SBIR Phase I: Genomically Optimized Turf Grass

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响将开发更健康，环保的草品种。据估计，美国30%的用水量用于浇灌草坪和草地，其中大部分由于蒸发，径流和过度浇水而浪费。用于草的化学除草剂、杀虫剂和肥料可能具有极高的毒性。该项目的基因组优化草坪品种将需要更少的水和养分，保护宝贵的资源，减少环境毒素。此外，这种草增强的根系将比传统草更长时间地捕获和储存碳，从而减少大气中的碳。拟议的项目将涉及温室和田间测试，使用温暖和寒冷气候的草坪草品种和品种，在温室中实现概念验证，然后过渡到室外测试和田间试验，使项目能够快速完成商业化的早期阶段。该项目将侧重于：1）建立有效的表型分析系统，以监测相关的和商业上可行的温暖和寒冷气候草坪草物种的根生长; 2）建立用于测定的方案，所述测定涉及不同草坪品种的杂交育种，并模拟响应于该育种的生理和化学根表型分析; 3）产生响应于杂交育种测定的定量根生长效应的综合专有数据库，该奖项反映了NSF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 will develop heartier, environmentally friendly grass varieties. An estimated 30% of US water usage goes to watering lawns and grass, with much of that wasted due to evaporation, runoff and overwatering. Chemical herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers used for grass can be extremely toxic. The project’s genomically optimized turf varieties will require substantially less water and nutrients, preserving precious resources and reducing environmental toxins. In addition, the enhanced root systems in this grass will capture and store carbon for longer time periods than conventional grass, leading to reduced atmospheric carbon. The proposed project will involve greenhouse and field testing with warm and cold climate turf grass species and varieties, achieving proof of concept in the greenhouse, and then transitioning to outdoor testing and field trials, allowing the project to progress quickly through the early phases of commercialization. The project will focus on: 1) establishing an efficient phenotyping system to monitor root growth in relevant and commercially viable warm and cold climate turf grass species; 2) establishing protocols for assays that involve the cross breeding of different turf varieties with simulations of physiological and chemical root phenotyping in response to that breeding; 3) generating a comprehensive proprietary database of quantitative root growth effects in response to the cross breeding assays, and 4) developing an accurate system to measure the amount of carbon captured and stored in the optimized root system.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.