Advances innovation for research, development and technical support
PHOENIX, AZ (July 2017) – The Integrated Life Science Research Center’s (ILSRC) vision is to become the first research team in the country dedicated to promoting the development of safe, sustainable practices, products, services and protocols through life sciences and engineering. This work would not be possible without several state-of-the-art laboratories, each of which are tasked with important functions to support leading Arizona-based agricultural company, BioFlora.
As part of BioFlora’s dedication to growers, the ILSRC’s laboratories are utilized to collect and investigate samples of diseased or deficient crops from around the world. These analyses are then used as a platform to create customized BioFlora products, or tailor a BioFlora plant nutrient program specific to the disease or deficiency identified by the ILSRC.
To further this initiative, the ILSRC has already designed and launched four unique laboratories[1], and after high demand, has now added the Molecular Biology Laboratory to its arsenal. The Molecular Biology Laboratory will serve two critical purposes in advancing the use of innovative technology for research, development and technical support at the DNA level.
The first important feature of this laboratory is the rapid identification of plant pathogens in agricultural samples. The second feature, is the swift detection of the beneficial bacterial inoculant’s present in BioFlora’s various biological fertilizers and soil amendments. This will provide enhanced quality control, as these molecular techniques provide precise, reliable and reproducible results that are predictive in nature.
The new Molecular Biology Laboratory will provide fast identification of fungal and bacterial plant pathogens, through PCR[2] and ELISA[3] methods, without the need to wait for the causal organism(s) to be isolated and grown in the ILSRC’s Microbiology Laboratory. For growers, incredible process improvement provides extremely valuable information in a more timely manner.
Previously, diseased samples would be sent into the Microbiology Laboratory for testing. Standard techniques could typically take from weeks to months to complete before the grower could be informed on the exact pathogen affecting their crops, and during timeframe, the disease would continue to spread, causing more and more damage as time lapses.
“Quick identification of the primary pathogen affecting their crop will allow growers to select the best course of action against the pathogen” stated Dr. Srinivas Makam[4] a molecular and microbiologist at the ILSRC. “During this time, our Microbiology Laboratory will continue to isolate, culture and run pathogen inhibition assays against the pathogen to create a customized product or program, tailored to that specific grower’s disease and environmental conditions.”
Additionally, rapid identification of the pathogen(s) will point the Microbiology Laboratory in the right direction when selecting the best pathogen isolation method.
Furthermore, in some cases, these molecular methods will provide early plant pathogen detection before the onset of the disease or symptoms are observed on a crop. This will be significant for the grower as he or she will be able to start treating the affected field(s) before planting even begins.
About ILSRC
Within the Global Organics Group, the Integrated Life Science Research Center® (ILSRC) works as the research and development arm of leading plant health division BioFlora®, and human and animal health division, Mineral BioSciences®. As such, the ILSRC investigates a wide variety of subjects, including: agronomy, microbiology, chemistry, plant pathology, and human and animal physiology, just to name a few. To support these markets, the vision of the ILSRC is to promote and develop sustainable practices, products, and services by utilizing pioneering techniques, disciplines, chemistry, and methodology. For more information about Global Organics® Group, or to interview CEO and Managing Partner Luke Blotsky, please contact Sarah Van Wyk at svanwyk@globalorganicsgroup.com or call 623-932-1522. Visit www.ilsrc.com.
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[1] To learn more about the ILSRC laboratories, visit www.ilsrc.com.
[2] PCR stands for Polymerase Chain Reaction, a technique used in molecular biology to amplify a single copy or a few copies of a piece of DNA across several orders of magnitude, generating thousands to millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence.
[3] ELISA stands for Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, a test that uses antibodies and color change to identify a substance, it has been used as a diagnostic tool in medicine and plant pathology, as well as a quality control check.
[4] Dr. Srinivas Makam received his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture/Horticultre from the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India, his Master of Science in Plant Physiology from the University of Agriculture in Bangalore, India and his Doctorate in the field of Molecular Plant Physiology/Microbiology/Biochemistry/Genomics from Purdue University.