An alum of UF Innovate | Accelerate Pheronym^®, an ag-biotech pest management company, has been granted its second US patent, this one focused on plant-parasitic nematode (PPN) biocontrol. The patent for Pherocoat™ will help address the pressing need for a natural, non-toxic approach to PPN control. According to The Fight against Plant-Parasitic Nematodes: Current Status of Bacterial and Fungal Biocontrol Agents, PPNs pose a major threat to food security and plant health, with estimated annual global economic losses of $173 billion. Up until now, chemical control with synthetic nematicides has been the most effective strategy to manage PPNs, but due to their environmental toxicity, and considerable legislative pressure to restrict them, they are progressively being phased out.

“There is a real, pressing need for sustainable alternatives to manage PPNs, and this new patent for Pherocoat validates our technology for use against these destructive pests,“ said Fatma Kaplan, CEO of Pheronym. “Now with our patents in place for both of our products, Nemastim™ and Pherocoat, we will move towards commercialization of these impactful methods to manage agricultural pests by controlling nematode behavior.”

Pheronym Inc., a company started by former UF researcher Fatma Kaplan, Ph.D., has developed technology to create pheromones that can control the actions of nematodes, one of the most abundant creatures on Earth.

Over 20 years ago, Kaplan began researching ways to use pheromones, which are external chemical triggers that influence mating and other behaviors. According to Kaplan, there are both good and bad nematodes, with the good ones attacking other insect pests in the soil to kill them or keep them from mating.

Pheronym’s product, called Nemastim, uses nematode pheromones to make the good nematodes more aggressive and mobile so they attack more insect pests. These pests damage plants and also transmit diseases. The product is added to water and applied to crops through an existing irrigation system for easy application.

The study, published in Nature Partner Journal, highlights that nematodes successfully emerged from consumed insect host cadavers, moved through the soil, found, and infected bait-insects in a manner equivalent to Earth controls. However, nematodes that developed entirely in space, from the egg stage, died upon return to Earth, unlike controls in microgravity and on Earth.

The research, led by Dr. Fatma Kaplan, focused on the beneficial nematodes’ dispersal, foraging, infectivity, and pheromone production in microgravity.