International Alliance For Phytobiomes Research Inc

TO ESTABILSH A SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOUNDATION FOR SITE-SPECIFIC, PHYTOBIOME-BASED ENHANCEMENT OF THE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION OF FOOD, FEED, AND FIBER. RESEARCH RESOURCES & DATA ARE AVAILABLE FIRST TO MEMBERS AND THEN TO THE BROADER RESEARCH COMMUNITY.

THE PHYTOBIOMES ALLIANCE INITIATES, PARTICIPATES IN, AND SUPPORTS COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES TO ADDRESS THE SHORT-TERM PRIORITIES IDENTIFIED BY THE COORDINATING COMMITTEE TO BUILD A FOUNDATION OF SYSTEMS-LEVEL KNOWLEDGE OF VARIOUS PHYTOBIOMES. IN 2021 A PROPOSAL WAS SUBMITTED TO THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION FOR PHASE 2 OF THE UNITED STATES CULTURE COLLECTION NETWORK (USCCN) WITH THE GOAL OF EXPANDING THE SCOPE AND REACH OF THE NETWORK TO GAIN INCREASED AWARENESS AND ACCESS TO MICROBIAL COLLECTIONS OF ALL SIZES, FROM RESEARCH COLLECTIONS TO BACK-UP COLLECTIONS. WE ALSO COLLABORATED WITH CLEMSON UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS AND SUBMITTED AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INSTITUTE FOR MICROBIOME BIOLOGY (SUBMITTED TO US NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION). THE ALLIANCE SUPPORTED A PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH THE AI INSTITUTE FOR MICROBIOME BIOLOGY (AIMB). A GENOME SEQUENCE-BASED CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM FOR MICROBES IS AN ALLIANCE-COORDINATED PROJECT WHICH BEGAN IN AUGUST 2019 AND WAS COMPLETED IN AUGUST 2021. THE PROJECT FOCUSES ON THE SELECT AGENT RALSTONIA SOLANACEARUM (RS). IN THIS PROJECT, A CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM BASED ON WHOLE GENOME SEQUENCES WAS USED TO PRECISELY IDENTIFY MICROBES AND CONCLUSIVELY DISTINGUISH PATHOGENIC AND NON-PATHOGENIC RS STRAINS. OVER THE LONG-TERM AND ONCE EXPANDED BEYOND RS, THIS METHOD WILL BE BENEFICIAL FOR ACCELERATING THE REGULATORY PATHWAY FOR INTERNATIONAL AND INTERSTATE SHIPMENTS AS WELL AS COMMERCIALIZATION OF MICROBIAL PRODUCTS. MANUSCRIPTS ARE CURRENTLY IN PREPARATION. IN 2021 THE PHYTOBIOMES ALLIANCE PRODUCED 10 WEBINARS RESULTING IN 2477 REGISTRATIONS WITH PARTICIPANTS FROM 88 COUNTRIES.