ARC Research Hub for Sustainable Crop Protection

Summary

Objective

The project aims to develop and commercialise an innovative biological alternative to chemical fungicides, targeting economically significant diseases of broadacre and horticultural crops. It will address sector challenges of fungicide resistance, chemical residues in food, off-target effects, and environmental harm. It builds on a ground-breaking ‘BioClay’ platform to deliver pathogen-targeting RNA using clay particles as non-genetically modified crop protection.

Background

Powdery mildew, downy mildew and botrytis bunch rot are the top three disease concerns in Australian vineyards, with fungal diseases directly costing the wine sector more than $200 million annually. If fungal diseases are not adequately controlled, substantial economic loss can occur from reduction in yield and downgrades in fruit quality. Management largely requires chemical control, which is facing serious challenges from the development of fungicide resistance in pathogens and social and market demands for chemical-free agriculture.

The ARC Research Hub for Sustainable Crop Protection commenced at The University of Queensland in 2020. The Hub involves a collaborative effort between 16 organisations, including six universities, four Research Development Corporations (RDCs), three state government organisations and two Industry Partners. It brings together innovative science and the regulatory, commercial, and social licencing pathways needed to ensure industry and consumer uptake and buy-in of the developed technology, ‘BioClay’.

The ‘Bio’ in BioClay is attributed to the active ingredient, double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), which is the trigger molecule for RNA interference (RNAi); ‘Clay’ refers to the degradable layered double hydroxide (LDH) particles as carriers. When applied as a pre- or post-harvest treatment, BioClay triggers the RNAi pathway in both plants and fungal pathogens, thereby potentially providing protection from the targeted pathogens. One of the targets of the technology is Botrytis infection of winegrapes.

Research approach

The Hub combines biology and material science to provide an alternative to chemical control of pests and diseases. It will work within the following key themes:

• Developing the BioClay platform to target fungal pathogens of global significance to both horticulture (including strawberries and grapes) and broadacre crops (including canola, wheat, cotton and chickpea).
• Generating new knowledge on the mechanisms of BioClay-fungi-crop interactions, towards optimising the system and identifying new applications for crop improvement.
• Formulating BioClay to industry specifications (scale-up, manufacturing, formulation, adoption), attaining regulatory approval and commercialisation.
• Developing a social license to operate/policy/consumer acceptance of the BioClay platform.

Sector benefits

The ARC Research Hub for Sustainable Crop Protection will produce a sustainable solution for management of key fungal pathogens across agriculture, thereby increasing productivity, market access and enhanced environmental credentials for Australian agricultural products.