A synthetic biology approach to replacing nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture

Nitrogen is essential for crop productivity in agriculture. Most plants, including all major cereal crops, depend on soil bacteria that transform atmospheric nitrogen into natural fertilizer in a process called nitrogen fixation. Industrial agriculture bypasses this dependence by using fossil fuels to produce synthetic fertilizers, which are essential to feeding nearly half the world’s population but contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation, and coastal dead zones. Through a novel synthetic biology approach, the researchers will physically introduce nitrogen-fixing bacteria directly into plant cells, where they can act as a built-in fertilizer factory. The goal is a proof-of-concept plant cell that can host these bacteria, laying the groundwork for engineered crop species that could one day fully replace synthetic fertilizers.

Above: Onion epidermis. Image credit: PeterHermesFurian / iStock