Environmentally sustainable crop growth promotion and protection
Research-based approach to developing compatible bacterial consortia for plant growth promotion. By screening and combining compatible plant growth-promoting (PGP) bacterial strains, this solution aims to enhance crop health, productivity, and resilience against pests, fungi, and drought stress without chemical inputs.
Overview
This research program addresses a critical challenge in sustainable agriculture: not all plant growth-promoting (PGP) bacterial strains work well together. The core insight is that well-defined mixtures of compatible PGP strains significantly improve plant health and productivity, while mixtures of non-compatible strains—even those individually carrying PGP traits—fail to deliver the same benefits. The goal is to construct optimized multi-strain bacterial consortia that enhance crop growth, suppress pathogens, and alleviate environmental stresses such as drought.
Technical specifications
Research approach and capabilities:
- Isolation and screening of over 3,000 bacterial strains from environmental samples
- In vitro characterization of PGP traits including nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilization, siderophore production, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) synthesis, and ACC deaminase activity
- Phylogenetic analysis to identify and classify promising PGP strains
- Compatibility testing between strains to identify those capable of co-existing on plant roots
- Construction of 4–5 strain consortia combining compatible strains with high cumulative PGP activity, compared against non-compatible mixtures
- Evaluation of Bacillus strains for nematode inhibition, anti-fungal properties, and drought stress alleviation
- Whole-genome sequencing of top-performing strains to discover novel PGP genes
- Development of a "super-PGP" strain or consortium combining growth promotion with anti-drought and anti-pest/fungal/bacterial activity
Validation status:
Preliminary trials on tomato (216 plants tested with 19 strains) identified one effective PGP strain. Compatibility testing on cucumbers confirmed that mixing compatible versus non-compatible PGP strains produces significantly different plant growth outcomes, supporting the central hypothesis.
Technology readiness level
The research is at an early-to-mid stage of development (TRL 3–4). Laboratory validation has demonstrated proof-of-concept for the compatibility hypothesis, and a library of potential PGP strains has been built. Further validation through greenhouse and field trials is needed, along with genomic characterization and optimization of consortia formulations. The program offers strong potential for development into commercial bioinoculant products for sustainable agriculture.
About University of Ljubljana
The University of Ljubljana is a comprehensive public research university and Slovenia’s largest, anchored in the capital with extensive faculty laboratories and clinical, cultural, and technical assets. Companies engage through a central Knowledge Transfer Office that brokers collaborative R&D, IP licensing, and spin‑out pathways, complemented by the Ljubljana University Incubator for venture creation; the city’s technology park adds a dense startup and scale‑up community. Clinical translation benefits from integration with the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, enabling access to hospital‑based research and patient cohorts. Research is supported by competitive European programs and Slovenia’s national research and innovation agency (ARIS). Clearly defined commercialization routes—technology offers, industry matchmaking, and spin‑outs—help partners move from proof‑of‑concept to market.
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