SBIR/STTR Research Award
Identification of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus effector interactome by proximity labeling coupled with proteomics in citrus
Award amount
$650,000Program and phase
SBIR · Phase IIAward year
2023Award details
- Awarding agency
- Department of Agriculture
- Branch
- Not reported
- Recipient company
- SOIL CULTURE SOLUTIONS, LLC
- Proposal award date
- 2023-08-14
- Contract end date
- 2025-08-31
- UEI
- Q6SMQUJSSB53
- Solicitation number
- USDA-NIFA-SBIR-009642
- Topic code
- 8.2
Research abstract
Huanglongbingdisease("HLB")causedbythebacteriumCandidatusLiberibacterasiaticus
("CLas")haskilledmillionsofcitrustreesandreducedaverageyieldinFloridaby50%costing
billionsinlostrevenue.
CRISPRisthemostpowerfultoolforrapidbreedingofnewHLB-resistantcitrustreesbut
hastobeprecededbyidentifyingspecificgene-editingtargets.Theidentificationoftargetgeneshas
beenchallengingbecauseofpoorunderstandingoftheHLBpathogenesismechanismandtechnical
limitationsofHLB-citrusprotein-interactionscreeningmethods.Apowerfulnewtooltoaddress
theselimitationsisTurboIDanengineeredbiotinligasethatcanlabelitsproximalproteinswhenitis
expressedincells.
TheproposedprojectaddressedthisopportunitybyemployingTurboID-mediatedproximity
labelingtoidentifycitrusproteinsthatinteractwitheffectorproteinsthatarecriticalforHLBCLas
infection. During Phase I research we produced a high-confidence list of CLas Sec-dependent
effector("SDE")-interactingcitrusproteinsbyusingTurboIDcoupledwithmassspectrometry.
InPhaseIIwewillusethediscoveredproteinsasgene-editingtargetsforCRISPRprecision
breedingtodevelopcitrusvarietiesthatdisrupttheeffector-citrusinteractionsleadingtogenetic
resistancetoHLB.
Tothatendwewillperformthreeobjectives.ThefirstisCRISPR-editingofpromising
SDE-interactinggenesandgeneratingnon-transgenicCRISPR-editedcitrusvarieties.Thesecondis
testing CRISPR-edited plants for resistance to HLB through graft inoculation and proteomics
analysis.Thethirdistocommencefieldtrials.
Weanticipatethisprojectwilldevelopnon-GMOHLB-resistantcitrustreesthatwillbesoldto
citrusgrowers.
Technology keywords
Not reported
Other awards by this recipient
Verified by the same UEI. These are other public SBIR/STTR award pages, not a merged company record.
- SBIR Phase II: Generating HLB and canker resistant citrus trees using CRISPR/Cas9
- SBIR Phase I: Generating HLB and canker resistant citrus trees using CRISPR/Cas9
Awards with the same topic code
Verified by an exact topic code match. This is not a text-similarity match.
- Application of Microbial Consortia to Suppress Maize Pathogens and Increase Nitrogen Availability
- Improved Biocontrol of Soybean Seedling Fungal and Oomycete Pathogens Via Probiotic Bacillus Engineering
- Biomolluscicide microbial strains for the protection of plants from invasive snail and slug species.
- Masking Agents To Promote Ingestion Of Organic Pest Ant Bait
- Squalene Produced from US Soybeans
Research funding history
3 SBIR/STTR records share this UEI (2019–2023). Reported award amounts total $1,865,048. Reported amounts are not federal obligations.
Phases: Phase II, Phase I
Agencies: National Science Foundation, Department of Agriculture