies Ulysse is seeking help to be among the first Canadian companies able tox000D
commercialize environmentally-friendly microbial-based fertilizers specifically tailored to the Cannabisx000D
industry. Therefore, in this project, a collection of 60 different Pseudomonas sp strains isolated in ourx000D
laboratory will be tested in combination with two Bacillus sp. strains (owned by Biotechnologies Ulysse) forx000D
their capacity at promoting Cannabis growth and productivity. More specifically, the aims are to: 1) Identify thex000D
most optimal Pseudomonas sp./Bacillus sp. combination capable of promoting Cannabis plant growth; and 2)x000D
Develop specific DNA molecular markers for these organisms allowing to detect and quantify their populationx000D
dynamics under soil and plant conditions using qPCR assays.