Combating potato soft rot with free-living phagocytes

AmebaGone Inc is developing a novel microbial pesticide for the prevention of soft rot in potatotubers. Each year an estimated 15-30% of the U.S. potato crop is lost to soft rot representing amarket loss of $0.57B-$1.13B. There is currently no effective treatment available for this disease.Our solution is a biological treatment that uses the predatory power of Dictyostelids ("Dicty" forshort) instead of harsh chemicals. Dicty are microscopic organisms that live in the soil where theyfeed selectively on bacteria. AmebaGone has access to over 3000 Dicty strains from diversegeographic and climatic regions. We have identified Dicty strains that feed on bacteria that causepotato soft rot: Dickeya and Pectobacterium. Strains capable of feeding on Dickeya andPectobacterium on potatoes at cool temperatures relevant to storage conditions (~50°F) have alsobeen discovered. Three strains identified during Phase I research are even capable of reducing softrot severity in whole tubers. Conveniently Dicty produce large numbers of semi-dormant sporesthat are highly resistant to environmental stress and long-term storage. Spore germination releasesmetabolically active Dicty cells that immediately begin feeding on surrounding bacteria. Thesespores will be the active ingredient in our future product and efforts to develop a large-scalefermentation method for spore cultivation are underway. AmebaGone is also focused onmaximizing product shelf-life spore germination and compatibility with other potato treatments.Finally we will conduct trials with product prototypes under conditions that mimic commercialpotato storage facilities.