Saudi Arabia: Microbe from desert plant roots could be new ingredient in seed treatment

Treating crop seeds with a microbe derived from desert plant roots is a powerful tool to increase crop tolerance to drought, the researchers say. A team of scientists at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) project in Saudi Arabia has proven that growing Arabidopsis and alfalfa with a microbe taken from the roots of a common desert plant allows experimental crops to thrive in drought conditions. “Mitigate the effects of drought on crops is an urgent challenge for those of us who work in agricultural biotechnology,” says Heribert Hirt of KAUST, who worked on the project with colleagues from Germany and Saudi Arabia, including Khairiya Alwuthide, an assistant professor at Princess Noura bint Abdul-Rahman University. “The DARWIN21 initiative was launched 10 years ago at KAUST to isolate and analyze desert microbes. We hope that they will be able to give cultivated plants the same traits as desert plants, making them resistant to heat, salt and/or drought. ...