Learning from nature: Microbiome training towards improving agricultural sustainability

ended

A major challenge for mankind in the age of climate change is to feed the increasing human population in a sustainable manner. Currently, more than one third of crop yields are lost due to abiotic and biotic stresses, such as drought, salinity, pests and diseases. To minimize this yield gap and to simultaneously reduce the environmental impact of current agricultural practices, future crop production needs to be achieved with reduced input of fertilizers and pesticides. These challenges have increased the awareness of plant microbiomes bearing a hidden untapped potential for crop productivity and resilience that we must learn to use. Recently, more and more microbial products are tested in agriculture but often they are based on one or a few bacteria inoculants. However, the performance and efficacy of these products can be affected by many factors such as, soil type, temperature, humidity and the composition of the native microbiomes. The aim of the microTRIAS project is to unfold the potential of microbiomes by steering the native soil microbial communities towards plant-growth promoting and (a)biotic stress alleviating functions. To achieve this goal, I propose an innovative and ambitious multi-disciplinary approach based on the hypothesis that we can stimulate and train functional and taxonomic shifts in microbiomes on demand to remodel and improve existing communities, rather than introducing new elements in a native ecosystem. Additionally, by monitoring the microbiome changes, using beyond the state of art (multi)omics technologies, I will be able to identify microbes and functions fundamental to desirable microbiome traits. This study will suppose the first proof of concept of this novel integrative approach, opening new avenues for microbiome applications in agricultural settings. The findings of this study will be beneficial for improving agriculture sustainability but also will raise societal climate change awareness on the local and global scale.