SBIR Phase II: GABA-Mediated Nitrogen Efficiency

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目解决了对增产作物的需求。产量与氮素利用直接相关，受气候影响较大。Plant Sensory Systems开发了一种转基因植物，可以提高植物的氮素利用效率（NUE）和对干旱和高温的耐受性。该修饰为植物中γ -氨基丁酸（GABA）的合成开辟了一条新的途径。一期研究表明，与野生型相比，转基因模式植物在限氮和足氮条件下具有更强的耐旱性和耐热性，产量更高。在第二阶段，基因结构将在农作物中进行测试，以证明商业可行性。纯合子玉米系在限氮、限水和充足条件下的农艺性能将被确定。这项研究的更广泛影响是稳定经济的农业部门和减少农业对环境的不利影响。这一创新将带来产量更高、生产成本更低的作物。减少对氮肥的需求将降低种植者的成本，并通过减少流入流域的氮量而显著节约环境。此外，减少化肥的生产和施用将减少温室气体的排放。这项创新赋予了作物对气候变化的耐受性，这也将降低作物生产成本并提高产量。在积极寻求提高NUE和增值特性的市场中，所提出的技术具有巨大的商业潜力。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project addresses the need for crops with increased yield. Yield is directly related to nitrogen (N) utilization and is dramatically affected by climate. Plant Sensory Systems has developed a genetic modification to plants that increases their N use efficiency (NUE) and tolerance to drought and high temperatures. The modification is the insertion of a novel pathway for making gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in plants. Phase I research demonstrated that the genetically modified model plants were more drought- and heat tolerant and had higher yield in both N-limited and N-sufficient conditions compared to wildtype plants. In Phase II the gene construct will be tested in a crop plant to demonstrate commercial feasibility. Agronomic performance in N- and water-limited and sufficient conditions will be determined in homozygote corn lines.The broader impacts of this research are the stabilization of the agronomic sector of the economy and a reduction in adverse effects of agriculture on the environment. The innovation would lead to crops with higher yields that cost less to produce. The need for less N fertilizer would reduce costs to the growers and have significant environmental savings by reducing the amount of N that runs into the watershed. Moreover, a reduction in fertilizer production and application would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The innovation confers tolerance to climate changes, which would also reduce crop-production costs and increase yield. The proposed technology has great commercial potential in a market actively seeking increased NUE and value-added traits.