Immobilization of Plant Growth Promoting Microorganisms in Hydrophobic Carriers

The encapsulated microorganism of any of the preceding claims wherein the lipid-based coating contains at least 95 wt % lipids.

The encapsulated microorganism of any of the preceding claims wherein the core comprises a microorganism and wherein the encapsulated microorganism and/or enzyme is in the form of particles and wherein at least 90% of the particles are between 1 and 100 μm in diameter.

The encapsulated microorganism of any of the preceding claims wherein the encapsulated microorganism is in the form of particles and wherein at least 70% of the particles are between 1 and 10 μm in diameter.

The encapsulated microorganism of any of the preceding claims wherein the core comprises nitrogen-fixing bacteria, endo and ectomycorrhizal fungi, and/or plant growth promoting bacteria.

The encapsulated microorganism of any of the preceding claims wherein the core comprises:

• Rhizobium tropici, Rhizobium leguminosarum, Sinorhizobium meliloti, Pseudomonas protegens, Burkholderia phytofirmans, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Azospirillum brasilense, Rhodopseudomonas acidophila Rhodotorula sp., and/or Penicillium bilaiae.

The encapsulated microorganism of any of the preceding claims wherein the encapsulated microorganism and/or enzyme is in the form of particles and wherein, as compared to the uncoated particles, the microoganism's activity is 10 times higher or 100 times higher than the uncoated particles after 8 weeks or after 15 months of storage at standard conditions (20° C. in air, 1 atm, no humidity).

The encapsulated microorganism of any of the preceding claims in the form of a coating disposed on a seed.

The encapsulated microorganism of any of the preceding claims wherein the core comprises skim milk, trehalose or maltodextrin.

The encapsulated microorganism of any of the preceding claims wherein the microorganism exhibits at least 10E6 colony forming units after 1 week or 4 weeks or 12 months, or a 100× or less or 10× or less loss in viability after 1 week or 4 weeks or 12 months when stored at about 20° C. and 50% relative humidity.

A seed coated with the encapsulated microorganism of any of the preceding claims.

A method of making an encapsulated microorganism, comprising:

• dropping a solution of the microorganism (or combination of microorganisms) and an alginate and/or polyaspartate into a stirred bath containing a cross-linking solution to form particles comprising the microorganism and a cross-linked alginate or polyaspartate;
• coating the resulting particles with a lipid-based wax so that the lipid waxes form an outer shell over the alginate or polyaspartate of the core particle.