SOIL CULTURE SOLUTIONS, LLC — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase II: 8.2
SOIL CULTURE SOLUTIONS, LLC — SBIR Phase II award from Department of Agriculture.
- Amount
- $650,000
- Agency
- Department of Agriculture
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase II
- Topic
- 8.2
- Solicitation
- USDA-NIFA-SBIR-009642
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- FL
- Period
- 2023-08-14 → 2025-08-31
Description
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.