Recent advances have revealed the importance of microbes on plant and animal health. For plant productivity, no microbe-plant association is more important than that between rhizobia bacteria and legume plants. This symbiosis is the major natural contributor of nitrogen, a nutrient that limits plant growth in agricultural and natural systems. This work will identify genes responsible for variation in rhizobia survival and reproduction when growing with and without plant hosts. Identifying these genes can lead to strategies to increased plant and ecosystem productivity.
Proposer: Peter Tiffin, University of Minnesota
Proposal: Leveraging natural diversity to Identify the genetic basis of microbial success in legume-rhizobia mutualism and non-host environments