SBIR Phase II: Enzymatic Synthesis of Insect Pheromones

这一小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是农业病虫害防治方面的突破。普罗维维公司打算开发生产昆虫信息素的生物合成技术，与现有的合成方法相比，销售商品的成本将大幅降低。这将使信息素的使用超越水果和坚果等利基市场：普罗维？S信息素产品的目标市场是大面积行作物。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，我们正在满足日益增长的需求，因为由于抗虫性、监管限制和对有益昆虫的有害影响，传统杀虫剂越来越不能保护作物。使用信息素的社会和环境效益是多方面的：信息素被认为是人类食物消费和环境影响方面可能最安全的杀虫剂。美国环境保护局将其描述为低风险。我们的信息素产品将通过创造更安全的食品供应和更低的化学残留量而使消费者受益，通过引入有效和新颖的虫害控制解决方案使种植者受益，并通过减少对生态系统的化学暴露而使环境受益。这个第二阶段研究项目的目标是提高我们的原型生物催化剂的选择性和生产率，以达到商业性能，并展示使用这种生物催化剂从廉价的原料中合成信息素。PRovivi的专利生物催化剂利用一种新型的单加氧酶来催化自然界中没有的反应。该项目的研究成果将为这一类生物催化剂拓展科学知识。此外，由于这类生物催化剂没有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效的研究性学习，以实现目标的商业表现。这些研究包括但不限于生物催化剂生理、代谢途径和潜在应激反应的变化。这项研究可以为利用这类生物催化剂的商业和学术生物催化研究提供有价值的知识。

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.