The research project, spearheaded by Marcela Mendoza-Suarez and Turgut Akyol in Stig Uggerhøj Andersen’s lab, utilised a large dataset to understand how different rhizobium strains affect plant growth. Rhizobia are symbiotic bacteria that occupy root nodules in legumes like faba bean, pea and soybean. There, they fix nitrogen from the air into a form that the plants can use as a nutrient, reducing the need for chemical fertilisers in farming.

By analysing the occupancy of each rhizobium strain in the faba bean root nodules, they identified the most beneficial strains. Additionally, the study identified distinct groups of rhizobia and linked their community profiles to plant genetics. These findings open new possibilities for designing better biofertilizer mixtures and developing plant breeding strategies that optimise beneficial legume-rhizobium relationships.

The research highlights how increasing the diversity of rhizobium strains can significantly enhance the growth and nitrogen fixation of faba beans. This discovery is particularly relevant for sustainable agriculture, as it provides a natural and eco-friendly alternative to chemical fertilisers. By leveraging the natural processes of nitrogen fixation, these biofertilizers can improve soil health, reduce dependency on synthetic inputs, and promote higher crop yields.

Aarhus University Spin-Out: From the lab to the farm

Building on this innovative research, Aarhus University researchers have launched the spin-out company SymbioMatch, dedicated to commercialising next-generation biofertilizers. The spin-out aims to bring scientific advances from the lab to the field, providing farmers with effective and sustainable tools to boost crop productivity and soil health.

"Our research demonstrates the potential of harnessing microbial diversity to improve agricultural practices," says Dr. Marcela Mendoza-Suárez. "By developing tailor-made and, therefore, effective biosolutions for the agricultural sector, we can offer farmers a powerful tool to enhance crop growth naturally and sustainably."

“Soil is a very complex environment with a great diversity of microbial life, and every soil is different”, comments Prof. Stig Uggerhøj Andersen. “Understanding how this complexity impacts biofertilizer design is a key challenge that our study brings us a little closer to addressing”.

The research paper:

"Increased diversity of beneficial rhizobia enhances faba bean growth". Marcela Mendoza-Suárez, Turgut Yigit Akyol, Marcin Nadzieja & Stig U. Andersen. Nature Communications (2024)1 5:10673  doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54940-5

Supplementary information

We strive to ensure that all our articles live up to the Danish universities' principles for good research communication. Against this background, the article is supplemented with the following information:

Study type:

Research article

External funding:

This work was supported by funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme for Research & Innovation in the ERA-NET Cofund

SusCrop grant no. 771134 to S.U.A. for the ProFaba project, part of the Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security, and Climate Change (FACCE-JPI) and supported by the national Danish funder Grønt Udviklings- og Demonstrationsprogram (GUDP) under Miljø- og Fødevareministeriet, Denmark. In addition, there was funding from the Novo Nordisk Foundation grant no. NNF23OC0081220 to S.U.A. for the N2CROP project and from Innovationsfonden Innoexplorer grant no. 2071-00012B to M.M.S.

Conflict of interest:

Marcela Mendoza Suarez and Stig Uggerhøj Andersen have launched the spin-out company SymbioMatch, dedicated to commercializing next-generation biofertilizers.

Mere information

Professor Stig Uggerhøj Andersen - [email protected]
Assistant Professor Marcela Mendoza Suárez - [email protected]
Institut for Molekylærbiologi og Genetik, Aarhus Universitet