Many microbes that are found growing within plants (termed “endophytic”) confer beneficial advantages to their hosts. Examples include drought tolerance, pest resistance and improved acquisition of trace nutrients from the environment. BioDiscovery has developed a robust and broad-reaching approach to identifying appropriate microbes that will confer valuable traits on agricultural plants. Currently, the experimental results have been very promising, with formulations increasing the growth of diverse crop species by 50-80% over the controls in growth room trials.
Bioprotectant microbes benefit plant health by killing pests (insects, fungi and weeds) by their infectious or toxic activity, or by inducing plant host defence activity. Most bioprotectants are used inundatively, i.e. they are formulated and applied much like traditional pesticides, except that the formulation contains live microbial cultures as its active ingredient. BioDiscovery uses its miniaturised assays to screen and identify microbes that display bioprotectant activity for a range of crop-pest combinations. These microbes are then be fermented and formulated for use in pot and field trials.
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