Genetic Mutation Could Pave the Way for Self-Fertilizing Cereal Crops and a Revolution in Agriculture

Genetic Mutation Could Pave the Way for Self-Fertilizing Cereal Crops and a Revolution in Agriculture

Cphotos – via Unsplash+ Danish researchers have found a molecular switch that lets plants partner with nitrogen-fixing bacteria instead of fighting them, opening the way to self-fertilizing cereal crops like wheat and barley. Their new research highlights an important biological clue that could help reduce agriculture’s heavy reliance on artificial nitrogen fertilizer. Plants require nitrogen to grow, and most crop species can obtain it only through fertilizer. A small group of plants, including peas, clover, and beans, can grow without added nitrogen. They do this by forming a partnership with specific bacteria that turn nitrogen from the air into a form the plant can absorb. In the industry, they’re known as nitrogen fixers, and crop-rotation methods dating as far back as the 17th century saw clover used to cover fields following harvests to replenish the nitrogen content of the soil. Scientists worldwide are working to understand the genetic and molecular basis of this natural nitrogen-…