description
- _Z. tritici_ is the most damaging wheat pathogen, responsible for yield losses of up to 50% annually. Farmers use up to 3 fungicide applications to manage this disease, but widespread use of chemical fungicides is causing pathogen resistance. We urgently need novel fungicides. This project will exploit Baccuico's library of natural compound-producing bacteria to target field samples of _Z. tritici_ provided by CHAP. We're developing a rapid and high-throughput screen to find 5 -- 10 active natural compounds before confirming their activity in plants in CHAPs industrial and environmentally controlled greenhouses as a safer, greener alternative to chemical fungicides.