Scalably Encapsulating Living Microbial Payloads Into Hydrogels for Crop Resilience

将活微生物有效负载可扩展地封装到水凝胶中以提高作物的恢复能力

• 批准号: 2900541
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Sheffield
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2900541
• 关键词: Scalably; Encapsulating; Living; Microbial; Payloads

The world's population is expected to grow to 9.7 billion by 2050, requiring an acceleration in innovation and investment to advance more sustainable agriculture which is good for nature, farmers, and society. Soil microbes, found in healthy agricultural land, can be applied to degraded topsoil as a fertiliser that restores the soil structure, promotes the growth of healthy crops and enhances the ability of the soil to sequester carbon. Developments in microbiology have enabled scientists to engineer microbes for particular types of crops and soil. Transporting and applying living microbes remains a logistical challenge, so alternative delivery media have been proposed. This project aims to develop a novel crop product that comprises beneficial microbes protected in small gel beads that can flow like sand whilst forming a protective 'space ship' for their precious living cargo. Designing and manufacturing these living fertilisers requires a breadth of new technologies drawing from microbiology, plant biology, polymer science and chemical engineering.

到2050年，世界人口预计将增长到97亿，这需要加快创新和投资，以促进对自然、农民和社会都有利的可持续农业。在健康的农田中发现的土壤微生物可以作为肥料施用于退化的表层土，恢复土壤结构，促进健康作物的生长，提高土壤固碳的能力。微生物学的发展使科学家能够为特定类型的作物和土壤设计微生物。运输和应用活微生物仍然是一个后勤挑战，因此已经提出了替代的递送介质。该项目旨在开发一种新的作物产品，其中包括保护在小凝胶珠中的有益微生物，这些小凝胶珠可以像沙子一样流动，同时为它们宝贵的生命货物形成保护性的“太空船”。设计和制造这些生物肥料需要广泛的新技术，包括微生物学、植物生物学、聚合物科学和化学工程。