This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to optimize plant transgenic phage protein-based antibacterial technology. Specifically, this project will refine the methodologies needed to create transgenic tomatoes that express holins, lytic proteins produced by bacteriophages, in the amount needed to kill plant-pathogenic gram negative bacteria. The follow-on work will focus on controlling the most serious bacterial diseases of geranium, citrus, grape and rice.
The commercial application of this project will be in the area of transgenic crops to control a number of very important plant diseases for which limited options currently exist.
