Hardy Plant Found To Thrive In Marginal Soils: Stanford Study

PALO ALTO, CA — With roughly one-third of the world’s land suffering from lack of accessible iron to farm with, growing staple crops like corn and soybeans appears troublesome at best.

Last year, a Stanford research team led by associate professor of chemical engineering Elizabeth Sattely discovered a genetic adaptation that allows one hardy plant to thrive on these marginal soils, the Stanford News Service reported.

Now her lab has revealed more about the genetic mechanisms behind this survival trait. Although more studies are needed, Sattely believes this avenue of research will one day enable scientists to splice this adaptive mechanism into the genomes of staple crops, Stanford added.

“We may be able to take traits developed through natural selection and move them where we need them,” Sattely says.

Sattely’s lab studies soil microbiomes — the community of bacteria that lives around the roots of plants to help them process nutrients in much the same way gut bacteria helps people digest food. Her research in this area focuses on one form of plant indigestion: an inability to absorb enough iron, which stunts crop growth and depresses yields, according to the news service report.

Scientists have long known why such iron deficiencies occur. Many arid regions of the world including the western United States have alkaline soils, and this alkalinity acts like a chemical lock that traps iron in the ground.

But after studying this problem for years, Sattely’s lab discovered how a plant known as Arabidopsis thaliana, a relative of cabbage and mustard, overcomes this iron deficiency thanks to the way its roots interact with alkaline soils.

To study all these chemical interactions, which typically occur underground and out of sight, Sattely’s lab developed an experimental process based on hydroponics.

“What we envision is a new type of ecologically savvy crop science,” Sattely said.