06-08-2013, 04:45 PM
Microbes : The Origin of a Solution to Global Food Stuff Formation
ABSTRACT
The advent of powerful new methodologies in microbial genetics, molecular biology and biotechnology has only quickened the pace of developments. The impact of the microbial world on plants is evident: worldwide each year, microbial diseases cost crop producers a lot. Similarly, the important role of nitrogen fixation by rhizobia and other bacteria for plant growth has been known for decades. Although major advances in genomic technologies and in situ studies of beneficial plant–microbe interactions have produced a large amount of knowledge and given insights into the mechanisms of these interactions, their application in biotechnology and agriculture has yet to be exploited. A greater understanding of how plants and soil microbes live together and benefit each other can therefore provide new strategies to improve plant productivity, while helping to protect the environment and maintain global biodiversity. The most intense interactions between microbes and plants take place at the rhizosphere, which is the interface between plant roots and the soil.