Remodeled Root-Colonizing Microbes for Targeted Nitrogen Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current agricultural practices are inefficient and environmentally detrimental due to reliance on the Haber-Bosch process for nitrogen fertilizer production, leading to significant nitrogen loss and environmental pollution, while non-leguminous crops lack effective nitrogen-fixing symbiosis.
Innovation Solution
Introduction of non-intergeneric remodeled bacteria that colonize the roots of cereal plants, particularly corn, to supply fixed atmospheric nitrogen, reducing or eliminating the need for exogenous nitrogen application and enhancing crop yield.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the Haber-Bosch process is used to produce nitrogen fertilizer, then nitrogen can be supplied to crops, but the process is resource intensive and environmentally deleterious
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the industrial Haber-Bosch chemical process with a biological nitrogen fixation system using engineered microbes. The microbes express nitrogenase enzyme that catalyzes nitrogen fixation from atmospheric N2, substituting the mechanical/chemical industrial process with a biological system that operates under ambient conditions without high energy input
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the physiological parameters of the microbes by introducing genetic modifications that enable constitutive expression of nitrogenase and enhance nitrogen fixation capacity. The engineered microbes are designed to fix nitrogen at rates sufficient to meet crop demands, changing the operational parameters from trace nitrogen fixation to high-rate production
2Quantity of substance
If chemical nitrogen fertilizer is applied to fields, then crops receive nitrogen, but significant nitrogen loss occurs through rain, runoff, heat, and volatilization
Solution Approach 1:
The engineered microbes serve as an intermediary between atmospheric nitrogen and the crop. Instead of applying chemical fertilizer that is then lost through various pathways, the microbes directly fix atmospheric nitrogen and deliver it to the plant through root associations, eliminating the intermediate chemical fertilizer step that causes losses
Solution Approach 2:
The nitrogen-fixing microbes provide nitrogen to the plant through their own metabolic activity. The microbes autonomously fix atmospheric nitrogen and transfer it to the host plant, creating a self-sustaining system that does not require external chemical fertilizer application and thus avoids associated losses
3Quantity of substance
If heavy machinery is used to apply nitrogen fertilizer, then nitrogen can be delivered to the field, but soil is impacted and human labor is required
Solution Approach 1:
The nitrogen fixation system is applied through seed treatment or soil inoculation, allowing the microbes to establish themselves and begin fixing nitrogen automatically during crop growth. This eliminates the need for heavy machinery and manual fertilizer application, reducing operational complexity and soil impact
4Productivity
If 80% of fertilizer is lost before crop utilization, then production costs increase, but environmental pollution is also exacerbated
Solution Approach 1:
The engineered microbes are designed with regulatory mechanisms that respond to plant nitrogen needs. The system provides feedback through plant-microbe interactions, allowing the microbes to adjust nitrogen fixation rates to match crop demands, thereby maximizing fertilizer utilization efficiency and minimizing environmental pollution from excess nitrogen
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
The remodeled bacteria provide efficient nitrogen fixation, increasing crop yield and reducing yield variability, with corn plants achieving up to a 17 bushel per acre increase and minimizing nitrogen loss, thus addressing resource inefficiency and environmental impact.
Implementation Method 1
These systems utilize an enzyme called nitrogenase that catalyzes the reaction between N2 and H2, and results in nitrogen fixation
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides non-intergeneric remodeled microbes that are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen and deliver such to plants in a targeted, efficient, and environmentally sustainable manner. The utilization of the taught microbial products will enable farmers to realize more productive and predictable crop yields without the nutrient degradation, leaching, or toxic runoff associated with traditional synthetically derived nitrogen fertilizer, by mitigating or eliminating the need for exogenous nitrogen-containing fertilizers. The remodeled microbes have unique colonization and nitrogen fixation abilities, which enable the microbes to deliver nitrogen to a cereal plant in a spatially targeted (e.g. rhizospheric) and temporally targeted (e.g. during advantageous stages of plant's life cycle) manner. The microbes are able to replace the standard agricultural practice of sidedressing and enable a more environmentally sustainable form of farming. The present disclosure also provides methods of using non-intergeneric remodeled microbes, for example, to fix atmospheric nitrogen by reducing or eliminating the need for exogenous nitrogen-containing fertilizers, to increase yield, and to reduce infield variability in the yield.