Cheap recipe brews billions of crop-protecting bacteria spores
Crop Improvement
The biopesticides and soil inoculants gardeners buy to fight plant disease depend on cheap, reliable ways to mass-produce the beneficial bacteria inside them, and this research just made that process far more affordable and shelf-stable.
Researchers were trying to grow huge batches of a helpful bacterium, Bacillus velezensis, that protects plants from disease, but doing it cheaply and reliably is tricky. They tested different temperatures, feeding ingredients, and growing conditions and found that warming the mix to 34°C and using cheap farm byproducts like molasses and cottonseed flour produced way more of the tough, dormant bacterial spores that make effective plant treatments. They also created a powder version of the product that stays potent for more than three years sitting on a shelf, which is huge for getting it into farmers' and gardeners' hands affordably.
Key Findings
Temperature was the biggest factor in spore production, with yields jumping from 4.17 x 10^7 CFU/mL at 22°C to 7.30 x 10^8 CFU/mL at 34°C
Low-cost media combining molasses with cottonseed flour or protein hydrolysate produced the highest yields, up to 2.32 x 10^9 CFU/mL after 72 hours of fermentation
Wettable powder formulations made with corn-starch or potato-starch carriers and soybean lecithin maintained viability for over 3 years at room temperature
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found the ideal temperature, growth medium, and low-cost ingredients like molasses and cottonseed flour to mass-produce a beneficial soil bacterium that protects crops from disease, plus a powder formula that stays effective for over 3 years on the shelf.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Optimizing submerged cultivation of Bacillus velezensis for endospore production and formulation
Considering the high efficacy of Bacillus velezensis AP-3 strain in controlling plant diseases, optimizing large-scale and cost-effective endospore production is crucial for providing accessible bi...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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Soil health is the capacity of soil to function as a living ecosystem, supporting complex interactions between microorganisms, soil fauna, and plant communities. For plant science, soil health is critical because these biological and chemical soil properties directly control nutrient availability,
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