The functional diversity of the soil microbiome, or the diversity of plant growth promoting genes within the microbial population, plays a major role in driving agricultural success. The functional diversity of a grower’s soil can be impacted by shifting the soil microbiome towards plant-growth-promoting bacteria, or PGPB. Many microbial products attempt to inoculate the grower’s soil with selected PGPB, thereby augmenting the soil’s functional diversity profile. However, the selected PGPB may not be able to thrive in all soil types, growing environments, or plant hosts. Even if soil conditions are favorable, a single gram of soil may contain billions of native microbes, and competitive interactions between the resident soil microbes and the inoculated PGPB may limit their ability to colonize and deliver their modes of action within the soil. These factors can lead to inconsistent or nonexistent performance among microbial soil inoculations.
BiOWiSH HoloGene 3™ technology is not a soil inoculation approach. Our technology is based on the hologenome concept, which considers a host organism (such as a plant) and its microbiome to be a single unit, called a holobiont, which expresses traits based on its hologenome, or the combined genetic profile of host and microbiome together. When BiOWiSH® endophytes enter the roots of their host plants and deliver their load of soil nutrients, it triggers a cascade of effects. The process of root exudation , also known as rhizodeposition, drives the cyclical nature of the rhizophagy cycle while also enhancing beneficial microbial activity in the rhizosphere. The collection of beneficial microbes in the rhizosphere are sometimes likened to a “garden” tended by the plant through rhizodeposition, and many of these express natural functions that further benefit the plant and the physical soil environment. We thus refer to the HoloGene 3™ technology as a “hologenomic catalyst”.
The benefits of BiOWiSH HoloGene 3™ technology do not stop with the soil microbiome. One result of the technology’s application is optimized yield potential by improved nutrient uptake, a challenge which has traditionally been met in part through the use of Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers, or EEFs. Familiar EEF categories such as micronutrient coatings, delayed release technologies, and chemical loss mitigations help support plant nutrient uptake by providing selected nutrients (micronutrient coatings) or by minimizing the impact of loss pathways on fertilizer nutrients (delayed release and chemical mitigations). The end result is a supply of plant-available nutrients in the soil. One limitation of these approaches is that their efficacy is limited to a single mode of action, a single nutrient, or both. Additionally, these approaches do not get plant-available nutrients into the plant where they belong. BiOWiSH HoloGene 3™ technology supports plant processes involved in the uptake of multiple nutrients through multiple soil and microbiome-based modes of action, and helps reduce the impact of nutrient loss pathways by increasing nutrient use efficiency and supporting nutrient uptake. This creates a new class of EEFs that provides a comprehensive counterpart to the traditional technologies familiar in the market today.
BiOWiSH HoloGene 3™ technology is a unique fertilizer coating technology which leverages the power of the hologenome concept to support the expression of naturally evolved plant traits which improves soil conditions for increased plant vigor, supports the functional diversity of the soil microbiome, and the physicochemical environment of the soil. This triangle between plant, soil, and microbiome is present in all growing plants, but is optimized by the addition of BiOWiSH® Crop products. The result is a microbial solution which merges the benefits of a microbial soil inoculation and an enhanced efficiency fertilizer.