Rapid corn rhizobiome screening platform for tailored biofertilizer consortia

Overview

This solution offers a rapid, effective approach for formulating tailored consortia of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) designed to improve drought tolerance in corn crops. Poor survival of beneficial bacteria in the rhizosphere is a major bottleneck in biofertilizer development. By screening the corn rhizobiome for bacteria that work synergistically with the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azospirillum brasilense, the platform enables co-inoculation strategies that outperform single-strain products. The result is improved water use efficiency, stronger root systems, and more sustainable corn production under drought stress conditions.

Technical specifications

• Novel microwell recovery array microdevice for high-throughput screening of rhizobiome isolates compatible with A. brasilense (patent-pending)
• Consortium formulation strategy combining nitrogen-fixing bacteria with complementary rhizobacteria to enhance root colonization and crop health
• Seedling co-inoculation validation demonstrating significant improvements in A. brasilense root colonization and corn growth after 14 days in plant growth chambers
• Potted plant validation in calcine clay systems confirming improved root and shoot biomass with top-performing isolates
• Drought stress testing protocol planned to compare co-inoculation against no inoculation, A. brasilense alone, and isolate alone under 15-day drought conditions
• Measurable outcomes including plant height, root biomass, and shoot biomass

Technology readiness level

The technology has completed initial laboratory validation. A single microdevice screen of the corn root microbiome against A. brasilense successfully identified six promoting bacterial isolates, all of which significantly improved root colonization and corn growth in seedling studies. A top isolate was further validated in a more complex calcine clay potted plant system at a collaborating laboratory, showing statistically significant improvements in root and shoot biomass. Next-stage validation will focus on drought stress performance in plant growth chambers to demonstrate that co-inoculation improves drought tolerance, providing a critical step toward positioning the microdevice as a commercially viable platform for rapid biofertilizer formulation.