Could This Fundamental Discovery Revolutionise Fertiliser Use in Farming?

Researchers have discovered a biological mechanism that makes plant roots more welcoming to beneficial soil microbes. 

This discovery by John Innes Centre researchers paves the way for more environmentally friendly farming practices, potentially allowing farmers to use less fertiliser.  

Production of most major crops relies on nitrate and phosphate fertilisers, but excessive fertiliser use harms the environment. 

If we could use mutually beneficial relationships between plant roots and soil microbes to enhance nutrient uptake, then we could potentially reduce use of inorganic fertilisers.  

Researchers in the group of Dr Myriam Charpentier discovered a mutation in a gene in the legume Medicago truncatula that reprogrammes the signaling capacity of the plant so that it enhances partnerships with nitrogen fixing bacteria called rhizobia and arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) which supply roots with phosphorus. 

This type of partnership, known as endosymbiosis, where one organism exists within another, enables legume plants to scavenge nutrients from the soil via microbes, in exchange for sugars.  

A barrier to the widespread use of endosymbiotic partnerships in agriculture is that they preferentially occur in nutrient-poor soils, conflicting with the conditions of intensive farming. 

In this study which appears in Nature, experiments showed that the gene mutation in a calcium signalling pathway enhances endosymbiosis in farming conditions. 

Excitingly, the team used genetic approaches to show that the same gene mutation in wheat enhances colonization by nitrogen fixing bacteria and AMF in field conditions too.  

The findings represent an exciting breakthrough in the long-held ambition to use enhanced endosymbiotic partnerships as natural alternatives to inorganic-fertilizer across major crops, including cereals and legumes.  

“Our findings hold great potential for advancing sustainable agriculture. It is unexpected and exciting that the mutation we have identified enhances endosymbiosis in farming conditions, because it offers the potential for sustainable crop production using endosymbionts alongside reduced inorganic fertiliser use,” said Dr Charpentier. 

“The discovery contributes broadly to research on calcium signalling while also offering a transition solution towards more sustainable production of economically important crops.” 

Previous research by the Charpentier group has shown that the calcium signaling in root cell nuclei is essential for the establishment of root endosymbiosis with useful nitrogen fixing bacteria and AMF. 

This study decodes that key signalling mechanism, showing how calcium oscillations regulate the production of compounds called flavonoids which enhance endosymbiosis.