Climate change-associated extreme weather events such as spring frosts have increased in frequency and intensity over the past decades in Europe. Freezing stress is one of the main limiting factors for the production of many fruit crops including apple (Malus × domestica, Rosaceae family). Current methods used by growers to prevent or reduce freezing damage include mainly physical approaches, which have several limitations in terms of cost, efficacy, and environmental impact. Thus, the development of natural approaches for the mitigation of frost damage on crops will provide a sustainable tool for growers with beneficial impacts on society (i.e. high quality and quantity of fruits) and the economy (i.e. sustainable use of natural resources). The use of natural plant-beneficial microorganisms is a promising approach against freezing stress. Plants growing in cold regions, such as Alpine regions, are hypothesized to survive freezing stress thanks to their symbiotic relationship with endophytic microorganisms. However, the structure and function of endophytic microbial communities associated with such plants are poorly understood.
FreezingBioprotector project aims to taxonomically and functionally characterize the endophytic bacterial communities associated with wild alpine Rosaceae plants, to develop new microbial-based products for freezing protection of apple.
The overall objectives of this project that were each addressed by a work package (WP) are (i) characterising the bacterial communities associated with Dryas octopetala anthosphere and identifying potential bacteria for freezing protection (WP1) (ii) identifying novel bacterial strains by a rapid-throughput screening for their ice-active traits and environmental stress tolerance (WP2) and (iii) identifying bacterial strains with freezing protection abilities on strawberry and feasibility checking of industrial production (WP3).
