Plant-microbiome based solutions to increase farm productivity
Microbiome-driven agricultural solutions leveraging core crop microbiota and synthetic communities to enhance crop resource use efficiency, disease resistance, and drought tolerance. Targets development of bio-based products for managing soil-borne pathogens through in situ microbiome engineering.
Overview
This research program delivers plant-microbiome based solutions designed to sustainably increase farm productivity by harnessing beneficial interactions between crops and their associated microbial communities. The approach combines integrated innovation pipelines of beneficial microbes and metabolites to improve crop resource use efficiency while increasing resistance to disease and drought.
The core innovation lies in identifying and targeting key plant microbiota and metabolites that maintain beneficial plant-microbiome interactions through targeted microbial recruitment in situ. By leveraging newly discovered core and hub microbiota of crops, the program enables the plant's beneficial microbiome to be harnessed for productivity gains, providing a pathway for developing practical, efficient, and economically-viable tools for microbial additives and microbiome engineering.
Technical specifications
Key scientific frameworks:
- Harnessing co-evolutionary interactions between crop species and mutualistic microbes
- Targeting members of plant core microbiomes to develop effective Synthetic Communities (SynComs)
Technical capabilities and assets:
- Libraries containing several hundred plant beneficial microbiota isolates
- SynComs for metabolite production and testing
- Endophyte and rhizosphere microbiome collections with intimate plant connection
- Tools for manipulating plant-associated microbiomes
- Crop holobiont (crop plus associated microbiome) models
- Experimental evidence demonstrating plant and microbial metabolite cooperation for stress resistance
Targeted applications include:
- Bio-based products for managing soil-borne pathogens
- Improved nutrient use efficiency
- Enhanced salinity tolerance
- Pathogen resistance through microbiome manipulation
- Drought resilience strategies
Technology readiness level
The program is at an advanced validation stage. Most microbial isolates and SynComs have been tested under laboratory conditions, with some progressing to field testing. The research team has established experimental evidence of active cooperation between plant species and their microbiome in providing resistance against both abiotic stresses (nutrient limitation, salinity) and biotic stresses (pathogens).
The project will initially focus on harnessing existing libraries and crop holobionts along with evolutionary interactions between crops and their core microbiome to develop bio-based products targeting soil-borne pathogen management. Several scientific and industrially relevant challenges remain before successful commercialization, indicating the technology is progressing through translational research stages with significant potential for scale-up and field deployment.
About Western Sydney University
Western Sydney University is a comprehensive public research university serving the fast-growing Greater Western Sydney region through a large multi-campus footprint and a partnership-oriented ethos. Industry engagement is enabled by research precincts co-located with hospitals and health districts, a purpose-built agri-innovation hub at the Hawkesbury campus, and testbeds and maker spaces embedded across engineering and advanced manufacturing facilities near the emerging Western Sydney International Airport/Aerotropolis. Work-integrated learning, co-designed projects, and shared labs connect corporate R&D teams with faculty and student talent year-round. Research is supported by competitive national funding from the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council, alongside state and industry investment. A dedicated technology transfer office and a campus-based incubator network provide IP support, licensing, and venture formation.
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