Plant parasitic nematodes cause large losses in agricultural plant production every year – worldwide and in NRW. Nematicides are largely prohibited in many countries – including Germany – and horticultural measures such as resistant or tolerant plant varieties, if available, often fail to solve the problem completely. Thus, the development of new, effective and environmentally compatible control measures is necessary.

One promising opportunity is the use of naturally occurring, microbiological molecules such as rhamnolipids. This is precisely where the cooperation of both BioSC core groups at the University of Bonn and RWTH Aachen comes in. This interdisciplinary collaboration started with the BioSC project NovoSurf and is continuing with the triennial joint project “Tailor-made rhamnolipids as nature-inspired nematode control agents for sustainable sugar beet production” that started in 2017 and is sponsored by the BMBF.

Within the NovoSurf project, scientists from both groups have discovered that rhamnolipids are very effective against nematodes. In the NemaContAnt project, the team will now show that a new, tailor-made, bio-based and environmentally friendly product for nematode control can be developed from rhamnolipids.

The production of rhamnolipids is optimized at the iAMB in Aachen. The aim is to increase product yield, structurally diversify the rhamnolipids and purify the molecule more efficiently. The use of molasses - a biological, renewable raw material from sugar refining - will be tested and optimized for rhamnolipid production. Furthermore the production process will be economically evaluated. At the MPM in Bonn, the rhamnolipids produced by the iAMB will be examined and tested for their effectiveness against beet cyst nematodes and their influence on the host plant in order to identify the most promising molecule. Additional studies should be carried out to understand the mechanism of action and to show whether the rhamnolipids affect non-target organisms in the plant-associated microbiome. On this scientific basis, rhamnolipids can be developed into products for practical application.

Project partners

Prof. Florian Grundler, Dr. Sylvia Schleker, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Protection (INRES), Moleculare Phytomedicine (MPM), University of Bonn
Prof. Lars Blank, Dr. Till Tiso, Institute of Applied Microbiology (iAMB), RWTH Aachen University

Contact (project management/coordination)

Dr. Sylvia Schleker

INRES – Moleculare phytomedicine, University Bonn
Karlrobert-Kreiten-Str. 13
D - 53115 Bonn
Tel.: +49 (0)228 73-3900
e-mail: sylvia.schleker@uni-bonn.de