SBIR Phase I: Genomically Optimized Turf Grass

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop heartier, environmentally friendly grass varieties. An estimated 30% of US water usage goes to watering lawns and grass, with much of that wasted due to evaporation, runoff and overwatering. Chemical herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers used for grass can be extremely toxic. The project’s genomically optimized turf varieties will require substantially less water and nutrients, preserving precious resources and reducing environmental toxins. In addition, the enhanced root systems in this grass will capture and store carbon for longer time periods than conventional grass, leading to reduced atmospheric carbon. The proposed project will involve greenhouse and field testing with warm and cold climate turf grass species and varieties, achieving proof of concept in the greenhouse, and then transitioning to outdoor testing and field trials, allowing the project to progress quickly through the early phases of commercialization. The project will focus on: 1) establishing an efficient phenotyping system to monitor root growth in relevant and commercially viable warm and cold climate turf grass species; 2) establishing protocols for assays that involve the cross breeding of different turf varieties with simulations of physiological and chemical root phenotyping in response to that breeding; 3) generating a comprehensive proprietary database of quantitative root growth effects in response to the cross breeding assays, and 4) developing an accurate system to measure the amount of carbon captured and stored in the optimized root system. 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.