Transplant Science

BTI researchers look to replicate plant disease suppression by understanding microbial communities in the soil

Gateway, August 17, 2015

By Sarah Perdue

Crop loss due to disease is a major factor in the use of pesticides, but current BTI research is hoping to decrease pesticide use while also increasing crop yields.

“We know that some soils are more disease suppressive than others, and the same crops grown in disease suppressive soil are healthier than those grown in normal soil,” said Zewei Song, a postdoctoral fellow in plant pathology. His work, which could lead to less pesticide runoff from farmland into lakes and streams, is funded in part by a MnDRIVE: Environment postdoctoral fellowship.