Shrimp-shell coating plus soil bacteria helps cotton beat salty soil
An M, Jia Y, Ren K, Zhang L, Wang Q
Soil Health
If you've ever fought a salt-crusted patch in your yard near a driveway or coastline, this shows a soil amendment that lowers salinity and pH while feeding the microbes your plants depend on.
Salty soil stresses plants by messing with their water balance and starving beneficial soil microbes. Researchers combined chitosan (a natural material made from shrimp and crab shells) with bacteria that help plants cope with stress hormones, then applied it to salty soil growing cotton. The combo worked better than either ingredient alone, lowering soil salinity, boosting helpful soil enzymes, and giving the cotton plants a real growth boost.
Key Findings
The combined chitosan-bacteria treatment (CAS) increased soil sucrase, urease, and alkaline phosphatase activity by 27.84%, 111.4%, and 33.79% respectively compared to untreated control soil
CAS treatment significantly reduced soil pH and electrical conductivity (salinity) while boosting cotton leaf antioxidant enzymes (peroxidase and catalase)
The treatment shifted soil microbial communities, increasing beneficial fungal (Basidiomycota) and bacterial (Atescibacteria, Actinobacteria) groups
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists coated helpful salt-tolerant bacteria onto chitosan (a shrimp-shell-derived material) and used it to treat salty soil, and cotton plants grew noticeably better as a result. The combo treatment beat either ingredient alone at lowering soil salinity and boosting soil health.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Chito-oligosaccharide loaded with ACC (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate) deaminase-producing bacteria improved soil microecology and cotton growth in salinized lands.
Chitosan oligosaccharide, as a soil amendment, is widely used to cope with various environmental stresses. This study comparatively analyzed the effects of chitosan oligosaccharide-based polymer am...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Gene editing removes 97% of celiac-triggering proteins from bread wheat
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste...
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose and may contain minor percentages of waxes, fats, pectins, and water. Under natural condi...