STTR Phase I: XERICO-Mediated Drought Tolerance Technology

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project is the development of drought-tolerant crops through biotechnology, which is potentially both economically and environmentally important. Genetic engineering of drought tolerance has been very recalcitrant because of the complexity of plant responses to water stress. The proposed technology offers novel features to overcome the current limitations. Commercial deployment of this technology will improve significantly the profitability of growers and seed companies, and will benefit society by enabling crop production on arid lands. The primary target market is the genetically engineered corn seed industry. A significant market opportunity is present if corn can be modified to express drought tolerance. Corn is the second most plentiful cereal grown for human consumption and animal feeds, and accounts for over 43% of the $47 billion global seed market. The commercial strategy will be to penetrate the market by partnering with the major corn seed companies as well as mid-size seed companies with expertise in breeding, commercial seed production, marketing, and sales. This STTR Phase I project proposes to develop a proprietary and potentially transformative technology to increase drought tolerance in plants. It utilizes a plant's natural response system to better protect it from drought stress. This drought tolerance mechanism is employed in a highly drought-specific manner to avoid the growth penalty often observed with drought tolerance technologies. In addition, this drought tolerance is achieved with limited perturbation of other biological processes in the plants. Until its effectiveness is validated under field conditions, the technical risk of the technology remains very high and engaging potential industry partners likely will be difficult. The goal of this project is to obtain the field verification data that is needed to decrease the technical risk, thus making it attractive to potential licensing partners. The company will reach the goal by achieving two specific objectives: 1) Identification and selection of transgenic lines that show strong drought tolerance under greenhouse conditions, and 2) Conducting field tests to validate the greenhouse performance. Successful completion of this project would enable the company to have a broad licensing strategy directed towards corn seed companies for commercialization.