Enhanced production of select phytocannabinoids in medical Cannabis cultivars using microbial consortia

Bulbul Ahmed; František Beneš; Jana Hajšlová; Lenka Fišarová; Miroslav Vosátka; Mohamed Hijri

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1219836

Enhanced production of select phytocannabinoids in medical Cannabis cultivars using microbial consortia

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Aug 31:14:1219836. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1219836. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Bulbul Ahmed^{1

2}, František Beneš³, Jana Hajšlová³, Lenka Fišarová⁴, Miroslav Vosátka⁴, Mohamed Hijri^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ African Genome Center, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Ben Guerir, Morocco.
² Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
³ Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Czechia.
⁴ Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czechia.

Abstract

The root microbiome of medical cannabis plants has been largely unexplored due to past legal restrictions in many countries. Microbes that live on and within the tissue of Cannabis sativa L. similar to other plants, provide advantages such as stimulating plant growth, helping it absorb minerals, providing protection against pathogen attacks, and influencing the production of secondary metabolites. To gain insight into the microbial communities of C. sativa cultivars with different tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) profiles, a greenhouse trial was carried out with and without inoculants added to the growth substrate. Illumina MiSeq metabarcoding was used to analyze the root and rhizosphere microbiomes of the five cultivars. Plant biomass production showed higher levels in three of five cultivars inoculated with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis and microbial suspension. The blossom dry weight of the cultivar THE was greater when inoculated with R. irregularis and microbial suspension than with no inoculation. Increasing plant biomass and blossom dry weight are two important parameters for producing cannabis for medical applications. In mature Cannabis, 12 phytocannabinoid compounds varied among cultivars and were affected by inoculants. Significant differences (p ≤ 0.01) in concentrations of cannabidivarinic acid (CBDVA), cannabidivarin (CBDV), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabidiol (CBD), and cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) were observed in all Cannabis cultivars when amended with F, K1, and K2 inoculants. We found microbes that were shared among cultivars. For example, Terrimicrobium sp., Actinoplanes sp., and Trichoderma reesei were shared by the cultivars ECC-EUS-THE, CCL-ECC, and EUS-THE, respectively. Actinoplanes sp. is a known species that produces phosphatase enzymes, while Trichoderma reesei is a fungal train that produces cellulase and contributes to organic matter mineralization. However, the role of Terrimicrobium sp. as an anaerobic bacterium remains unknown. This study demonstrated that the use of inoculants had an impact on the production of phytocannabinoids in five Cannabis cultivars. These inoculants could have useful applications for optimizing cannabis cultivation practices and increasing the production of phytocannabinoids.

Keywords: Cannabis; arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; bioinoculant; microbiome; phytocannabinoids; rhizosphere.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by The Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Nature et Technologies (FRQNT) B3X fellowship to BA; the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery grant to MH; the Biotechnology of Hemp Cultivation for CBD Products (No. FV40103) from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Czech Republic, to JH; and the Biorefining as Circulation Technology (No. TN01000048) from the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic to MV, which we gratefully acknowledged.