Project 1 (Year 2022): Biocontrol of two agriculturally important crop diseases

 

Kern County is one of the largest food producing regions of the country and is known for its carrot and tomato production. Two major diseases repeatedly challenge our growers causing significant crop losses, Carrot Cavity Spot caused by the oomycete Pythium violae and Southern Blight of Tomato caused by the destructive fungus Sclerotium rolfsii. Prevention and control of both diseases relies heavily on chemical fungicides that can be harmful to our environment as well as our community. Our lab contains a collection of 153 locally isolated Streptomyces strains. These soil-dwelling bacteria are renowned for the production of antimicrobials and have been proposed as biocontrol agents of several diseases. The overall goal of this project is to discover and characterize promising local Streptomyces isolates that can be used as biocontrol agents for the two aforementioned diseases.

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Project 2 (Year 2025): Evaluation of plant beneficial properties of hazardous-woody-fuel-derived biochars

 

This project closely relates to the hazardous woody fuel project led by Dr. Liu. Biochar is one of the products of the pyrolysis process described above and has been recognized and studied as a valuable soil amendment benefitting plant health and growth through moisture retention and promotion of microbial communities. The hazardous-woody-fuel-derived biochar produced by Dr. Liu lab will be evaluated for these plant beneficial effects as a sustainable soil amendment for the growth of leafy green crops commonly grown in the Valley such as lettuce and alfalfa.