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University of Oregon

Biology and Agriculture using friendly microbes

At the Institute of Ecology and Evolution, researchers have long been on the cutting edge of microbiome research.  Daniel Thomas, a PhD student in the Roy Lab at IE2, is taking his studies on the plant microbiome out of the lab and into a remote Andean Valley in South America, where he hopes to help in the battle against the coffee rust and other plant diseases.

 

In the Intag Valley, coffee farmers in the cooperative Asociación Agroartesanal de Cafecultores Río Intag (AACRI) are interested in harnessing plant “probiotics” in the struggle against the coffee rust and other agricultural pathogens. They have started a basic production facility, where they culture target species of bacteria and fungi from the soil of their region, to apply to their coffee plants and other crops. AACRI recently asked the members of the Roy Lab to help them to quantitatively test the benefits of their microbes, and verify their identifications.  This summer Daniel Thomas is going to travel to the Intag Valley to help the coffee growers of the region with their unique project in sustainable, affordable pest control using beneficial, locally-cultured fungi and bacteria.

 

More information is available at www.kickstarter.com, a fundraising site for the project:

 

<www.kickstarter.com/projects/2006172860/biologos-y-agricultores>