Microbes Enhance Plant Growth and Crop Yields

Production of food must double in the next 40 years in order to feed the world's population. Thus, scientists are exploring on using fungi, bacteria and viruses to improve plant growth and crop yields in a short span of time. Initial experiments have shown that some microbes living on plant cells seem to improve photosynthesis and ability to fix nitrogen from the air. Mary Lucero, a biologist from US Department of Agriculture, said that microbial help for fixing nitrogen could reduce the demand for chemical fertilizers. Based on Lucero's experiment, grama grass grew larger and produced more seeds after infusing with fungi.

On the other hand, Rusty Rodriguez, a microbiologist from U.S. Geological Survey's Biological Resources Division improved a tomato plant's tolerance to high temperature by infusing it with fungi from plants near the hotsprings of Yellowstone National Park. Rodriguez also mentioned that transferring microbes to plants is just like copying the works of nature, transferring entire genomes from the plant's own microbial community.

The complete news report is available at http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=more-food-from-fungi#comments.