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NWO has awarded 3 million euros to a consortium of scientists of Utrecht, Leiden and Wageningen ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� to study the plant microbiome.

“Plants host a dense and diverse community of microbes on their leaves, in their stems, but especially on and in their roots”, says Corné Pieterse, professor of plant-microbe interactions at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. “These microbes, collectively called the plant microbiome, often assist plants in dealing with their environment. For example, we discovered that specific microbes can be dynamically recruited and activated by the plant to help them defend against disease-causing pathogens. In this program, we will use state-of-the-art techniques to study the genetic and metabolic mechanisms by which plants do this.”

Elite crops

“This is will provide us with more fundamental insights into the functioning of plants in nature, according to Dr. Saskia van Wees (also Plant-Microbe Interactions). “However, this will ultimately also enable us to breed better crop plants that are more efficient in utilizing their microbiomes. Such elite crops would need less pesticides and fertilizer to grow, allowing for a more sustainable agriculture”