Engineered Bacterial Strains Could Fertilize Crops, Reduce Waterways Pollution
Published:22 Feb.2022 Source:American Society for Microbiology
Researchers from Washington State University have engineered strains of the ubiquitous, nitrogen-fixing soil bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii to produce ammonia and excrete it at high concentrations, transferring it into crop plants in lieu of conventional chemical fertilizers.
"We presented conclusive evidence that ammonia released is transferred to the rice plants," said Florence Mus, Ph.D., assistant research professor, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University. "Our unique approach aims to provide new solutions to the challenge of replacing industrial fertilizers with custom-made bacteria." In other words, this approach could mitigate a major source of environmental pollution. The research is published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.