Metarhizium, a widespread soil-borne fungus that feasts upon more than 200 different kinds of insects, has long been known to be an insect pathogen, destroying soil-borne pests by robbing them of nitrogen.
But breakthrough research by biologist Michael Bidochka and his team two years ago found that the fungus is also able to transfer nitrogen from the insects that they kill to plants via their root systems, making the fungus a natural fertilizer as well as an insect repellant in agriculture.
“This discovery generates new knowledge that enables us to better understand the nitrogen cycle and soil ecosystems,” Bidochka said at the time. “We’re going to go on and do more complex things based on this research.”
He and his team will now do just that, thanks to a $165,000 grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).
On June 26, NSERC announced the results of the 2014 Discovery Grants, scholarships and fellowships competitions for universities across the country.
Eleven Brock University researchers received funding totaling $1,275,000 over 2014-2019. Of the 11 who were successful, nine currently held a grant, while the remaining two regained funding after previous unsuccessful applications.
“Our success rate for those already holding a grant is an impressive 82 per cent, higher than the national average,” says Joffre Mercier, associate vice-president research of Natural and Health Sciences.
“This attests to the leading-edge quality of our researchers’ work and our growing reputation as a research-intensive university,” he said, adding that Brock received one Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) grant, giving Brock a 33 per cent success rate in that category.
Bidochka’s program, “Plant-fungal communication: using an endophytic insect pathogen fungus as a model,” will enable the scientists to have a deeper understanding of their earlier findings.
“The award will be used to continue research on beneficial fungi that are plant symbionts as well as insect pathogens,” says Bidochka. “We are hoping 