I-Corps: Plant sterols as potential pre-emergent herbicides

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to provide low-cost weed control while improving the environment and human health. Weeds can reduce farming yields by 60-75%, even when using best practices. The proposed herbicide is a combination of abundant natural chemicals operating with a different chemical mode of action, and thus it does not generate resistance, and may even help support stronger plants. This technology will help support farm production and profitability, and its use may diversify the food supply. This I-Corps project is based on the discovery of a herbicide that has new mode of action: when genes for sterol biosynthesis change and become inactive through mutation or genetic engineering, plant seeds do not complete germination; and if they do germinate, they have severely stunted growth. By applying plant (or animal) sterols that are final products of sterol biosynthesis in an appropriate encapsulation agent to germinating seeds, the exogenous sterols inhibit seed sterol production, thus causing a decrease in total sterols similar to the effects of gene inactivation. Application of exogenous sterols phenocopies or mimics the effects of mutation of several different sterol biosynthetic genes, reducing complete germination, causing changes in plant vasculature, and producing severe dwarfing when given during seed germination. This effect is broad spectrum, affecting both monocots and dicots. Furthermore, herbicide application to plants that have already germinated and are actively growing experience minimal or beneficial effects on growth. The beneficial effects include slight stunting of stems, which may make crops more resistant to wind and hail damage.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.