SBIR Phase I: A Microbial Inoculant for the Degradation and Recycling of Hemp Waste into a Nutrient-Rich Fertilizer

SBIR第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是增加技术的进步，将残留的植物物质转化为肥料，以支持农业。拟议的项目将开发一种微生物接种剂，它将迅速有效地将收获后的植物剩余物转化为一种营养丰富的生物可用肥料，用于滋养未来的作物，特别是在新兴的大麻行业。这一研究项目的发现可能适用于其他常见农作物的退化，如玉米，以及将原料转化为生物燃料。这项技术将为农场增加价值，为农民节省资金，并防止通过生产和使用合成肥进一步损害环境。这个SBIR第一阶段项目将一种合作的合成微生物接种剂转化为一种营养丰富的肥料，从而提高大麻产量。木质素是一种高度耐降解的大麻聚合物。这一创新将通过开发和执行量化微生物降解木质素和产生过氧化物酶的效率的分析来实现，过氧化物酶是降解木质素的酶家族。在鉴定出具有木质素降解能力的微生物后，这些微生物将被纳入促进植物生长的共培养体系中，届时将对接种剂进行优化，以在广泛的温度和条件下实现最大的木质素降解效率。这将通过实验室规模的适应，即自然强制微生物进化来实现。最后，将对优化后的微生物接种剂的产量进行评估，以确定其提高大麻种子发芽率和降低植物病原菌危害的能力。这些特征将使用种子萌发分析和微生物平板竞争分析进行检验。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势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/commercial potential of this SBIR Phase I Project is to increase the advance a technology to transform leftover plant matter into a fertilizer to support the agricultural industry. The proposed project will develop a microbial inoculant that will rapidly and efficiently transform post-harvest leftover plant matter into a nutrient-rich bioavailable fertilizer used to nourish future crops, particularly in the emerging hemp industry. The findings from this research project are potentially applicable to the degradation of other common agricultural crops, such as corn, and the conversion of feedstock into biofuels. The technology will add value to farms, save farmers money, and prevent further environmental harm through the production and use of synthetic fertilizer. This SBIR Phase I project advances a cooperative, synthetic microbial inoculant that degrades lignin, a polymer in hemp that is highly resistant to degradation, into a nutrient-rich fertilizer that increases hemp yield. This innovation will be achieved by developing and performing assays that quantify the efficiency with which microbes degrade lignin and produce peroxidases, the family of enzymes that degrade lignin. After identifying microbes with lignin-degrading capabilities, these microbes will be incorporated into a plant growth promoting co-culture, at which point the inoculant will be optimized to achieve the maximum lignin degradation efficiency at a wide range of temperatures and conditions. This will be achieved through lab-scale adaptation, i.e. a natural forced microbial evolution. Finally, the output of the optimized microbial inoculant will be evaluated for its ability to increase hemp seed germination and decrease the harmful effects of plant pathogens. These characteristics will be examined using seed germination assays and microbial plate competition assays.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.