SBIR Phase II: Enzymatic Synthesis of Insect Pheromones

SBIR 第二阶段：昆虫信息素的酶法合成

• 批准号: 1556064
• 负责人: Mike Chen
• 金额: $ 73.8万
• 依托单位: Provivi Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-02-15 至 2018-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1556064&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Enzymatic; Synthesis

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project is a breakthrough in insect control for the agricultural industry. Provivi, Inc. intends to develop biosynthesis technology for producing insect pheromones, with a dramatic reduction in the cost of goods sold compared to existing syntheses. This will enable the use of pheromones beyond niche markets such as fruits and nuts: the target market for Provivi?s pheromone products are large acreage row crops. By introducing pheromone-based control as an inexpensive alternative in these markets, we are meeting a growing demand as conventional insecticides are becoming increasingly incapable of protecting crops due to insect resistance, regulatory constraints, and detrimental effects on beneficial insects. The societal and environmental benefits of using pheromones are numerous: pheromones are considered the safest possible insecticides with respect to human food consumption as well as environmental impact. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has characterized them as low risk. Our pheromone products will benefit consumers by creating a safer food supply with lower chemical residues, growers by introducing an effective and novel pest control solution and the environment by reducing the chemical exposure to the ecosystem. The objectives of this Phase II research project are to improve the selectivity and productivity of our prototype biocatalyst to target commercial performance, and to demonstrate pheromone synthesis from a cheap feedstock using this biocatalyst. PRovivi's proprietary biocatalyst utilizes a novel monooxygenase to catalyze a reaction not found in nature. The research product of this project will expand the scientific knowledge for this class of biocatalysts. Additionally, since this class of biocatalysts has not been optimized for commercial viability for the specific reaction of interest, this research program could provide impactful research learnings to achieve target commercial performance. These learnings include but are not limited to changes in the biocatalyst physiology, metabolic pathways and potential stress responses. This research could provide valuable knowledge for both commercial and academic biocatalysis research that utilize this class of biocatalysts.

该小企业创新研究第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是农业昆虫控制方面的突破。 Provivi, Inc. 打算开发用于生产昆虫信息素的生物合成技术，与现有合成技术相比，可大幅降低销售商品的成本。这将使信息素的使用超越水果和坚果等利基市场：Provivi 信息素产品的目标市场是大面积行耕作物。通过在这些市场引入基于信息素的控制作为一种廉价的替代方案，我们满足了日益增长的需求，因为传统杀虫剂由于昆虫抗性、监管限制以及对有益昆虫的有害影响而越来越无法保护作物。使用信息素的社会和环境效益众多：就人类食物消耗和环境影响而言，信息素被认为是最安全的杀虫剂。美国环境保护署将其定性为低风险。我们的信息素产品将通过创造更安全、化学残留更少的食品供应来造福消费者，通过引入有效且新颖的害虫防治解决方案来造福种植者，并通过减少化学物质对生态系统的暴露来造福环境。 该第二阶段研究项目的目标是提高原型生物催化剂的选择性和生产率，以实现商业性能，并展示使用这种生物催化剂从廉价原料合成信息素。 PROvivi 的专有生物催化剂利用新型单加氧酶来催化自然界中未发现的反应。该项目的研究产品将扩展此类生物催化剂的科学知识。此外，由于此类生物催化剂尚未针对感兴趣的特定反应的商业可行性进行优化，因此该研究计划可以提供有影响力的研究学习，以实现目标商业绩效。这些知识包括但不限于生物催化剂生理学、代谢途径和潜在应激反应的变化。这项研究可以为利用此类生物催化剂的商业和学术生物催化研究提供宝贵的知识。