Source: QUORUM BIO, INC. submitted to
PRECISION BIOLOGICS FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
SMALL BUSINESS GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1030064
Grant No.
2023-33530-39296
Cumulative Award Amt.
$181,476.00
Proposal No.
2023-02016
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jul 1, 2023
Project End Date
Oct 2, 2024
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[8.4]- Air, Water and Soils
Project Director
Dwaraknath, S.
Recipient Organization
QUORUM BIO, INC.
112 COMPTON CIRCLE, APT A
SAN RAMON,CA 94583
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Phosphorus fertilizer is an essential nutrient to meet global agricultural demand, but its excessive domestic production and use endangers two key natural resources: freshwater bodies and rock phosphate reserves. Deterioration of these natural resources poses downstream risks to our national and economic security and access to food and water that could materialize as soon as 2060. To mitigate these threats, U.S. farmers need technologies that allow them to reduce their application of phosphorus fertilizer without compromising crop yield. However, there are currently no alternatives to traditional phosphorus fertilizers available on the market.We are developing plant microbiome solutions that will enable as much as a 50% reduction in phosphorus fertilizer use, curb phosphorus runoff, promote soil fertility, and enhance crop yields. Our research entails the discovery and engineering of plant-colonizing microbial strains to facilitate plant phosphorus uptake and measurement of their plant-growth-promoting performance via the laboratory, greenhouse, and field studies. We hope the results of our work will lead to the commercialization of seed inoculants that farmers will use in place of phosphorus fertilizer.Using our solutions will translate into reduced input costs and higher yields for farmers. Our technology will mitigate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual damages for the nation due to the eutrophication of freshwater bodies and the high hidden costs associated with declining soil fertility. And for the field of sustainable agriculture, our work will reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the microbial engineering approach.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
0%
Developmental
100%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1021599110067%
1021820110033%
Knowledge Area
102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
1599 - Grain crops, general/other; 1820 - Soybean;

Field Of Science
1100 - Bacteriology;
Goals / Objectives
The goal of our project is to engineer plant-associated microbes to increase the efficiency of phosphorus fertilizer uptake in corn, soy, and wheat. In doing so, our project aims to reduce phosphorus fertilizer costs for farmers, increase crop yield and quality, protect our freshwater sources from phosphorus fertilizer runoff, and promote the health of our soils. The Phase I project objectives are to: 1) identify microbes that colonize and thrive on corn plants. 2) We will also build the genetic toolbox to engineer each of these strains. 3) And we will find out which metabolites can promote phosphorus uptake in corn. In Phase II, we will combine the insights from Phase I and 4) engineer corn colonizing microbes to biosynthesize metabolites that were found to promote phosphorus uptake. 5) We will test the engineered microbes on corn growth in greenhouse and small-plot research studies. 6) In addition, Phase II support will allow us to extend our approach to engineer phosphorus solubilizing microbes for soybean and wheat. 7) During this time, we will further develop our commercialization plan. 8) By the end of Phase II, we will begin widespread field testing of our phosphorus solubilizing microbes for corn, soybean, and wheat.
Project Methods
The project will be conducted by: 1) identifying microbes that colonize and thrive on corn, soy, and wheat plants using 16s rRNA amplicon sequencing and cell culture techniques, 2) building the genetic toolbox to engineer each of these strains using strain engineering methods, 3) identifying metabolites that promote phosphorus uptake in the plants by measuring plant phenotype, 4) engineering corn colonizing microbes to biosynthesize metabolites that were found to promote phosphorus uptake using strain engineering methods, and 5) testing the engineered microbes for plant growth in greenhouse, small-plot research, and field trials.

Progress 07/01/23 to 10/02/24

Outputs
Target Audience:We reached American farmers who i) grow corn on large acre farms, ii) are applying chemical fertilizers and biostimulants to increase their yield, iii) are interested in reducing their input costs by reducing their fertilizer application rate without compromising their crop yield, and iv) are interested in improving the sustainability of their operations by reducing their fertilizer application rate. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We built a collection of 253 microbes that are evolutionarily adapted to grow along corn roots. We sourced 48 corn strains from diverse geographic regions that include the U.S. Corn Belt, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, and Chile. After growing the corn to V4-VT growth stages, we isolated microbes from the roots and surrounding soil and identified them through DNA sequencing. We established experimental methods to measure how well our collection of microbes colonize and thrive on corn plants. Then, we sourced commercial varieties of corn seeds and tested our collection of soil microbes for their ability to colonize these corn plants. We found more than 70 strains with a 1 to 4 order of magnitude increase in root colonization compared to the microbes that are native to the seed. Since our microbes can outcompete the native seed microbiome, our microbes are more likely to deliver a yield benefit on farm. We developed genetic tools to insert plant growth-promoting genes into our library of corn colonizing microbes. Using our tools, we demonstrated that we could insert genes into 53 bacterial strains from 16 of the 23 genera within our biobank within this award period. These bacteria are now ready to have many different plant growth-promoting genes inserted into their chromosomes, towards our development of low-cost, environmentally friendly alternatives to chemical fertilizer. Finally, we screened several metabolites, originally described in the research literature, for their ability to improve the growth of corn. The metabolites that proved efficacious are targets for our work to insert plant growth-promoting genes into our collection of corn root colonizing microbes.

Publications


    Progress 07/01/23 to 06/30/24

    Outputs
    Target Audience:We reached American farmers who i)grow corn on large acre farms, ii)are applying chemical fertilizers and biostimulants to increase their yield, iii) are interested in reducing their input costs by reducing their fertilizer application rate without compromising their crop yield, and iv) are interested in improving the sustainability of their operations by reducing their fertilizer application rate. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have shared farmers and other agricultural stakeholders about our progress towards a low cost, environmentally friendly alternative to chemical phosphorus fertilizer by presenting at tradeshows and agriculture conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? We built a collection of 253 microbes that are evolutionary adapted to grow along corn roots. We sourced 48 corn strains from diverse geographic regions that include the U.S. Corn Belt, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, and Chile. After growing the corn to V4-VT growth stages, we isolated microbes from the roots and surrounding soil and identified them through DNA sequencing. We established experimental methods to measure how well our collection of microbes colonize and thrive on corn plants. Then, we sourced commercial varieties of corn seeds and tested our collection of soil microbes for their ability to colonize these corn plants. We found more than 70 strains with a 1 to 4 order of magnitude increase in root colonization compared to the microbes that are native to the seed. Since our microbes can outcompete the native seed microbiome, our microbes are more likely to deliver a yield benefit on farm. We developed genetic tools to insert plant growth-promoting genes into our library of corn colonizing microbes. Using our tools, we demonstrated that we could insert genes into 53 bacterial strains from 16 of the 23 genera within our biobank within this award period. These bacteria are now ready to have many different plant growth-promoting genes inserted into their chromosomes, towards our development of low-cost, environmentally friendly alternatives to chemical fertilizer. Finally, we screened several metabolites, originally described in the research literature, for their ability to improve the growth of corn. The metabolites that proved efficacious are targets for our work to insert plant growth-promoting genes into our collection of corn root colonizing microbes.

    Publications