A MURDOCH university-based start-up business that is helping identify and testing for rhizobial bacteria in legume pastures and crops has won a State Government innovation award.
MALDIID was one of 22 businesses receiving up to a $20,000 grant from the government to commercialise its business.
MALDIID provides farmers with a service to test their legume pastures and crops, ensuring the rhizobia bacteria is working to its full potential.
The business began as a research project at the university before it was launched as a commercial company in January.
It attracted State Government and the university’s attention for its world-leading research.
MALDIID is the first commercial business globally that uses the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation (MALDI) technique to identify rhizobia.
As well is the innovation grant, the company was awarded the Murdoch University Vice Chancellor’s award for innovation, enterprise and entrepreneurship last month.
Company director Sofie De Meyer said current methods for testing rhizobia activity were laborious and the service provided for farmers would helped ensure they were getting the maximum yield potential from their legumes.
The company concept came through conversations with farmers who wanted to check if rhizobia in legume nodules were delivering the maximum yield – and nitrogen fixing-potential.
“Each legume has a specific rhizobia with which they collaborate to fix nitrogen for the plant in return for sugar for the bacteria,” Dr De Meyer said.
“Having the correct strain means you have maximum yield potential for the plant and if testing shows that is not the right strain, then it can limit the yield potential.”
In a world-first, the company uses mass spectrometry and gene sequencing technology to test and identify the bacteria within legumes.
“Mass spectrometry is used in bacterial diagnostics mainly in the medical fields but it had never been applied elsewhere which is why I started looking at that technology and how it can be implemented in rhizobia and more importantly straight from the nodule,” Dr De Meyer said.
The commercial test allows farmers to test the roots of legume crops and legume pastures, including annual and perennial medics, clovers, serradella and biserrula, pea, Faba bean, lentil, chickpeas, soybeans and lupins.
Using a sample kit, farmers take four samples per paddock of their legume crop or pasture from mid-July through to October, depending on the region, or before flowering.
The pasture or crop samples are then tested using mass spectrometry and a “fingerprint” from the sample is cross-checked against MALDIID’s extensive rhizobia database.
Dr De Meyer said farmers were provided with the results and recommendations on whether their pastures or crop need additional soil inoculants.
“Pastures can look very good above ground but that doesn’t mean that below ground they are doing what they should be doing, as it could be using nitrogen from the soil rather than putting it back,” she said.
“The test will help farmers understand if the legume is putting nitrogen back into the soil and giving nitrogen for the subsequent crop.”
Dr De Meyer said the business would use the State Government innovation grant to increase its identification bank of rhizobia to include the majority of legumes used in Australian agriculture.
