by PYoungbaer » Jul 23, 2013 8:27 am
Dave,
The latest issue of the BCI newsletter featured an article on this research ("The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend"), which involves bacteria as a biological control. I've asked BCI if this has been published elsewhere so we can post the scientific link, but the key person is on vacation this week.
The article focuses on the work of GSU grad student Chris Cornelison, a microbiologist, and the bacterium Rhodococcus rhodochrous
It is a promising article, and the lab success is encouraging. The article concludes by saying that, if ultimately successful, bacterial mats may be able to be placed in hibernacula during hibernation season, keep the fungus at bay, and then be removed for the summer. They say the necessary precautionary things about needing to study the full effect on the cave environment before doing it in a cave. I would expect that, if the tests continue successfully, it may be tried in a mine hibernaculum first.
The fact that G.d has been renamed P.d. would be irrelevant, as they tested it on the actual G.d (now P.d.) fungus.
Peter