Product/Service Development

Carl Spetz of Bioforsk in Norway will eliminate sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV) from infected sweet potato plants by co-infecting the plants with cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) engineered with RNAi against SPFMV. Because CMV can only survive on sweet potato in the presence of SPFMV, it is itself eliminated as it eliminates SPFMV.

Amos Alakonya of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya will create transgenic maize with RNA interfering constructs targeting key aflatoxin and sterigmatocystin biosynthesis enzymes. The goal is to prevent synthesis of these toxins by Aspergillus fungi.

Ewa Kowalska of Ulm University in Germany will develop photoactive materials with antiseptic and antifungal properties for food storage safety. Titanium oxide (titania) will be evaluated for its antiseptic properties, the ultimate goal being a paint that could be applied to food storage containers.

Ralf Koebnik of the Institut de Recherche Pour le Développement in France will generate rice plants resistant to Xanthomonas by making them unresponsive to bacterial infection by selectively generating new rice resistance genes using TALEN technology. To infect, Xanthomonas activates susceptibility genes in rice using transcription factors (TAL effectors).

Stéphane Blanc of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) in France will minimize the destructive effects of aphids on crop plants by studying a newly described structure, the acrostyle, which is found at the tip of the piercing mouthparts of the insects and thought to be important for feeding and for transmitting disease-causing viruses between plants. Aphids spread an array of different plant viruses to many crop species including banana, chickpea, and sweet potato.

Michael DuBow of Université Paris-Sud in France will develop a biodegradable, water-soluble business card impregnated with bacteriophages targeting bacterial pathogens. Cards would be enclosed in a plastic sleeve and be printed with pictographic instructions for diagnosis and use.

Paul Chavarriaga-Aguirre of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia will develop protocols to produce synthetic seeds for propagation of disease- free true-type cassava plants. The work would use cultured somatic embryos as micro-propagules that can tolerate desiccation and be coated for storage.

Neena Mitter of The University of Queensland in Australia will develop a 'BioClay' technology to deliver biological agents that kill crop pathogens and pests. This technology could provide broad spectrum protection to crops without the need for transgenic plants or the use of chemicals.

David Hughes of the Pennsylvania State University in the U.S. will produce plants expressing RNAi designed to sterilize ant queens. The strategy will use aphids to deliver the RNAi to the ants: the phloem-sucking aphids take up the RNAi and pass it along to ants in their honeydew. The goal is to reduce populations of ants that act as bodyguards to the aphids, thereby increasing aphid mortality.

Charles Opperman and Julie A. Willoughby of North Carolina State University in the U.S. worked to develop a low-cost biodegradable paper substrate containing nanoparticles for the controlled release of active compounds as a seed treatment against crop-destroying pests. The seeds will be wrapped in the paper during planting. This project's Phase I research tested different types of paper, and banana paper was selected for optimum release of an anthelminthic compound and ability to protect crops without affecting plant growth.