A major new technology has been developed by The University of Nottingham, which enables all of the world's crops to take nitrogen from the air rather than expensive and environmentally damaging fertilisers.
Environment
Jul 25, 2013
21
1
For a plant to thrive, it needs the help of a friendly fungus—preferably one that will dig its way deep into the cells of the plant's roots.
Ecology
Oct 28, 2019
7
2938
New findings show that a micro RNA from the shoot keeps legume roots susceptible to symbiotic infection by downregulating a gene that would otherwise hinder root responses to symbiotic bacteria. These findings reveal what ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 26, 2018
0
66
Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have found a way to reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizers needed to grow cereal crops. The discovery could save farmers in the United States billions of dollars annually ...
Biotechnology
Aug 5, 2022
0
350
While domestication of plants has yielded bigger crops, the process has often had a negative effect on plant microbiomes, making domesticated plants more dependent on fertilizer and other soil amendments than their wild relatives.
Ecology
Mar 10, 2020
0
668
Nitrogen is a nutrient essential for all life on Earth. Although nitrogen gas (N2) is plentiful, it is largely unavailable to most organisms without a process known as nitrogen fixation, which converts dinitrogen to ammonium—a ...
Evolution
Apr 3, 2024
0
319
Some fungi and bacteria live in symbiosis with tree roots in forest soil to obtain mutual benefits. The microorganisms help trees access water and nutrients from the atmosphere or soil, sequester carbon, and withstand the ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 20, 2019
0
0
Plants often develop communities with microorganisms in their roots, which influences plant health and development. Although the recruitment of these microbes is dictated by several factors, it is unclear whether the genetic ...
Ecology
Dec 19, 2023
0
205
Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth, but the overuse of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture is not sustainable.
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 26, 2023
0
92
There's a complex world beneath our feet, teeming with diverse and interdependent life. Plants call out with chemical signals in times of stress, summoning microbes that can unlock bound nutrients and find water in soil pores ...
Ecology
Jul 25, 2023
0
50
