A research field prepped for inoculation and treatment. Photo courtesy of Reed Jacobson.
Goss’s corn wilt lies in wait for farmers, invisible for six years or longer, before striking when they least expect it. A bacterial infection causes the disease, characterized by wavy brown lesions and stem rot, and mainly affecting corn in the Upper Midwest. For fields affected by corn wilt, yields can drop by 50 percent.
Mikael Elias took up the problem five years ago, picking up where Professor Emeritus Mike Sadowsky left off when he retired. Elias, a professor and Cargill Endowed Chair for Biotechnology Innovation, conducts research with the goals of deciphering bacterial language and using it to control microbes. He is not a plant scientist by training, but he loves bringing his students and post-doctoral researchers out of the lab and in pursuit of real-world solutions. Elias’ lab on the St. Paul campus is just a stone’s throw from research fields and world-renowned agronomists.
“We can modify bacterial behaviors in many different environments,” he said. “But my lab does not have the expertise to test everything ourselves… It's the great strength of the University [of Minnesota] to be able to find experts in all these areas, whether it’s to work with dentists on dental plaque, or colleagues working on bio-corrosion, or with plants, and colleagues like Mike Sadowsky helped move the project to the next level.”
Numerous bacteria communicate through a process called quorum sensing, sending each other signals to coordinate behaviors, such as those involved in the processes of infection. Elias and his lab found an enzyme — a kind of protein — that disrupts that communication.
But to discover if they can truly help corn farmers, they needed to take the enzyme out of the lab and over to Minnesota Biomanufacturing Services, whose staff created batches of the special enzyme in huge vats, before delivering a final pure product that looks — to the naked eye as well as on a molecular level — like muscle-building protein powder. Then, it was off to the University of Minnesota’s crop research plots at the Rosemount Research and Outreach Station, or the Southern Research and Outreach Station, in Waseca.
Applying trace quantities of the enzyme to the diseased test fields was an often sweltering job that involved bending over and over again to inspect knee-high corn shoots, recalled Reed Jacobson, who recently earned his Ph.D. in Elias’ lab. But the results made everything worth it.
“It’s very visual,” Jacobson recalled. “You can see the enzyme working. I was trying not to analyze it too much [in that moment] but it was exciting to be able to see something happening while we were out there collecting.”
Jacobson has since moved to a postdoctoral position within the lab, where he will continue working on enzyme treatments, as well as mentoring undergraduate students. Many former research assistants keep in touch and reminisce about the hot days out in the field.
“It is a cool experience getting to show undergrads science,” Jacobson said. “They’re always optimistic and eager to be out there.”
Elias, too, is optimistic. He thinks such enzyme treatments — combined with hybrid corn varieties that resist the disease — can help to rarify or even effectively eradicate corn wilt. To make that happen, Elias wants to figure out the best time of year to apply the treatment, evaluate regulatory approval, and scale testing, a timeline that could take many more years. In the meantime, he is pursuing a host of other projects across disciplines.
“We’re very interested in giving [students] a chance to translate lab creations into real life, into useful solutions,” Elias said.
-Hugh Gabriel