Microbial biocontrol agents for suppressing oomycete and ascomycete pathogens in horticultural crops
High-throughput microbial screening platform leveraging a library of ~2000 vineyard- and plant-associated microbes to identify natural antagonists of major horticultural crop pathogens, including Botrytis cinerea, Erysiphe necator, and Plasmopara viticola.
Overview
This solution offers a discovery platform for identifying naturally occurring microbes—yeasts and bacteria sourced from vineyards, wineries, and plant environments—that suppress damaging oomycete and ascomycete pathogens in horticultural crops. By pivoting a proven screening system originally developed to combat wine spoilage organisms, the technology targets crop pathogens such as Botrytis cinerea, Erysiphe necator, and Plasmopara viticola. The outcome is a pipeline for developing biological control preparations that reduce dependence on synthetic fungicides, supporting more sustainable crop protection for grape growers and other horticultural producers.
Technical specifications
Key features:
- An in-house microbial culture library of approximately 2,000 diverse isolates collected from vineyards, wineries, and plant niches
- A custom-built, 384-place robotic culturing system enabling high-throughput screening of thousands of microbe–pathogen combinations
- A validated anti-fungal plate assay previously used to identify a Saccharomyces yeast active against the wine spoilage organism Brettanomyces
- Dual screening approaches: agar plate co-culture assays for ascomycete pathogens (zones of inhibition) and sporangia germination assays for the oomycete Plasmopara viticola using culture supernatants and cell extracts
- Planned glasshouse and field validation on grape vines, with future expansion to additional horticultural crops
Technology readiness level
The underlying screening methodology and robotic infrastructure are already operational, having been validated in a prior wine spoilage application. The current stage focuses on adapting and validating the screening approach for plant pathogens, followed by glasshouse trials and 12-month field validation on grape vines before broadening to other horticultural crops. The platform is positioned for translational development of microbial biocontrol products with industry partners.
About The University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide was a comprehensive public research university in South Australia, with a city‑centre campus and specialised sites linking teaching, research and translation. Co‑location within Adelaide BioMed City placed teams beside the Royal Adelaide Hospital and SAHMRI, enabling clinical trials, while AIML at Lot Fourteen linked researchers to an innovation district. At the Waite Research Precinct, co‑located partners and infrastructure such as the Plant Accelerator supported industry‑engaged R&D. Research was backed by national funding, including the Australian Research Council and NHMRC. On January 5, 2026 it merged with the University of South Australia to form Adelaide University; these assets now operate within the new institution with dedicated tech transfer support.
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