This year, iGEM Bordeaux is focusing their energy on finding an eco-friendly solution to prevent Downy Mildew, a grapevine disease caused by a parasite called Plasmapora viticola. Currently, vinyards spray their fields with copper sulfate, also known as "bouillie bordelaise" to protect their grapevines. Although this treatment is efficient and does help to protect the plant from harmful microorganisms, this method has a bad environmental and sanitary impact since the copper present in the treatment infiltrates in the ground and prevents the growth of other types of plants, therefore impacting the biodiversity of the region. Furthermore, a long term contamination can create symptoms like headache, stomachache, flu-like statement (the “metal-fume fever”), or renal and hepatic dysfunctions for humans living in these contaminated ares.
To solve these problems, our 2015 team proposes an alternative treatment: replacing copper sulfate by Curdlan, a sugar biopolymer which stimulates the plant's immune system. All this will be done using non-pathogenic micro-organisms which can easily be grown in our lab: Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae