Title : Seed endophytes against abiotic stress: An efficient solution to grow energy crops on marginal land?
Abstract:
Bioenergy and bioethanol crops are an efficient form of energy production and a step towards a greener future, but they use up our precious agricultural land which is better suited towards growing food in this era of booming population. Therefore, we explore a novel way to grow bioenergy crops on polluted and marginal land, using the seed microbiome of Noccaea caerulescens, to combat the abiotic stresses associated with term. N. caerulescens is a hyperaccumulator of zinc, often found growing on soils with high lead/ cadmium/ zinc pollution that are often dry and nutrient poor. To test to which extent the seed endophytes of N. caerulescens (can assist in minimizing stress to crop species, the microbiome was enhanced with selective media before being applied to seeds, prior to sowing. Results indicate that the seed microbiome of N. caerulescens can increase biomass size significantly (p>0.005) when the seed is enhanced with endophytes that have been subjected to metal stress. Seeds of Medicago sativa and Arabidopsis thaliana germinated more successfully under stress, when the seed was enhanced with the endophytic microbes of N. caerulescens prior to sowing on marginal soil. It is our strong belief that seed endophytes not only hold the key to more successful germination of crop species under stressful conditions, but also to enhancing plant health.
What will audience learn from your presentation?
- How to successfully transplant endophytic bacteria from seeds of interest onto crop seeds.
- Insight into the seed microbiome of Noccaea caerulescens which is a hyper accumulator.
- How the seed microbiome is integral to successful germination and how to optimize this.
- Ideas for marginal land use.
