Microbial Magic Could Help Slash Your Dinner’s Carbon Footprint

June 29, 2018btollesonRSS Sample

Endophytes are microbes that live inside plants — the ones tagged with a fluorescent dye in this image are found in poplars. The microbes gather nitrogen from the air, turning it into a form plants can use, a process called nitrogen fixation. Researchers are looking at how these microbes could be used to help crops like rice and corn make their own fertilizer.

In one year, fertilizer production in the U.S. emitted as much carbon dioxide as two million cars. What if we could help plants make their own nitrogen so they wouldn’t need man-made chemicals?

(Image credit: Sam Scharffenberger)