Replacing synthetic nitrogen fertilizers with biological nitrogen sources is a major challenge on the road to sustainable agriculture. Among the various approaches, the inoculation of non-leguminous plants with endophytic diazotrophic bacteria is being intensively discussed as a means of improving the nitrogen supply to plants.
Field trials are crucial to evaluate both the colonization and functional efficacy of these bacteria under agricultural conditions. While numerous greenhouse and laboratory studies demonstrate the plant growth-promoting effects of microbial biostimulants in terms of yield and quality, there are comparatively few field trials that provide direct evidence of successful endophytic colonization. Furthermore, results from field trials are often inconsistent, with limited or no measurable effects observed in some cases. In some cases, improvements in plant performance are used as indirect evidence of colonization, but direct confirmation is often lacking. The lack of rigorously documented field studies is largely due to the lack of simple, reliable and strain-specific detection methods.
GOBIO offers in cooperation with the University of Warsaw and the trial-tec GmbH offers complete solutions for the development of detection methods for the colonization of endophytic bacteria. If you are interested, please contact us and we will be happy to introduce you to our possibilities, ranging from high-quality genome analyses and the development of specific molecular markers to climate chamber experiments and exact field tests.
