Researchers at the University of Washington have found microbes in poplar trees that may help crops grow without the use of a lot of fertilizer.
Sharon Doty and her team show that, with the help of bacteria, the trees can get nitrogen through their branches — no roots required. This might be huge, said Doty, because if the process could be replicated in other crops, it could be the beginning of a shift away from synthetic fertilizers. That's a good thing because agriculture is highly dependent on fertilizers made of fossil fuels, notes Michelle Ma on the UW’s news and information site. These fertilizers are used in food production, lumber and even growing crops for biofuels.
The researchers plan to do more work to refine their understanding of which microbes are really doing this.
