Harnessing Wild Plant M icrobiomes to Enhance Stress Resilience in Cultivated Crops
Pl ants growing in extreme environments from hyper-arid deserts to steep elevation gradients host microbial communities that play central rol es in nutrient acquisition, stress mitigation, and soil functioning. In this seminar, I will explore how we can move from characterizing t hese microbiomes in wild relatives to engineering them as tools for s ustainable agriculture. Using examples from date palm and wild grapev ine microbiomes, I will show how ecological filters select for highly functional microbial hubs and plant-beneficial traits. I will then b ridge these insights to the design of synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) and to the emerging field of AMF upscaling, including rece nt bioreactor-based approaches and lipid-engineering strategies. Toge ther, these perspectives illustrate how combining microbial ecology w ith biotechnology can reduce chemical inputs, strengthen soil health, and enhance crop resilience under climate change.
DESCRIPTION: Plants growing in extreme environments from hyper-arid de serts to steep elevation gradients host microbial communities that pl ay central roles in nutrient acquisition, stress mitigation, and soil functioning. In this seminar, I will explore how we can move from ch aracterizing these microbiomes in wild relatives to engineering them as tools for sustainable agriculture. Using examples from date palm a nd wild grapevine microbiomes, I will show how ecological filters sel ect for highly functional microbial hubs and plant-beneficial traits. I will then bridge these insights to the design of synthetic microbi al communities (SynComs) and to the emerging field of AMF upscaling, including recent bioreactor-based approaches and lipid-engineering st rategies. Together, these perspectives illustrate how combining micro bial ecology with biotechnology can reduce chemical inputs, strengthe n soil health, and enhance crop resilience under climate change. Harn essing Wild Plant Microbiomes to Enhance Stress Resilience in Cultiva ted Crops END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR