SBIR-STTR Award

If successful, this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project would demonstrate feasibility for cost effective replacement of seed with transplants derived from vegetative propagation. Such a demonstration would lay an important cornerstone for the application of mass propagation techniques to all agricultural transplanted crops. The technical objective is to establish a functional model system for delivery of triploid watermelon transplants from the tissue culture laboratory to the greenhouse within the cost constraints of 20 cents per transplant unit. The model propagation system must be compatible with future mechanization efforts, both in the laboratory (multiplication) stages and in the greenhouse transplanting stage. It is our expectation that the Phase I research will point future research in a direction, either towards clusters and random cutting, or towards linear, robotic cutting systems. The biological foundation of media tailored to each morphotype is the first step towards creation of a functional mechanically-compatible transplant production system. International advances in cluster culture and mechanical cutting systems will be evaluated against the ongoing efforts in robotic and/or mechanical cutting of straight shoot plant types. Once a decision can be made regarding the direction of automation research, Phase II would focus in increasing the scale of operations and implementing the actual mechanization steps needed for commercialization.

Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications of Research:
The application of in vitro vegetative propagation technology to the production of triploid watermelon transplants would result in a reduction in per unit transplant cost, increase the uniformity of transplants and increase the supply of transplants. The seedless watermelon market is limited by supply, both of fruit for the fresh produce market and availability of seed of preferred varieties to supply the transplant demands for acreage expansion. The use of vegetative propagation to reduce the need for volume seed production has wide application beyond the triploid watermelon.

The Phase I effort demonstrated that vegetative propagation can be a cost-effective replacement for seed in the production of transplants for seedless watermelon. Mass propagation techniques may now be economically applied to other field-transplanted horticultural crops and the potential benefits for U.S. agriculture can be extended to the rapid introduction of new varieties from several technologies including elite selections, genetic transformants, in vitro grafted selections and periclinal chimeras. Tissue-Grown scientists are working on a new variety development technology, based on the creation of interspecific chimeras, that may have immediate application for creation of elite disease resistant Cucurbit, Brassica and Solanum crops. With this Phase II proposal, Tissue-Grown outlines a project which combines large scale micropropagation with novel variety technologies to demonstrate that vegetatively propagated watermelon and tomato transplants with genetic-based resistance to Fusarium can be delivered on a commercial scale to the U.S. market. A key element for meeting the economic feasibility criteria for U.S. markets will be the delivery of high value germplasm that can compete with traditional seed based transplants. Tissue-Grown proposes that the combination of mass propagation with disease resistant transplants can provide a significant economic opportunity for vegetable production in the U.S. ANTICIPATED RESULTS & POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH The commercialization potential of this research is extremely high. The preliminary work has been carried out at the request of a major commercial horticultural transplant plug producer in California and a Phase III follow-on funding source has been found. In the case of the triploid watermelon, even a slightly improved manual system could be put into production and have a immediate impact on the industry. This research focuses on increasing the scale of operations and implementing the actual mechanization steps needed for commercialization. In addition, this research addresses the concerns of commercial growers regarding stability of new genetic materials under development at Tissue-Grown. Combining the two results could create a new avenue for large scale application of emerging technologies to the agricultural community.