Excess fertilization of agricultural fields is a huge environmental problem.
Excess fertilization of agricultural fields is a huge environmental problem. Phosphorus from fertilized cropland frequently finds its way into rivers and lakes, and the resulting boom of aquatic plant growth can cause oxygen levels in the water to plunge, leading to fish die-offs and other harmful effects.
Researchers from Boyce Thompson Institute have uncovered the function of a pair of plant genes that could help farmers improve phosphate capture, potentially reducing the environmental harm associated with fertilization.
Maria Harrison, the William H. Crocker Professor at BTI and adjunct professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science in Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is senior author of “A CLE–SUNN Module Regulates Strigolactone Content and Fungal Colonization in Arbuscular Mycorrhiza,” which published Sept. 2 in Nature Plants.
Read more at Cornell University
Image: BTI researchers used the plants Brachypodium distachyon, left, and Medicago truncatula to discover the roles of two genes in root colonization by symbiotic fungi. CREDIT: Boyce Thompson Institute/Provided
