PFI-TT: Limiting agricultural loss due to powdery mildew disease

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to reduce agricultural loss due to powdery mildew. The wine and grape industry is a multi-billion dollar industry which is heavily impacted by powdery mildew disease that reduces yield and product quality, resulting in an 'off' flavor. For grapes, powdery mildew treatment represents 75% of pesticide costs, and current treatment methods are becoming less effective. Every grape-bearing acre is treated numerous times in a growing season, typically with sulfur treatments interspersed with the use of systemic fungicides (chemicals that inhibit powdery mildew protein function). However, resistance to currently used fungicides is increasingly common and recent reports suggest that sulfur poses health risks. We are using a non-GMO approach called RNAi (RNA interference) which limits the production of specific powdery mildew chemicals in an environmentally friendly process. In addition, the market for the proposed products will be further explored, and a detailed commercialization plan will be developed with active input from commercialization experts and industry stakeholders. Training in entrepreneurship of women and minorities is an important component of this project, which is led by women and will include women and minority Agriculture Innovation Undergraduate Interns.The proposed project will address the pressing and widespread problem of powdery mildew disease of agriculture, focused on grapevine. Powdery mildew is a ubiquitous pathogen of grapevine that has a major impact on yield and product quality. The team developed a non-GMO RNAi approach to limit the function of specific powdery mildew genes and the means to screen for the targets that most efficiently result in decreased disease on plants. In this proposal, the team will screen for additional novel powdery mildew targets and perform field testing of at least one highly promising RNAi product. Novel powdery mildew targets can be readily identified using this approach and grapevine treatment with distinct RNAi products over the course of the growing season can provide a cost-effective and safer means of limiting powdery mildew disease. RNAi products are biodegradable and highly specific with minimal off-targets, making them attractive as more environmentally benign than current treatments. Intellectual property for the target identification process and efficacious powdery mildew targets will be secured.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.