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Tomato, which can be cooked in various of ways
is one of the most common field crops.
However, something unusal is happening in the farmland...
...happens in tomatoes.
Gray mold
a plant fungal disease caused by Botrytis cinerea , can infect a wide range of crops, including tomatoes.
The global tomato production in 2021 was about 189 million tons.
Among them, China's planting annual output ranks first in the world,reaching 68 million tons.
Up to 60 % reduction in severe cases due to tomato gray mold.
At present, people tend to use chemical pesticides to solve the problem.
But there are still problems with their use that cannot be ignored:
make the fungus
resistant to drug
remain in the soil
cost extra money
to undo the effects
Our solution
This is not a simple bead
PolycoBead
RNAi biopesticides:
The main component is CPP-shRNA, whose shRNA can trigger the RNAi process, so as to specifically target and silence the growth essential genes or infection key genes of B. cinerea.
Engineered Bacillus subtilis:
The engineered B. subtilis is able to express the immune inducing factors, thereby stimulating the tomato's natural immune system to improve resistance to gray mold.
After dissolving into water,
PolycoBead can be sprayed on the tomatoes to play its role.
PolycoBead-Integrated control strategy for tomato gray mold disease based on RNA-biopesticides and plant immune-induceing factors
Tomato grey mold is a specific fungal disease caused by
Botrytis cinerea. SZU-China aims to combat tomato grey mold through
synthetic biology.
Firstly, utilize RNAi technology to silence crucial survival genes and virulence factors of the B. cinerea , employing innovative approaches including binding cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) with shRNA to significantly treat tomato grey mold. Additionally, we will supplement this with plant immune technology by modifying Bacillus subtilis, enabling it to express immune-inducing factors such as flg22 and BvEP to trigger plant immune responses.Finally, based on the actual needs of agricultural applications, we creatively encapsulate the RNAi-based biopesticides and calcium alginate beads containing engineering B. subtilis that can trigger the immune effect of plants in a water-soluble film, forming a unique application model similar to laundry beads, which we call PolycoBead.
We hoped that this novel plant fungal disease control strategy can bring enlightenment for future biopesticide research.