SBIR-STTR Award

Today, the American farmer and consumer is looking for nontoxic products to control pests. Biological control and related technologies have the potential to provide these nontoxic solutions for the control of plant pests and to increase plant growth and yield. Among the direct effects of biocontrol agents are: (a) disease control through induced resistance, (b) increased growth of roots and shoots (seed treatments may give season-long effects), (c) increased drought tolerance, (d) increased leaf greenness that probably results in greater photosynthetic rates, and (e) increased yields of a variety of crops. Similarly, rhizobacteria in the genera Pseudomonas and Bacillus have abilities to control plant diseases through multiple mechanisms, including antibiotic production and induced resistance. However, rhizobia (bacteria in the genera Bradyrhizobium, Rhizobium and Sinorhizobium) nodulate legumes and fix nitrogen, via complex plant-microbe interactions. OBJECTIVES: The goal of this project is to develop new and improved strains of biocontrol agents and delivery systems to meet the increased demand of the consumer for nontoxic solutions to pest problems by December 31, 2008. The objectives are: 1. To improve the existing formulation process to provide higher and more reproducible levels of viable bacteria and greater shelf life. 2. To develop strains of Trichoderma for seed treatment on wheat and other crops that provide significantly better performance than T. harzianum strain T22. 3. To develop methods for at least partial control of powdery mildew on foliage of greenhouse crops by seed or soil treatments that induce systemic resistance in plants. APPROACH: The grant will focus on three areas for highly successful biocontrol systems. 1. Elite microbial strains selected for high levels of efficacy. Strains of Trichoderma, Bacillus, and Bradyrhizobia are in hand and will be evaluated individually and in combinations to determine the most effective use. 2.Highly efficient microbial production systems. Microbial products must be produced efficiently to high quality standards. Depending upon the organism being produced, either liquid or semi-solid fermentation may be more cost-effective and produce the higher quality product. These systems are proprietary and will not be described here because of confidentiality issues. 3. Formulation processes.Once the microbial agents are produced, they must be formulated into highly effective products. ABM, together with Dr. Harman at Cornell University, has developed and filed a patent for a universal method of formulating microbial inoculants. The system can be used with any microbe that produces cells or spores that can be processed as a suspension in water. The concentrated cells or spores are mixed with dry powders; cellulose and cyclodextrins are the preferred materials

The proposed phase II project focuses on an economically and environmentally important project, which is to develop and document efficacy of wheat seed treatments that will increase yields and enable a reduction in nitrogen fertilizer use in this crop. Nitrogen fertilizer not taken up by crops is readily leached into waterways as nitrates and nitrates that enhance algal blooms that, when they decompose, result in hypoxic zones where plant and animal life cannot survive, thus giving rise to `dead zones' in lakes, bays and estuaries. It may also be converted to nitrous oxides that enter the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. The amounts of nitrogen fertilizer applied to wheat average about 75 lb/acre and there are about 60 million acres of wheat in the USA, so there are about 1.5 billion pounds of N fertilizer applied to wheat each year at a cost to farmers of about $375 to 750 million dollars. We anticipate that we can decrease the amount of N required to 50 lb/acre, for a cost savings of $120 to 240 million dollars. In addition, we expect to increase wheat yields by about 6 bushels (average with T. harzianum T22, which already is deployed on about 1 million acres of wheat; the new ones are expected to be better). OBJECTIVES: The overall objective is to develop and market Trichoderma seed treatments for wheat that increase yields and farm profitability, and specific objectives are (1) to evaluate the ability of the seed treatments to enhance nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency so that N fertilizer rates can be reduced by 33% and increase wheat yields, and (2) to enhance our knowledge of the mechanisms involved in improved N uptake. The first step in this effort is to produce appropriate formulations to be used by commercial seed treaters; this knowledge already is in hand. The next step is to establish a series of field trials in both year 1 and 2 around the country that compares the older strain T22 with the new strains at a series of N levels. APPROACH: The first step in this effort is to produce appropriate formulations to be used by commercial seed treaters; this knowledge already is in hand. The next step is to establish a series of field trials in both year 1 and 2 around the country that compares the older strain T22 with the new strains at a series of N levels. All of these will be in replicated complete block designs. One of these will be more elaborate and near ABM's Cornell cooperator and will include the capability to measure a variety of factors, ranging from root growth to yield. In addition, one mechanism of the increased N use efficiency is increased root growth and this will be measured at Cornell. In addition, nitrate reductase is the major limiting step in nitrogen assimilation into plants and this will be measured as well in both shoots and roots and in the presence or absence of Trichoderma strains. This data set is designed to permit rapid and credible deployment of sales of this technology into the marketplace