Endophyte Compositions for Crop Stress Tolerance and Yield
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing agricultural practices face challenges in providing improved yield and resistance to environmental stresses in crops due to the ineffective utilization of endophytes, which are microbial symbionts that fail to confer benefits to a variety of agriculturally-important plants.
Innovation Solution
The use of novel compositions of bacterial and fungal endophytes, derived from diverse plant species and cultivars, applied to plant elements or seeds to enhance agronomic traits through colonization, metabolizing specific compounds, and exhibiting activities such as auxin production, nitrogen fixation, and antimicrobial compound production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional endophytes are used, then plant growth is supported, but they fail to confer significant benefits to agriculturally-important plants
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the composition and concentration of endophyte communities. Specifically, it uses high-concentration formulations containing multiple endophyte species (e.g., Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Burkholderia) at optimized ratios to enhance plant growth promotion, stress tolerance, and yield compared to conventional low-concentration single-species approaches
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite materials by creating multi-species endophyte formulations that combine different bacterial and fungal endophytes (e.g., Pseudomonas putida, Bacillus subtilis, Burkholderia cepacia, Trichoderma harzianum) to achieve synergistic effects that improve plant growth, disease resistance, and stress tolerance beyond what single endophytes can provide
2Productivity
If GM crops and synthetic chemicals are used, then crop performance is optimized, but public acceptance is reduced and regulatory timelines are extended
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by utilizing naturally occurring endophytic microorganisms that already reside within plants to provide beneficial functions such as growth promotion, nutrient fixation, and stress tolerance. This approach leverages the plant's own microbiome rather than introducing external GM traits or synthetic chemicals, thereby achieving crop performance improvement while maintaining public acceptance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses endophytic microorganisms as intermediaries to mediate between the plant and the environment. These endophytes act as biological mediators that enhance plant growth, provide disease resistance, and improve stress tolerance through natural mechanisms, offering an alternative to direct GM modification or synthetic chemical application
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances crop resilience and yield by improving traits such as disease resistance, heat tolerance, and nitrogen utilization, leading to increased biomass and improved growth under stress conditions.
Implementation Method 1
The first endophyte is capable of metabolizing at least one of D-alanine, D-aspartic acid, D-serine, D-threonine, glycyl-L-aspartic acid, glycyl-L-glutamic acid, glycyl-L-proline, glyoxylic acid, inosine, L-alanine, L-alanyl-glycine, L-arabinose, L-asparagine, L-aspartic acid, L-glutamic acid, L-glutamine, L-proline, L-serine, L-threonine, tyramine, uridine, proline, arabinose, xylose, mannose, sucrose, maltose, D-glucosamine, trehalose, oxalic acid, and salicin
Implementation Method 2
exhibiting activities such as auxin production, nitrogen fixation, and antimicrobial compound production
Implementation Method 3
exhibiting activities such as auxin production, nitrogen fixation, and antimicrobial compound production
Implementation Method 4
exhibiting activities such as auxin production, nitrogen fixation, and antimicrobial compound production
Data Source
AI summary
Materials and methods for improving plant traits and for providing plant benefits are provided. In some embodiments, the materials, and methods employing the same, can comprise endophytes.