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Fertilizer Replaced An Ancient Microbial Partnership
- Modern fertilizer replaces an ancient plant–microbe partnership that once supplied usable nitrogen through microbial fixation.
- Karsten Temme explains crops lost that function when bred for high yields and microbes put nitrogen-fixing genes into hibernation.
Test Tube Moment Proved Microbes Could Feed Corn
- Karsten Temme recounts a lab breakthrough where engineered microbes colonized a corn seedling and produced nitrogen for the plant.
- A test tube corn seed germinated with microbes along roots actively fixing nitrogen, demonstrating real-time plant response.
Coat Seeds With Microbes To Cut Fertilizer Use
- Use seed-coated, freeze-dried microbes to reduce synthetic nitrogen while maintaining or increasing yields.
- John in Michigan applied ~4 kg of microbes per year, cut fertilizer from 225 to <140 kg/ha and raised yields from 8,500 to 11,500 kg/ha.