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US-12616198-B2 - Lipo-chitooligosaccharide compositions for enhancing plant growth

US12616198B2US 12616198 B2US12616198 B2US 12616198B2US-12616198-B2

Abstract

Compositions and methods for improving one or more aspects of plant growth using synergistically effective amounts of one or more lipo-chitooligosaccharides and one or more agriculturally beneficial microorganisms, such as Streptomyces lydicus WYEC 108, Trichoderma virens GI-3 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SB3778.

Inventors

  • Ahsan Habib
  • Kristi Woods
  • Michael Frodyma
  • Shawn Semones

Assignees

  • NOVOZYMES BIOAG A/S

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20240418

Claims (18)

  1. 1 . A method comprising applying (a) Streptomyces lydicus WYEC 108 and (b) a lipo-chitooligosaccharide selected from the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented by structure (V): and the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented by structure (VII): to a plant seed in amounts effective to synergistically enhance one or more growth parameters of the plant that grows from said seed vis-à-vis separate application of (a) and (b), wherein said Streptomyces lydicus WYEC 108 is applied to the plant seed at least at a rate of 1×10 4 to 1×10 5 colony forming units (CFU) per seed, and wherein said lipo-chitooligosaccharide is applied to the plant seed at a rate of at least 1.86 μg per cwt (μg/hundred weight).
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said one or more growth parameters comprises shoot diameter, shoot area, and/or shoot volume.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said one or more growth parameters comprises root volume.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said plant seed is leguminous.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said plant seed is a soybean seed.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said plant seed is non-leguminous.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said plant seed is a corn seed.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said lipo-chitooligosacchride is the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented by structure (V):
  9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said lipo-chitooligosacchride is the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented by structure (VII):
  10. 10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented by structure (V): is applied to said plant seed at a rate of about 1.86 ug per cwt.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented by structure (VII): is applied to said plant seed at a rate of about 1.86 ug per cwt.
  12. 12 . A composition comprising (a) Streptomyces lydicus WYEC 108 and (b) one or more lipo-chitooligosaccharides selected from the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented by the structure (V): and the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented by the structure (VII): in amounts effective to synergistically enhance one or more growth parameters of a plant when said composition is applied to said plant and/or to the seed from which said plant is grown vis-à-vis separate application of (a) and (b), wherein said Streptomyces lydicus WYEC 108 is applied to the plant and/or seed at least at a rate of 1×10 4 to 1×10 5 colony forming units (CFU) per plant and/or seed, and wherein said lipo-chitooligosaccharide is applied to the plant and/or seed at a rate of at least 1.86 μg per cwt (μg/hundred weight).
  13. 13 . The composition of claim 12 , wherein said one or more growth parameters comprises shoot diameter, shoot area, and/or shoot volume.
  14. 14 . The composition of claim 12 , wherein said one or more growth parameters comprises root volume.
  15. 15 . The composition of claim 12 , wherein said composition comprises the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented by structure (V):
  16. 16 . The composition of claim 12 , wherein said composition comprises the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented by structure (VII):
  17. 17 . The composition of claim 12 , wherein said plant and/or seed from which said plant is grown is leguminous.
  18. 18 . The composition of claim 12 , wherein said plant and/or seed from which said plant is grown is soybean.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION The present invention claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/898,781, filed Aug. 30, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/954,808, filed Apr. 17, 2018, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,464,230, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/327,671, filed Jan. 20, 2017, now abandoned, which is itself a national stage entry of PCT/US2015/041086, filed Jul. 20, 2015, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/027,950, filed Jul. 23, 2014, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to compositions and methods for enhancing plant growth. BACKGROUND The symbiosis between the gram-negative soil bacteria, Rhizobiaceae and Bradyrhizobiaceae, and legumes such as soybean, is well documented. The biochemical basis for these relationships includes an exchange of molecular signaling, wherein the plant-to-bacteria signal compounds include flavones, isoflavones and flavanones, and the bacteria-to-plant signal compounds, which include the end products of the expression of the bradyrhizobial and rhizobial nod genes, known as lipo-chitooligosaccharides (LCOs). The symbiosis between these bacteria and the legumes enables the legume to fix atmospheric nitrogen for plant growth, thus obviating a need for nitrogen fertilizers. Since nitrogen fertilizers can significantly increase the cost of crops and are associated with a number of polluting effects, the agricultural industry continues its efforts to exploit this biological relationship and develop new agents and methods for improving plant yield without increasing the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers. SUMMARY OF THE CLAIMED INVENTION The present claims encompass methods and compositions for improving plant growth with synergistic combinations of Streptomyces lydicus WYEC 108 and one or more lipo-chitooligosaccharides. In a first aspect, the present claims recite a method comprising application of Streptomyces lydicus WYEC 108 and a lipo-chitooligosaccharide selected from the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented herein by structure V and the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented herein by structure VII to a plant seed in amounts effective to synergistically enhance one or more growth parameters of the plant that grows from said seed. In a second aspect, the present claims recite a composition comprising Streptomyces lydicus WYEC 108 and one or more of the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented herein by structure V and the lipo-chitooligosaccharide represented herein by structure VII in amounts effective to synergistically enhance one or more growth parameters of a plant when said composition is applied to the plant and/or to the seed from which the plant is grown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention is explained in greater detail below. This description is not intended to be a detailed catalog of all the different ways in which the invention may be implemented or of all the features that may be added to the instant invention. For example, features illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be incorporated into other embodiments, and features illustrated with respect to a particular embodiment may be deleted from that embodiment. In addition, numerous variations and additions to the various embodiments suggested herein, which do not depart from the instant invention, will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the instant disclosure. Hence, the following specification is intended to illustrate some particular embodiments of the invention, and not to exhaustively specify all permutations, combinations and variations thereof. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. For the sake of brevity and/or clarity, well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the terms “acaricide” and “acaricidal” refer to an agent or combination of agents the application of which is toxic to an acarid (i.e., kills an acarid, inhibits the growth of an acarid, and/or inhibits the reproduction of an acarid). As used herein, the term “agriculturally beneficial agent” refers to a