Qatar University researchers develop alternative to harmful chemical pesticides

Date:03-22-2021

Chemical pesticides have long been used as pest control agents for human and plant protection. But growing concern over the effects of these harmful substances, particularly their toxicity and unspecific mode of action, pushed scientists to explore much safer alternatives. 

Qatar University (QU) researchers, in collaboration with WHO Collaborating Center at the University of Montpellier, France, developed a wide range of biopesticides produced naturally by nonpathogenic, friendly bacteria isolated from Qatar soil. 

Biopesticides are natural molecules acting efficiently and specifically on the targeted pathogens. They are considered a safe alternative to chemical pesticides, as they are harmless to humans, the environment, and food chains.

Project leader Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Biotechnology at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sc., College of Arts and Sciences (QU), Prof. Samir Jaoua said, “The extensive use of chemical pesticides is very harmful to humans, animals and the environment due to the toxicity of these chemical substances. If we continue to use them, they will accumulate in the environment and cause several diseases to humans. In biological agriculture, for example, the use of these pesticides is not allowed.”

Prof. Samir has been working on the project with his collaborators Dr. Roda Al-Thani, Dhabia Al-Thani, Fatima Al-Yafei, Abeer Al-Mohannadi, Dr. Zahoor Ul Hassan, Prof. Quirico Migheli, and QU Ph.D. and MSc students Kavita Nair, Randa Zeidan, and Reem Al-Asmar. This team, along with many other students, set up and produced different types of biopesticides to potentially use them in regional bio-industries, “to protect the environment and save human and animal lives, while also efficiently and safely controlling pests and disease vectors,” Prof. Samir noted. 

Also commenting, Dr. Al-Thani, Associate Professor of Microbiology at QU, said, “This project, which is unique in the Gulf region, is essential as it contributes to the protection of the environment, health, and safety. Our team has isolated from Qatar soil and investigated a collection of several hundreds of B. thuringiensis strains, which can be considered as an important gene bank of Qatari bacterial resources.”

These strains can also be used for the production of many other biomolecules and biopharmaceuticals. The team discovered results showing that some of the B. thuringiensis strains produced antibiotic and anti-cancer molecules. 

“This is an excellent biotechnology project, with a very high quality and quantity of results that are very exploitable, at the industrial level,” Dr. Roda added.

Also, Prof. Samir believes that these research results, having been partly published in tens of publications, could be highly impactful.

“We have been isolating and investigating bacterial strains from local Qatar soils and using microbiological and molecular tools to explore them and produce biomolecules of interest. The hundreds of bacterial strains that we have isolated from local soil in Qatar are adapted to this environment and many similar environments in the world.”

Commenting on the particular perks of using Qatar soil, Prof. Samir said, “Qatar soil is a source of microbial gene bank that can be used to produce a huge number of molecules of industrial interests. At QU’s College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, we have isolated a collection of more than 700 bacterial and fungal strains, all very friendly to the environment and producing many molecules of interest. This microbial biobank is a source of molecules that can initiate bioindustries in Qatar.”