Page 138 - Plant Canada 2024 Proceeding

PLANT CANADA 2024

*[O73] BIOCONTROL ACTIVITY OF BACILLUS SP. OF PHYTOMICROBIOME AGAINST BOTRYTIS
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CINEREA IN CANNABIS SATIVA. Haleema Tariq , Anja Geitmann , and Donald Smith . Department of
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Plant Science, Macdonald Campus, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
Correspondence to: donald.smith@mcgill.ca

Cannabis is a promising medicinal plant that is used for relieving pain, relaxing muscles, improving sleep,
and treating many neurological disorders. Cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (CBD) and
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are important secondary metabolites produced by Cannabis and have been
used as analgesics. Botrytis cinerea is a fungal pathogen that affects a wide range of crops worldwide
including Cannabis. It compromises the ability of Cannabis producers to achieve the desired secondary
metabolite profiles and overall productivity. Controlling this fungus using fungicides costs more than $1
billion annually, and the residual fungicides on plants lead to health concerns for consumers. Gray mold
caused by B. cinerea causes significant losses in both indoor and outdoor production systems and
decreases Cannabis yield by up to 32%. With the rapid expansion of the cultivation of Cannabis,
especially in North America, there is a need to focus on pathogen attacks in this crop plant. Plant growth-
promoting rhizobacteria have a potential role in sustainable food production, particularly in the presence
of biotic and abiotic stresses, including those associated with global climate change, to feed our growing
global population. Plant-beneficial microbes provide an alternative and can be suitable tools for Botrytis
control and enhance overall crop productivity in an environmentally sustainable way. The current study
focuses on the biocontrol activity of bacteria against Botrytis cinerea of the cannabis plant. Morphological
analysis and scanning electron microscopy helped us determine the interaction between biocontrol
(microbes) and Botrytis. Microbiological studies performed to characterize the selected beneficial bacteria
for their ability to produce lytic enzymes involved in plant pathogenic inhibition and plant growth
stimulation revealed cellulase, protease, lipase, amylase, ACC-deaminase and phosphatase activity. The
study allowed the detection of several enzymatic mechanisms involved in plant growth and protection and
revealed the potential of members of phytomicrobiomes as a biocontrol and biostimulant in cannabis
plants. The current project aims to reduce fungal pathogen infection (Botrytis cinerea) in Cannabis plants
using plant-beneficial microbes which will help the producers and sellers in reducing the limitations of
Cannabis production and limit the use of synthetic fungicides that are harmful to human health and
increase greenhouse gas emission.

[O74] GENETIC CONTROL OF FLOWERING IN CANNABIS SATIVA. Soheil S. Mahmoud.
The University of British Columbia | Okanagan campus, Kelowna, BC, Canada
Correspondence to: soheil.mahmoud@ubc.ca

We employed RNA-Seq and differential transcript expression analysis to identify genes that control flower
initiation and development in Cannabis sativa. They study led to the identification of several differentially
expressed MADS-box type transcription factor genes, homologous to those that control flower initiation
and organ identity in Arabidopsis thaliana. In this presentation I will review the cloning and in planta
functional analysis of some of these genes. Inn summary, we constitutively expressed TF genes in A.
thaliana plants, and evaluated the effects on flower initiation, flower morphology, and monoterpene
metabolism in flowers. Our results demonstrated that ectopic expression of SVP can severely affect
flower organ identity. However, overexpression of SEP and AGL orthologs does affects floral morphology,
although plant growth and development, and timing of flowering could be impacted in transformed plants.
These TFs do not appear to affect monoterpene production in transformed plants.
Keywords: Cannabis sativa, Arabidopsis thaliana, flower timing, organ identity, transcription factors

[O75] HOW TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMAL FLOWERING-STAGE PHOTOPERIOD FOR CANNABIS
PRODUCTION. Youbin Zheng. School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road
East, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada
Correspondence to: yzheng@uoguelph.ca

Cannabis sativa (cannabis) is a short-day plant. High-THC ((–)-Delta-9-trans-tetrahydrocannabinol)
cannabis has been increasingly cultivated in controlled environments for medical and recreational
usages. To promote flowering and produce high-yield inflorescence, and to ensure the inflorescences
contain the highest cannabinoids and terpenoids, cultivators predominantly employ a 12-hour (h)

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