Professor Ching-Hong Yang and his research team have secured a $1 million dollar grant from the USDA Organic Transit program, advancing the innovative project titled “Revolutionizing Organic Fire Blight Management: Harnessing the Power of Novel Biocontrol Bacterium Pseudomonas soli T307.” Their studies have highlighted Pseudomonas soli strain T307 as a potent biocontrol agent, capable of inhibiting E. amylovora, the pathogen responsible for apple fire blight, through the secretion of a novel antimicrobial compound, RejuAgro A (RAA) from P. soli T307.

Comparable in potency to the antibiotic streptomycin, P. soli T307 has demonstrated the suppression of fire blight in controlled greenhouse experiments and shown promise in field tests. However, challenges arise due to inconsistent production of RAA from P. soli T307 under field conditions. Addressing this, Dr. Yang’s team has discovered that integrating natural inducers enhances RAA production in P. soli T307. Furthermore, the awarded proposal explicitly plans to complement this strategy by integrating additional methods to induce host immunity. The team will establish an integrated blossom blight management program, offering organic farmers a sustainable fire blight management solution, enhancing crop yields and farm productivity. Leading the awarded grant as Principal Investigator, Dr. Yang will collaborate with Co-PIs Dr. Quan Zeng from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and Kerik Cox from Cornell University.