EPO (European Patent Office) decided to grant a European patent to a team of scientists from the Interuniversity Faculty of Biotechnology UG and GUMed. The invention covered by the patent may find application in a friendly and safe for the environment and people, biological protection of cultivated and ornamental plants against bacterial pathogens.
The decision to grant a European patent relates to the invention Composition of antagonistic bacterial strains for protection of plants against bacterial infections or treatment of plants infected with bacteria and their use (a mixture of friendly, beneficial bacteria, a so-called synthetic micro-consortium of antagonistic bacteria, used on economically important plants to protect those plants against pathogens - bacteria that cause plant diseases).
The European patent gives the possibility to protect the invention in a wide territorial area outside the country. After the market analysis and assessment of potential recipients of the technology - the University of Gdańsk, in consultation with the inventors, will decide on patent validation in specific countries.
The inventors of the invention are: dr hab. Robert Czajkowski, prof. UG (project manager), mgr Tomasz Maciąg, dr Dorota M. Krzyżanowska, dr hab. Sylwia Jafra, prof. UG and dr Joanna Siwińska (project contractors) from the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG and GUMed of the University of Gdańsk.
Research on the invention was carried out within the project LEADER VI: PATBIOCON: Utilisation of synergistic action of lytic bacteriophages and antagonistic bacteria in biological protection of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) against pectinolytic bacteria of the genera Pectobacterium spp. and Dickeya spp., headed by dr hab. Robert Czajkowski, prof. UG.
- 'Bacterial diseases cause huge economic losses in agriculture worldwide. Commonly used chemical crop and ornamental plant protection products are often toxic to humans, animals and the environment and therefore innovative, safe and natural methods are being sought for biological plant protection against pathogens. One of such methods is the use of human and environment-friendly beneficial bacteria (antagonistic to pathogens) and their consortia (mixtures),' - explains dr hab. Robert Czajkowski, prof. UG. - 'The innovation of the solution lies in the use of mixtures of bacteria of different species and not in single strains, as it is usually done in various agricultural applications. In order to bring closer the topic of mixtures of microorganisms for use as plant protection products, my team and I have written a chapter in the book How Research Can Stimulate the Development of Commercial Biological Control Against Plant Diseases,' he adds.
In September 2020, the decision to grant the University of Gdańsk a patent for the invention whose creators are scientists from the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Gdańsk and the Medical University of Gdańsk was taken by the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland.
Project website: www.patbiocon.pl