SBIR Phase I: Novel Biomimetic Production of Broad-Spectrum Fungicide BioSurF-I

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是开发一种生物杀菌剂，用于有机农场以及传统农场和家庭和草坪护理，作为化学杀菌剂的替代品。超过70%的主要作物病害是由真菌引起的。尽管采取了密集的疾病控制措施，但这些病原体仍造成平均13%的作物损失，每年的经济损失高达1000亿美元。拟议的研究将通过开发减少或消除化学农药使用的方法/技术来满足可持续粮食生产的需要。它将通过诱导作物的系统抗性来减少植物病原体、昆虫害虫和非生物胁迫对作物的影响。与化学杀真菌剂不同，它将是生态友好的，并将防止植物病原体产生抗真菌抗性。此外，减少化学杀真菌剂的使用（使用化石燃料生产）将减少美国对化石燃料的依赖，促进环境的可持续性。SBIR第一阶段项目旨在开发一种新型、广谱的生物杀菌剂，作为化学杀菌剂的替代品。该新型广谱杀真菌剂基于利用非病原微生物和低成本碳底物的发酵策略。在体外和体内测定中的抗真菌活性测试证明了对在谷物、水果和蔬菜作物中引起疾病的多种真菌病原体的广谱杀真菌活性。使用由化石燃料产生的化学杀真菌剂已被证明对非目标生物和哺乳动物具有不利的环境影响。此外，需要化学杀真菌剂的组合来实现作物保护，然而真菌病原体很快变得对化学杀真菌剂具有抗性。所提出的广谱生物杀真菌剂对哺乳动物没有毒性，并且已被证明对蜜蜂等非目标节肢动物是安全的。它也被证明不会抑制有益真菌的生长。作为第一阶段研究计划的一部分，目标是扩大生产规模，并在小面积试验中测试正在开发的生物杀真菌剂。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be the development of a biofungicide for application on organic farms as well as conventional farms and home and lawn care as an alternative to chemical fungicides. More than 70% of all major crop diseases are caused by fungi. Despite intensive disease control practices, these pathogens are still causing crop losses averaging 13% with economic losses up to $100 billion annually. The proposed research will address the need for sustainable food production by development of methods/technologies to reduce or eliminate the usage of chemical pesticides. It will reduce the impact of plant pathogens, insect pests, and abiotic stresses on crop plants by inducing systemic resistance in crops. Unlike chemical fungicides, it will be eco-friendly and will prevent development of anti-fungal resistance in plant pathogens. Furthermore, reduction in chemical fungicide usage (produced using fossil fuels) will reduce US dependence on fossil fuels and promote environmental sustainability. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a novel, broad spectrum, biofungicide for crop protection as an alternative to chemical fungicides. The novel broad spectrum fungicide is based on a fermentative strategy utilizing non-pathogenic microorganisms and low-cost carbon substrates. Antifungal activity testing in in vitro and in vivo assays demonstrated broad spectrum fungicidal activity against multiple fungal pathogens that cause diseases in cereals, fruit, and vegetable crops. The use of chemical fungicides produced from fossil fuels has been shown to have adverse environmental effects on non-target organisms, and mammals. In addition, combinations of chemical fungicides are required to attain crop protection, yet fungal pathogens quickly become resistant to chemical fungicides. The proposed broad spectrum biofungicide has no mammalian toxicity, and has been shown to be safe for non-target anthropods like honey bees. It also has been shown to not inhibit the growth of beneficial fungi. As part of the Phase I research plan, the aims are to scale up production and test the biofungicide under development in small plot trials.