World population is expected to grow reaching nearly 9.7 billion by 2050, requiring an increase by 70% in food production. However, every year plant diseases cause an estimated loss of 10-15% of the world's major crops. 70-80% of these diseases are caused by pathogenic fungi, which may also present an associated risk of mycotoxin contamination of processed food and feed. To control phytopathogenic fungi and fulfil crop yield requirements, agriculture for many decades has relied on synthetic agrochemicals including fungicides. However, this extensive use of pesticides has determined a gradual loss of protection efficiency and a continuous increase in applied dosage. This inappropriate and excessive use of antimicrobials led many pests to develop antimicrobial resistance, as exemplified by fungi insensitive to broad-spectrum fungicides, and determined heavy environmental pollution generating serious risks for human and animal health, due to their translocation along the food chain. Hence, it is necessary to search for environmentally friendly alternatives to improve crop yield and resilience, and to meet legislation requirements limiting the use of agrochemicals. In this context, the application of biological control agents and their secondary metabolites represent a promising option to support the achievement of food security, enhancing yield and quality of agricultural products, without further compromising ecosystems¿ health. Fungi, thanks to a great adaptability and ability to produce secondary metabolites, hydrolytic enzymes, and proteins, represent very promising candidate for biocontrol applications. Therefore, the main aim of the project is to investigate, through a set of in vitro tests, biocontrol activity of fungal strains and fungal derived bioactive compounds, with the purpose to individuate strains suitable for biotechnological applications and widening the known pool of fungal strain suitable for biotechnological application in this field.
The importance of this project lies in its nature of basic research, with a great potential for applicative implications, on a topic of great importance and growing interest such as the identification of bio-resources for a more sustainable agriculture.
The innovative nature of this project resides in investigation of fungal strains not tested yet for biocontrol activity, with the purpose to widen the known pool of fungal strain suitable for biotechnological application in this field. In fact, despite research on fungal biocontrol is quite active, most of the studies are focused on strains belonging to a restricted group of genera.
Therefore, there is still a wide untapped pool of strains potentially representing precious bioresources in this field that need to be assessed. These untapped bioresources represent an invaluable asset since constant research for new biocontrol agents and bioactive compounds is necessary to keep up with the continuous ongoing process of drug resistance development and to counteract the onset of diseases.
Thanks to the combination of tests that will be performed, this project aims not only to evaluate the strains efficacy as biocontrol agent, but also to provide insights on the mechanisms of their biocontrol action. In fact, understanding by which mechanism a certain biocontrol agent exerts its action constitutes additional information to evaluate for which type of biotechnological application it is most suitable and should therefore be taken into consideration. Thus, increasing the knowledge on bioresources for phytopathogenic fungi biocontrol represent a key strategy to develop new agricultural biotechnologies that will allow to sustain soil productivity and crop yield to meet food demand in an environmentally-friendly and sustainable way.
Finally, considering increasing antimicrobial resistance is a major issue not only in plant pathogens but also in animal and human pathogens (Almeida et al., 2019 DOI 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00214; Fisher et al, 2012 DOI 10.1038/nature10947), selected strains with antimicrobial activity and / or fungal-derived bioactive compounds may also represent useful bioresources for a wider application, to be tested not only against other phytopathogens but also against animal and human pathogens. In fact, the development of new antifungal drugs is urgent to improve both human health and agricultural production.