Towards commercialization of crop probiotic(s) that improve nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency (NUE) of corn**and related crops (wheat, annual ryegrass and turfgrasses)

全球每年购买1000亿美元的合成氮肥；它对现代农业至关重要，但它对农民来说代价高昂，而且会导致气候变化。另一种选择是使用益生菌来提高氮利用效率（NUE），涂在种子上或在田间喷洒。全球“生物肥料”市场呈指数级增长，从2016年的14亿美元增长到2023年预计的40亿美元。经过10年的研究，我们已经发现、验证并申请了一种来自野生玉米的NUE促进益生菌的专利保护，称为菌株3D9。在这里，我们希望在大田条件下测试这种益生菌在现代玉米及其亲戚，包括小麦，动物饲料（一年生黑麦草）和高价值草坪草中的商业潜力。

The world purchases >$100 billion USD in synthetic nitrogen fertilizer each year; it is essential to modern agriculture, however it is costly for farmers and contributes to climate change. An alternative is the use of probiotics that improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), coated onto seeds or sprayed in the field. The global 'biofertilizer' market is growing exponentially, from $1.4 billion in 2016 to ~$4 billion projected by 2023. Following 10 years of research, we have discovered, validated and sought patent protection on an NUE promoting probiotic from a wild corn, called strain 3D9. Here, we wish to test the commercial potential of this probiotic under field conditions in modern corn and relatives including wheat, an animal forage grass (annual ryegrass), and high value turfgrasses.