Identification of beneficial plant microbes that enhance crop growth under air pollutant stress

Overview

Air pollutants such as elevated ozone (eO3), combined with warming and elevated CO2 (eCO2), reduce crop productivity by damaging plant physiology and disrupting beneficial interactions between crops and soil microbes. This research program investigates how ozone-resilient crop cultivars selectively recruit and retain beneficial root microbiomes that alleviate environmental stress, enhance soil carbon storage, and improve nutrient acquisition. By identifying these core microbial communities and the molecular mechanisms they use, the program aims to develop microbiome-based strategies for sustaining crop productivity under changing climate conditions.

The work focuses on soybean as a model crop and employs field exposure systems together with multi-omics analyses to characterize microbial functions across leaves, roots, and rhizosphere soil. The findings have direct relevance for agriculture, agritech, and climate-resilience applications.

Technical specifications

Research approach and capabilities:

• Field exposure systems for simulating warming, elevated CO2, and elevated ozone conditions on crop cultivars
• Soil bioassays comparing ozone-resistant and ozone-sensitive soybean cultivars to assess interactive stress effects on plant growth and productivity
• Multi-omics integration including metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metabolism profiling to identify core microbiota and their functional roles
• Targeted isolation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) spores, particularly Glomeraceae species, from rhizosphere soil of ozone-resistant cultivars for use as inocula
• Characterization of microbial community complexity and keystone species that mediate carbon and nitrogen dynamics in soil
• Assessment of fungal community susceptibility to ozone stress and identification of beneficial fungal groups associated with stress resilience

Key findings to date:

• Elevated ozone dramatically alters soil microbial community complexity and shifts keystone species mediating carbon and nitrogen cycling
• Fungal communities are more susceptible to ozone stress than bacterial communities
• Ozone-resistant soybean roots harbor specific AMF species, particularly Glomeraceae, along with other beneficial fungi
• Evidence suggests a core microbial group is selectively recruited by ozone-resilient cultivars to support soil health and crop productivity under stress

Technology readiness level

The research is at an advanced discovery and validation stage. Initial field exposure experiments have demonstrated that elevated ozone reshapes soil microbial communities and identified candidate beneficial microbes associated with ozone-resistant soybean. Future validation will involve controlled soil bioassays using both resistant and sensitive cultivars to confirm the interactive effects of warming, eCO2, and eO3 on plant productivity. Multi-omics analyses will further elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which AMF and other beneficial microbes improve soil carbon cycling and nutrient allocation to crops under air pollutant conditions. The program is positioned for collaborative development of microbiome-based agricultural solutions and is open to partnerships that accelerate translation from discovery to field application.