Synbio tools for microbial crop protection against fungal and oomycete pathogens

Overview

Fungal and oomycete pathogens cause billions of dollars in agricultural losses worldwide. This synthetic biology platform addresses this challenge by enabling the capture and inducible heterologous expression of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) that produce novel antifungal and anti-oomycete natural products in Bacillus subtilis. The approach simplifies manufacturing metabolites with broad-spectrum protection against multiple pathogens while supporting more sustainable farming practices. The platform targets seed rot and other diseases caused by pathogens such as Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani, and Pythium ultimum, offering biorational biocontrol agents as alternatives to traditional chemical treatments.

Technical specifications

• Engineered Bacillus subtilis host optimized for heterologous expression of antifungal and anti-oomycete biosynthetic pathways
• Cloned Bacillusin A pathway demonstrated as proof of principle for the synthetic biology component, showing potent antibiotic activity against target pathogens
• Curated strain library containing dozens of potent Bacillus strains producing metabolites active against fungal and oomycete pathogens, already sequenced and analyzed for putative protective pathways
• Unique UV-visible absorption features that enable identification of distinct secondary metabolites and guide pathway isolation
• Inducible expression system allowing controlled mass production of novel bioactive metabolites
• Multi-pathogen targeting designed to deliver broad-spectrum protection suitable for seed treatments

Technology readiness level

The platform has reached proof-of-concept stage. The team has successfully cloned and expressed the Bacillusin A pathway in Bacillus subtilis, confirming the synthetic biology approach works. Dozens of potent Bacillus strains have been identified, sequenced, and analyzed for protective pathways, positioning them for downstream metabolite isolation. Next-stage work will focus on cloning additional anti-fungal and anti-oomycete BGCs, expressing bioactive metabolites at scale in the engineered B. subtilis host, and validating efficacy against the Fusarium, Rhizoctonia, and Pythium pathosystem. The platform is ready for partnership to advance toward large-scale production and field validation.