04/20/05 UI scientist develops non-toxic pesticide

University of Idaho microbiologist Don Crawford has put bacteria to work against fungi. He's developed a pesticide that has a specific strain of bacteria to attack fungi which causes extensive root damage to turf, greenhouse, nursery and agricultural crops. CRAWFORD "It helps the plant assimilate nutrients from the soil, for example iron. And then the additional property is that if fungal pathogens try to invade the roots it also inhibits the fungal pathogens growth and prevents them from actually accessing the roots. So it does two things. It promotes plant growth while protecting the plant against fungal diseases." Crawford and a U of I grad student isolated the bacteria strain in 1995 and patented it. CRAWFORD "This is a group that's well known for producing antibiotics and this particular strain is called Streptomyces lydicus and the strain we call it strain WYEC108." It took five years for a decision but the Environmental Protection Agency now allows the use of the strain as a fungicide. Thanks to EPA registration production has soared at a small Moscow spin-off company Innovative Biosystems. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott