What if crops could yield more while using less fertiliser? That’s a question driving Professor Phil Brewer and his team of international crop scientists.
Their latest discovery centres on strigolactones, hormones that influence how plants grow and interact with soil microbes.
“Strigolactones are a type of plant hormone that regulate many crop plant traits. They change plant shoot and root architecture, stress responses and soil microbe symbiosis to help plants adapt to the environment.” Professor Brewer explains.
“We recently discovered a plant enzyme, called LBO, that makes a specific strigolactone involved in tillering (side shoots) and grain size, but not soil microbe symbiosis.”
Through gene editing, the researchers tested genetic variants of the enzyme in barley, revealing significant effects on yield and plant performance.
“Plants with a modified enzyme produced 29 percent more yield under low-nitrate conditions, driven by an increase in tillering and grain number. Importantly, they maintained their beneficial relationships with soil microbes, showing that higher yield can be achieved without sacrificing the nutrient and stress tolerance benefits of microbe symbiosis.”
Professor Brewer says the discovery opens opportunities to develop crops with high yield while using less fertilisers.
“This could be particularly important for regions with poorly fertile soils and to reduce the economic and environmental costs of fertiliser use in farming.”
