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There was a corn variety that was semi-recently discovered to have a symbiotic relationship with bacteria which provides nitrogen to the corn plant, thus elimin

There was a corn variety that was semi-recently discovered to have a symbiotic relationship with bacteria which provides nitrogen to the corn plant, thus eliminating the need to use nitrogen fertilizer. It's currently in development to be commercialized, and I'm sure some geneticists are already trying to splice other crops to gain the same ability. There is a rich diversity of crops around the world that need examination, you never know what you'll find.

sendfoods 3y ago
BBC did a pretty good video [0] about it. Haven't really heard much about it since. Must be extremely exciting for scientists, as (to my understanding) this kind of self-fertilization is completely unheard of! [0] https://youtube.com/watch?v=CFyd-kC6IUw https://youtube.com/watch?v=CFyd-kC6IUw
- zdragnar 3y ago
  > this kind of self-fertilization is completely unheard of! How is this different from other nitrogen-fixing species that are already known? Some olives, plenty of legumes such as soy beans, clover and alfalfa all have symbiotic relationships with bacteria for this.
  - seunosewa 3y ago
    And you still have to fertilise them with complementary nutrients and also nitrogen for the best yields.
  - RajT88 3y ago
    > How is this different from other nitrogen-fixing species that are already known? It does it in a radically different way - pulling bacteria up from the soil into weird drippy goo from roots dangling midair. The video and various articles aren't totally clear on this point, but it suggests it can pull a lot more nitrogen out of the air than other known nitrogen fixing plants (which keep the bacteria underground on their roots).
mohaine 3y ago
This really isn't a new idea as this is how most legumes get their nitrogen. It is new to find it naturally in corn (a grass) but the idea of moving this from legumes to grasses has long been a dream. The video of the natural form of this showed what appeared to be some very wet slime that was fully exposed to the open air. I'm guessing extra water requirements to keep this mass wet for the bacteria would be prohibitive at modern farming scales.

sendfoods 3y ago

BBC did a pretty good video [0] about it. Haven't really heard much about it since. Must be extremely exciting for scientists, as (to my understanding) this kind of self-fertilization is completely unheard of! [0] https://youtube.com/watch?v=CFyd-kC6IUw https://youtube.com/watch?v=CFyd-kC6IUw

zdragnar 3y ago
> this kind of self-fertilization is completely unheard of! How is this different from other nitrogen-fixing species that are already known? Some olives, plenty of legumes such as soy beans, clover and alfalfa all have symbiotic relationships with bacteria for this.
- seunosewa 3y ago
  And you still have to fertilise them with complementary nutrients and also nitrogen for the best yields.
- RajT88 3y ago
  > How is this different from other nitrogen-fixing species that are already known? It does it in a radically different way - pulling bacteria up from the soil into weird drippy goo from roots dangling midair. The video and various articles aren't totally clear on this point, but it suggests it can pull a lot more nitrogen out of the air than other known nitrogen fixing plants (which keep the bacteria underground on their roots).

mohaine 3y ago

This really isn't a new idea as this is how most legumes get their nitrogen. It is new to find it naturally in corn (a grass) but the idea of moving this from legumes to grasses has long been a dream. The video of the natural form of this showed what appeared to be some very wet slime that was fully exposed to the open air. I'm guessing extra water requirements to keep this mass wet for the bacteria would be prohibitive at modern farming scales.