Phytobiome, a New View of Crop Production - an Industry Perspective

The study of plant-microbe associations by new techniques has significantly improved our understanding of the structure and specificity of the plant microbiome. Comparable with our human microbiome, millions of microbes inhabit plants, forming complex ecological communities that influence plant growth and health through collective natural product chemistry activities and host interactions. Work has shown that natural chemical signals from the root-colonizing bacteria trigger physiological changes in their host plants, leading to increased growth and yields.

We are, however only now scratching the surface of developing microbiological products which can increase sustainably agriculture production. Studying the root phytobiome in a specific ecosystem can further provide insight on how to manipulate these microbial communities to promote plant health or adapt to various environmental conditions. For exemple, VOTiVO (Bacillus firmus), a corn microbial seed treatment, added an extra 4-5 bushels on top of the yield increase from the chemistry Poncho in 2007 and 2008.