Developing plant peptide hormones as biologicals to increase crop yield

We aim to develop the use of native plant peptide growth hormones to improve agricultural use of marginal-yielding fields and generally improve crop yields in a sustainable manner. In planta, peptide hormones are involved in traits like root-branching and root elongation. Root branching is important for uptake of non-mobile ions in the soil, such as phosphate, whereas the length of roots is essential for plants growing in dry areas as it enables increased water uptake. Until now, these peptide hormones have been chemically synthesized, which is hampered by the presence of an essential modification on the active peptides. This means that small quantities for lab-scale experiments are available, but large-scale experiments and potential agricultural use have thus far been out of reach due to peptide shortage. Recent developments in our lab have allowed us to recombinantly produce these peptide hormones in a scalable and cost-efficient manner.

The proposed project aims to further optimize our production strain as well as to perform a thorough characterization of the effect on plants. The final stage of the project will be performed at the Phenolab in Taastrup where a state-of-the-art growth facility will allow daily monitoring of phenotypic effects of the peptides on relevant crops. Such data will reveal the potential of these peptide hormones as biologicals for the future of a more sustainable agricultural sector.