Fungi could manipulate bacteria to enrich soil with nutrients

(Boyce Thompson Institute) Symbiotic relationships between plants and soil microbes could yield new methods for enriching soil and improving crop yields. Researchers have discovered that fungi living symbiotically with most land plants have a bacterial "microbiome" that may help the fungi access soil nutrients and share them with their host plants. Identifying the specific beneficial bacteria and how the fungi attract them could lead to cost-effective and eco-friendly alternatives to conventiona...