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Develop a new energy efficient and simplified manufacturing process to mass-produce the aflatoxin biocontrol products as a low-cost formulation to increase affordability of the product by resource-poor farmers in the US and abroad.
Approach:
1. Sorghum based formulations for atoxigenic biocontrol strains will be optimized in laboratory studies that will assess treatments (preconditioning steps) to the raw sorghum required for optimal spore yield. <P> 2. Adaptation of formulating materials generally regarded as safe to the manufacture of biocontrol products will be explored with the objective of adapting diverse seed coating technologies to the low cost production of atoxigenic strain biological control products of use to farmers with low resources in Africa and the US.<P> 3. Advanced Pyrosequencing techniques will be applied to determining optimal strain mixtures and resistance of formulations to contaminating strains from the environment and in so doing allow the exploration of cost effective multi-strain formulations. <P> 4. Different sorghum types as the food base for atoxigenic strain formulations will be investigated along with potential adjuvants.<P> 5. Problems associated with scaling up and shelf stability of products will be explored within the time frame of the proposed study.