First Tetraploa Genome and Multi-Omics Analysis Reveal Key Plant-Microbe-Soil Interactions for Salt Tolerance and Yield Improvement of Wheat.
Qiu CW, Zhang S, Gao ZF, Chen ZH, Zhang C
Crop Improvement
It brings us closer to a natural, spray-on fungal treatment that could help farmers grow more wheat on the salt-damaged soils that are increasingly common due to irrigation and climate change — keeping bread and pasta affordable and available.
Researchers found a beneficial fungus that lives inside wheat roots and helps the plant survive in salty soil — a growing problem worldwide. The fungus works by nudging the wheat to make more of its own natural growth hormone, while also improving the tiny community of microbes living around the roots. In field trials, wheat treated with this fungus actually produced more grain even under harsh, salty conditions.
Key Findings
The first complete genome of a Tetraploa fungus was assembled, providing a new scientific reference for understanding how this organism helps plants cope with salt stress.
Wheat inoculated with Tetraploa sp. E00680 showed improved yield under both laboratory and real-world saline field conditions, demonstrating practical agricultural potential.
The fungus boosts auxin (plant growth hormone) production in wheat by supplying chemical building blocks from tryptophan metabolism, representing a cross-kingdom metabolic partnership.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists discovered that a salt-tolerant fungus called Tetraploa, when added to wheat roots, boosts wheat growth and grain yield in salty soils by rewiring the plant's own chemical pathways to produce more growth hormones and by improving the surrounding soil microbiome.
Abstract Preview
Salinity is a major threat to global agricultural productivity of staple crops such as wheat. Although microbial-based solutions hold promise for alleviating salinity stress, practical implementati...
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Wheat is a group of wild and domesticated grasses of the genus Triticum. As cereals, they are cultivated for their grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known wheat species and hybrids include the most widely grown common wheat, spelt, durum, emmer, einkorn, and Khorasan or Kamut....