MAY 16, 2020

Endophyte Group

Agriculture on saline soils is associated with reduced crop yield. Soil salinity increases with long-term use of irrigation, and threatens coastal regions with inundation as sea levels rise. Many Saskatchewan soils are naturally salty. The picture below shows the shore of Chaplain Lake in southern Saskatchewan. The white material is salt, probably sodium sulphate, which is commercially extracted from the lake. We are testing fungal endophytes in the sparse vegetation from this and other similar sites for their ability to confer tolerance to salinity.