SBIR-STTR Award

We have developed a bioinspired nanoparticle technology using the coat protein (CP) assemblies of Tobacco mild green mosaic tobamo virus (TMGMV) to deliver nematicides to roots reduce dosage and improve soil mobility efficacy and safety. The CP's zwitterionic nature allows the loading and release of nematicides. The TMGMV-delivered nematicides (TDN) are efficacious against Caenorhabditis elegans in liquid cultures and the TMGMV-assisted delivery enhances then ematicide's soil mobility compared to the free nematicide and contemporary synthetic nanoparticles. With this foundation we will use experimental and computational approaches to optimize nematicide payloads in TMGMV and assess the efficacy of TDN in vitro and in soil. Abamectin azadirachtin and fluensulfone will be studied tailoring their loading and release by using counterions and covalent chemistries. The effective concentration (EC50) of TDN vs. free nematicides will be compared against C. elegans. Soil behavior will be modeled to predict the diffusion profiles of TDN and validated with soil leaching experiments considering soil grain sizepH temperature and organic matter concentration. The loading dose and application rate required to treat crops in different settings will be determined from studying the efficacy of TDN vs. free nematicides using potted tomato plants infested with Meloidogyne incognita. Besides proof of concept and feasibility of delivering registered commercially used nematicides rather than model compounds in Phase I we will establish the applicability of TMGMV as a pesticide delivery platform to target plant and environmental pests. Phase II objectives will aim to develop test and gather registration data and design an industrial process to mass-produce the desired TDN formulations. In Phase III commercial products will be launched.