PSP1 and PSP2 bioimputs as alternatives to red stripe management in sugarcane

TREJO, MARIA FERNANDA; BERTANI, ROMINA PRISCILA; CHALFOUN, NADIA; WELIN, BJORN GUNNAR; FILIPPONE, MARÍA PAULA; CASTAGNARO, ATILIO PEDRO; GRELLET BOURNONVILLE, CARLOS FROILÁN; NOGUERA, ALDO SERGIO; CUENYA, MARIA INES

Yerba Buena

Congreso; International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists (ISSCT); 2019

International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists (ISSCT)

One of the major challenges of the 21st century is the development of more sustainable agriculture while at the same time significantly increasing crop productivity. One promising approach is the use of compounds of natural origin, biostimulants, with no or very low environmental and health impact to manage crop diseases. Examples of such compounds are elicitor molecules able to activate plant pathogen defense or antimicrobials with a direct effect on plant pathogens. The ?Instituto de Tecnología Agroindustrial del Noroeste Argentino? (ITANOA) has since its foundation in 2013 actively worked on developing new biostimulants as essential tools for sustainable production of regional crops. Two products developed at ITANOA are PSP1 (Plant Stimulation and Protection 1) and PSP2. The first one is based on the plant defense-elicitor protein AsES (Acremonium strictum elicitor subtilisin), that confers protection against a broad range of pathogens; while the second one PSP2 is an experimental formula based on secondary metabolites from strawberry plants with both antimicrobial and plant resistance inducing activities. Initial experiments showed that PSP1-treatment of sugarcane triggers innate pathogen defense responses and improved protection against red stripe disease caused by the bacterial pathogen Acidovorax avenae. Similar studies are underway for PSP2, and results from both PSP1 and PSP2-treatments are presented.