Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the U.S. Sugar beet industry…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the U.S. Sugar beet industry contributes to 55-60% of the national sugar production and creates 140000 jobs in over 20 states with ~$20B annual positive input to the economy. However, with the ongoing climate changes, the industry is facing an increasing threat from a root ROT disease known as rhizoctonia crown and root ROT (rcrr), caused by a fungal pathogen rhizoctonia solani, together with a bacterial pathogen, leuconostoc mesenteroides. The pathogens infect the crop in the field and then degrade IT and its sugar during storage. Additionally, l. Mesenteroides produces dextran during sucrose fermentation, which plugs the factory filters leading to a severe drop in processing efficiency. Growers lose several millions of dollars of profits annually as a result. This project aims to develop a naturally-derived antimicrobial formulation that can prevent rcrr. Preliminary data indicated that one bioactive component in the envisioned formulation could inhibit both r. Solani and l. Mesenteroides and prevent rcrr in artificially infected roots. Hence phase i will characterize thebioactive potential of the formulation in greater detail and test the feasibility of the envisioned product formulation in preventing rcrr in field conditions, which will lead to the commercialization of the innovation. Also, IT will pave the way for new applications of the innovation to prevent root ROT issues in other crops. This will expand mycologics' product portfolio and strengthen the company's business model of entering into a product licensing agreement with a global agricultural technology company for faster market penetration.