Soil salinization affects over one billion hectares of farmland worldwide, threatening food and forage production. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), a high-protein and high-biomass forage crop, is moderately sensitive to salt stress. Salinity suppresses plant growth, inhibits nodulation and nitrogen fixation, and ultimately reduces yield and quality.
Dr. FENG Jian from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was invited to publish an Opinion article titled “Harnessing Root-Associated Microbiomes to Enhance Plant Resilience Under Salinity Stress” in Plant, Cell & Environment (Doi:10.1111/pce.70442). The article outlines a microbiome-informed framework for improving salinity tolerance in alfalfa and other crops, providing new insights for sustainable agriculture in salt-affected soils.
The paper highlights that the conventional strategies, such as breeding, genetic engineering, and soil amendments, have delivered limited and often unstable gains under complex field conditions. In contrast, root-associated microbiomes function as a critical interface between plants and soil. Under saline stress, alfalfa reshapes its rhizosphere microbiome through altered root exudates, selectively recruiting beneficial microbes.
The article synthesizes the synergistic roles of salt-tolerant nitrogen-fixing bacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), and plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB), and emphasizes the potential of synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) to deliver multifunctional benefits. It further proposes three strategic directions: understanding host-driven microbiome assembly under salt stress, designing stable SynComs, and incorporating microbiome responsiveness into breeding programs.
Dr. FENG Jian is the sole author of the article. The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Beneficial root-associated microbiomes enhance plant growth and symbiotic performance under saline conditions. (Image by IGDB)
Contact:
Dr. FENG Jian
Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Email: jfeng@genetics.ac.cn
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Beneficial root-associated microbiomes enhance plant growth and symbiotic performance under saline conditions. (Image by IGDB)Contact:Dr. FENG JianInstitute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of SciencesEmail: jfeng@genetics.ac.cn