Isolation of plant growth promoting reagents that boost plant host immunity

The soluble and insoluble seaweed extract products (ASLTM) of the Acadian Seaplants Limited (ASL) hasdemonstrated great potentials in improving agricultural practice in Canada. The ASLTM has been used for asnutrients for tissue culture and biostimulant for plant growth and development. However, the possibleapplication of ASLTM in boosting plant innate immunity, thereby preventing the loss in agricultureproductivity that is caused by various phytopathogens has not been previously explored. The company (ASL)sees tremendous potential for new markets in developing ASLTM into a product that will boost plantimmunity, but they lack the in-house capability to carry out the plant immune assays to understand theunderlying mechanisms involved in plant defense against various pathogens. The ASL requires the assistanceand expertise in plant innate immunity in Dr. Cheng's laboratory in the Department of Microbiology andImmunology at Dalhousie University. Dr. Zhenyu Cheng has been trained at Harvard Medical School in thefield of plant-pathogen interactions and made seminal contributions to the field. Dr. Cheng's work has beenpublished recently in the prestigious journal Nature.The proposed NSERC Engage program is directed toward developing a detailed molecular understanding ofthe mechanisms underlying how ASLTM activates a plant innate immune response. More specifically, Dr.Cheng's lab will test the ability of the ASLTM to activate several well-established plant innate immune assaysin their lab, including induction of plant defense-related genes, elicitation of oxidative burst, and activation ofkey immune regulators. This will provide the company with information necessary to develop the materialsinto a commercial product. The ASL will directly benefit from the data produced from this project, which willenable the company to create a whole new aspect to generate revenue using ASLTM. In summary, this workwill contribute in the long run to enhanced agricultural production while maintaining environmentally-friendly,sustainable agricultural practices.