An international study led by Andalusian researchers has verified that soil bacteria help each other to improve crop growth, results that allow the design of combinations that act as more effective and sustainable biofertilizers. A research team from the Estación Experimental del Zaidín (EEZ-CSIC) in Granada and the Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas (INSIBIO, CONICET-UNT), in Argentina, has demonstrated that the relationships between soil bacteria influence the benefits they provide to crops. Specifically, they have observed that when two bacteria maintain a positive interaction, they can enhance key functions for sugarcane, such as improving nutrient absorption, stimulating root growth, or reinforcing their health against pathogens. The results, published in the journal 'Frontiers in Microbiology', show that the beneficial effects of these microorganisms do not depend solely on each bacterium separately, but on how they relate to other species in the same ...