Title: Ceres

Description: Ontario is the top provincial greenhouse producer in Canada. In 2020, Ontario produced 257.6 million kgs of greenhouse tomatoes, with a farm gate value of 1.2 billion dollars. Growers experience massive yield losses worth hundreds of millions of dollars every year due to disease alone. At iGEM Guelph, we have engineered a solution capable of defending greenhouse tomatoes from insect and fungal infections.

We engineered Bacillus subtilis, a bacteria naturally found in the rhizosphere of healthy tomato plants, to express two cytotoxic proteins isolated from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis. The toxins were placed downstream of an inducible promoter, giving the grower control over whether our bacteria expresses the bioinsecticide. Our biopesticide-producing bacteria can be added to the soil to form a protective biofilm around the plant’s roots. Now, when insect larvae, which often carry fungal diseases, attempt to feed on the plant's roots, the insect will perish.

This new bioinsecticide will allow farmers all over Ontario to improve protection and take preventative measures for their crops, as well as form a stepping stone for a new generation of innovative and safe biopesticide defence.

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