Grant: Idea to Innovation
Saint Mary's University
$14,647.00
A market assessment for a technology that improves sugar beet production followed by inoculation by gluconacetobacter spp.
FY 2016-17
Summary
Sugar beets have potential to become an excellent feedstock for biofuel/bioethanol production in temperate regions in part due to their high sugar content. The sugar content in sugar beets is 25% higher than that found in sugarcane (one of the biofuel feedstocks of choice in tropical regions) and its yield can be 10 times greater than other grain crops like corn and wheat which are often used in temperate climates. However costs for sugar beet production remains high, which limits its commercial feasibility for biofuel production. One of the high costs of production (especially from an environmental perspective) are the high levels of nitrogen required for growth. Nitrogen fertilizer application is expensive and has negative effects on the environment. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the microbial conversion of atmospheric dinitrogen (N2) into ammonium (NH4), a form of nitrogen which can be utilized by plants. BNF can displace N fertilizer applications to crop plants. BNF could have a significant effect on improving yield of sugar beet on lower levels of N fertilization, which would lower the cost of beet production and increases its efficiency as biofuel feedstock. Our team has studied sugar beet grown at two levels of N fertilization (1 and 10 mM KNO3).Results clearly show that all 14 strains tested of Gluconacetobacter spp. improved sugar beet growth to different extents. Moreover, these effects were well associated with N-fixing activity in these tissues. This implies that the improvement of biomass accumulation in sugar beet may be mainly caused by the activity of the introduced endophytic diazotroph via N-fixation, although these bacteria reportedly can produce auxins which may also stimulate root growth in the host plants. It is interesting that the highest improvement of sugar beet production caused by inoculation of Gluconacetobacter spp. was in hypocotyls tissues (the actual beet vs the leaf or stem). These findings demonstrate great potential for sugar beet to be one of the major biofuel feed-stocks, not only in increase biomass accumulation but also for the reduction of N fertilizer us required.
Program
Idea to Innovation
Recipient
Location
Nova Scotia, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
493706-2016
Name nom
Vessey, Kevin
Department département
Graduate Studies & Research, Faculty of
Organization id
85
Institution établissement
Saint Mary's University
Province en
Nova Scotia
Province fr
Nouvelle-Écosse
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2016
Competition year année de concours
2016
Award amount
14647
Program id
I2IPJ
Program name en
Idea to Innovation
Program name fr
De l'idée à l'innovation
Group en
Research partnerships programs
Group fr
Programmes de partenariat
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
1209
Area of application group en
Advancement of knowledge
Area of application group fr
Avancement des connaissances
Area of application en
Agriculture
Area of application fr
Agriculture
Research subject code
4908
Research subject group en
Plant and treebiology
Research subject group fr
Biologie végétale et des arbres
Research subject en
Crop and pasture production,breeding
Research subject fr
Production et amélioration génétique des cultures
Partie
1
Nb partie
1
Application title
A market assessment for a technology that improves sugar beet production followed by inoculation by gluconacetobacter spp.
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
Sugar beets have potential to become an excellent feedstock for biofuel/bioethanol production in temperate regions in part due to their high sugar content. The sugar content in sugar beets is 25% higher than that found in sugarcane (one of the biofuel feedstocks of choice in tropical regions) and its yield can be 10 times greater than other grain crops like corn and wheat which are often used in temperate climates. However costs for sugar beet production remains high, which limits its commercial feasibility for biofuel production. One of the high costs of production (especially from an environmental perspective) are the high levels of nitrogen required for growth. Nitrogen fertilizer application is expensive and has negative effects on the environment. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the microbial conversion of atmospheric dinitrogen (N2) into ammonium (NH4), a form of nitrogen which can be utilized by plants. BNF can displace N fertilizer applications to crop plants. BNF could have a significant effect on improving yield of sugar beet on lower levels of N fertilization, which would lower the cost of beet production and increases its efficiency as biofuel feedstock. Our team has studied sugar beet grown at two levels of N fertilization (1 and 10 mM KNO3).Results clearly show that all 14 strains tested of Gluconacetobacter spp. improved sugar beet growth to different extents. Moreover, these effects were well associated with N-fixing activity in these tissues. This implies that the improvement of biomass accumulation in sugar beet may be mainly caused by the activity of the introduced endophytic diazotroph via N-fixation, although these bacteria reportedly can produce auxins which may also stimulate root growth in the host plants. It is interesting that the highest improvement of sugar beet production caused by inoculation of Gluconacetobacter spp. was in hypocotyls tissues (the actual beet vs the leaf or stem). These findings demonstrate great potential for sugar beet to be one of the major biofuel feed-stocks, not only in increase biomass accumulation but also for the reduction of N fertilizer us required.
