SBIR Phase I: A novel biocontrol agent against fungal infection and fungal toxin contamination on food and feed crops

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的广泛影响是引入一种经济有效的作物保护方法，防止真菌破坏。每年，由于真菌感染和真菌毒素（霉菌毒素）污染作物，全世界生产的粮食中有25%被浪费。全球每年因食物浪费而造成的社会、环境和经济损失总计达2万亿美元。这项拟议中的创新主要是利用一种尚未开发的细菌，为美国各地的农作物种植者带来一系列价格合理的新型抗真菌药物，这些药物旨在与现有的收获前和收获后处理方案无缝集成。该产品生产快捷方便，无需昂贵的净化程序。它们应该对环境和人类健康是安全的，并具有明确的作用机制。因此，可以节省价值数十亿美元的农作物、能源和资源，从而提高美国农业的可持续性和经济竞争力。它还可以通过加强食品安全来促进美国公众的健康和福利。最后，它可以为其他对抗植物、动物和人类真菌疾病的创新铺平道路。拟议的项目将通过开发第一个产品来证明创新的可行性，该产品可以在收获前和收获后保护玉米作物免受真菌的破坏。玉米是美国种植最多的作物。由于一种真菌（黄曲霉）的感染，玉米行业每年损失10亿美元，这种真菌会导致一种叫做黄曲霉毒素的致癌真菌毒素污染玉米。项目期间的关键技术目标将是：(1)确定产品的功能组件并展示它们的作用模式；(2)评估每单位质量细菌生物量可以产生的这些成分的数量，(3)确定最有效地预防玉米作物真菌感染和黄曲霉毒素污染的最小活菌产品的最佳配方，(4)对最小活菌产品进行最佳毒性分析。完成后，所获得的知识将为该技术产品的有效知识保护和监管策略提供有价值的见解，并确定与可扩展性、一致性和产品保质期相关的任何潜在挑战，这将决定产品大规模生产的成本和物流。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Project is to introduce a cost-effective way of crop protection from fungal spoilage. Every year, 25% of the food produced by the world is wasted due to fungal infections and contamination of crops with fungal toxins (mycotoxins). The combined social, environmental, and economic global annual cost of this food wastage is $2T. The proposed innovation is centered on harnessing an untapped bacterium to bring a new line of affordable antifungals to a broad base of crop growers across the United States, which are designed to seamlessly integrate with existing preharvest postharvest treatment protocols. The products are quick and easy to manufacture without costly purification procedures. They should be safe for the environment and human health and have a defined mechanism of action. As a result, billions of dollars’ worth of crops, energy, and resources could be saved, leading to increased agricultural sustainability and economic competitiveness of the United States. It may also advance the health and welfare of the American public by enhancing food safety. Finally, it can pave the way for other innovations to combat fungal diseases in plants, animals, and humans.The proposed project will demonstrate the feasibility of the innovation by developing the first product, safeguarding corn crops from fungal spoilage during both preharvest and postharvest. Corn is the most planted crop in the United States. Every year, the corn industry loses $1B due to infection with a fungus (Aspergillus flavus), resulting in contamination of the crop with a carcinogenic mycotoxin called aflatoxin. The critical technical objectives during the project period will be to (1) identify the functional components of the product and demonstrate their mode of action; (2) assess the amounts of those components that can be produced per unit mass of bacterial biomass, (3) determine an optimal formulation of the minimal viable product that can be most effective in preventing fungal infection and aflatoxin contamination in the corn crop, and (4) conduct an optimal toxicity profiling of the minimal viable product. Upon completion, the knowledge obtained will provide valuable insights for effective intellectual protection and regulatory strategy for the products from the technology and identify any potential challenges related to scalability, consistency, and product shelf-life, which will determine the costs and logistics for large-scale manufacturing of the products.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.