SBIR Phase II: Engineering the Plant Microbiome to Reduce Disease in Crops

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to advance a new crop protection technology that strengthens U.S. leadership in agricultural biotechnology, supports global food security, and improves the resilience of American farmers. The project focuses on a biopesticide that targets Sudden Death Syndrome, a major fungal disease responsible for up to $500 million in annual losses for U.S. soybean growers. Unlike traditional synthetic pesticides, this microbe-based product offers a safer solution that reduces the need for chemical inputs while maintaining high yields. By improving crop health and minimizing losses, the innovation can help farmers use land more efficiently, increase profitability, and stabilize food supply chains. This project also promotes domestic biomanufacturing and supports national goals to reduce reliance on imported agrochemicals, enhance food system resilience, and boost economic competitiveness. U.S. soybean production supports over $24 billion in exports and more than 2.5 million on-farm jobs, making protection of this sector a key national priority. This approach provides a scalable alternative to chemical pesticides, delivering long-term benefits for farmers, and consumers while advancing scientific and technological understanding of microbial solutions in agriculture. The proposed project seeks to translate an innovative RNA interference delivery technology from laboratory proof-of-concept experiments to field trial implementation and develop a commercial-ready product with scalable manufacturing processes. Current biological crop protection solutions, including RNA interference, have lackluster performance due to challenges in effectively delivering the active ingredients, ensuring stability in the environment, or poor reliability across geographies, crops, and soil types. The research objectives of this project include 1) product design and optimization to improve efficacy and reduce environmental and resistance risk, 2) demonstrate efficacy in field trials, and 3) develop a formulated product that is shelf-stable and compatible with existing soybean seed treatments. The company anticipates performance in field trials to be competitive with commercial synthetic pesticides, a significant achievement for a biological product. Further, the company anticipates its computational pipeline can deliver a pathogen-specific biopesticide that is safe to humans, beneficial species, and the environment. Due to the careful selection of microbial strains, successful development of a product formulation that supports shelf stability and compatibility is anticipated. Finally, the company anticipates scaling its biomanufacturing 10X to demonstrate feasibility of low-cost pilot-scale production. 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.