Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Some 26,000 samples of extremophilic microorganisms grown at LBNL underwent primary screening. Samples showing biological activities of interest were re-grown and secondary screened. Promising novel leads were reverse-engineered and the microbial sequences responsible the relevant biological activity were transferred into major crop plants, such as corn and soybean. Following greenhouse validation, the transgenic plants, which express their own antifungal polypeptides are growing in the field. After completion of the project, DuPont decided to fund three more years of collaborative R&D at LBNL.