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Yates K, Berliner AJ, Makrygiorgos G, Kaiyom F, McNulty MJ, Khan I, Kusuma P, Kinlaw C, Miron D, Legg C, Wilson J, Bugbee B, Mesbah A, Arkin AP, Nandi S, McDonald KA. Nitrogen accountancy in space agriculture. NPJ Microgravity 2024; 10:90. [PMID: 39341860 PMCID: PMC11439006 DOI: 10.1038/s41526-024-00428-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2024] [Accepted: 08/27/2024] [Indexed: 10/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Food production and pharmaceutical synthesis are posited as essential biotechnologies for facilitating human exploration beyond Earth. These technologies not only offer critical green space and food agency to astronauts but also promise to minimize mass and volume requirements through scalable, modular agriculture within closed-loop systems, offering an advantage over traditional bring-along strategies. Despite these benefits, the prevalent model for evaluating such systems exhibits significant limitations. It lacks comprehensive inventory and mass balance analyses for crop cultivation and life support, and fails to consider the complexities introduced by cultivating multiple crop varieties, which is crucial for enhancing food diversity and nutritional value. Here we expand space agriculture modeling to account for nitrogen dependence across an array of crops and demonstrate our model with experimental fitting of parameters. By adding nitrogen limitations, an extended model can account for potential interruptions in feedstock supply. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis was used to distill key consequential parameters that may be the focus of future experimental efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Yates
- Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES), Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
| | - Aaron J Berliner
- Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES), Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Program in Aerospace Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Georgios Makrygiorgos
- Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES), Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Farrah Kaiyom
- Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES), Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Matthew J McNulty
- Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES), Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Imran Khan
- Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES), Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Paul Kusuma
- Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES), Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Plant Soils and Climate, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Bruce Bugbee
- Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES), Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Plant Soils and Climate, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
| | - Ali Mesbah
- Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES), Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Adam P Arkin
- Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES), Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Somen Nandi
- Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES), Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Karen A McDonald
- Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES), Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
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Arunachalam T, Gade K, Mahadule PA, Soumia PS, Govindasamy V, Gawande SJ, Mahajan V. Optimizing plant growth, nutrient uptake, and yield of onion through the application of phosphorus solubilizing bacteria and endophytic fungi. Front Microbiol 2024; 15:1442912. [PMID: 39119140 PMCID: PMC11306034 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1442912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2024] [Accepted: 07/12/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction The application of mineral fertilizers deteriorates soil properties and affects crop yield and nutritional properties. However, plant growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPM- Serendipita indica, phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB), and vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae (VAM)) have great potential to reduce fertilizers and improve soil fertility, crop yield, and nutrient uptake and mitigate the environmental effect of mineral fertilizers. Material and methods Hence, a field experiment was conducted involving nine treatments to evaluate the effects of PGPM along with 50% or 100% of the recommended dose of fertilizers on plant growth, soil fertility, nutrient uptake, and onion productivity. Results and discussion Results indicated that 100% RDF combined with S. indica or PSB led to improved plant growth, and higher nutrient concentrations in both leaves and bulbs of onions compared to RDF alone. Moreover, the application of 100% RDF with S. indica increased total dry matter yield by 11.5% and 7.6% in the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons, respectively, compared to 100% RDF alone. This treatment also resulted in the highest nutrient uptake, with N uptake increasing by 6.9%-29.9%, P by 13.7%-21.7%, K by 20.0%-23.7%, and S by 18.1%-23.4%. Additionally, the combination of 100% RDF with S. indica inoculation led to a notable increase in bulb yield, with increments of 16.2% and 13.9% observed in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, respectively, compared to 100% RDF alone. Similarly, the application of 100% RDF along with PSB inoculation resulted in an increase in bulb yield by 7.2% and 9.4% in the respective years. However, VAM did not exhibit satisfactory performance or improvements in the onion crop. Conclusion Overall, the study suggests that combining 100% RDF with S. indica or PSB can enhance onion productivity and nutrient use efficiency. The present study may open a new avenue of PGPM application in enhancing onion yield and improving the bulb quality as well as soil health. However, field trials across different regions and soil types are necessary to validate these findings for practical adoption by farmers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Komal Gade
- ICAR-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Rajgurunagar, Pune, India
| | | | - P. S. Soumia
- ICAR-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Rajgurunagar, Pune, India
| | | | | | - Vijay Mahajan
- ICAR-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Rajgurunagar, Pune, India
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Labarthe MM, Maroniche GA, Lamattina L, Creus CM. Nitric oxide synthase expression in Pseudomonas koreensis MME3 improves plant growth promotion traits. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2024; 108:212. [PMID: 38358431 PMCID: PMC10869383 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-024-13029-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Revised: 01/03/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
The development of novel biotechnologies that promote a better use of N to optimize crop yield is a central goal for sustainable agriculture. Phytostimulation, biofertilization, and bioprotection through the use of bio-inputs are promising technologies for this purpose. In this study, the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria Pseudomonas koreensis MME3 was genetically modified to express a nitric oxide synthase of Synechococcus SyNOS, an atypical enzyme with a globin domain that converts nitric oxide to nitrate. A cassette for constitutive expression of synos was introduced as a single insertion into the genome of P. koreensis MME3 using a miniTn7 system. The resulting recombinant strain MME3:SyNOS showed improved growth, motility, and biofilm formation. The impact of MME3:SyNOS inoculation on Brachypodium distachyon growth and N uptake and use efficiencies under different N availability situations was analyzed, in comparison to the control strain MME3:c. After 35 days of inoculation, plants treated with MME3:SyNOS had a higher root dry weight, both under semi-hydroponic and greenhouse conditions. At harvest, both MME3:SyNOS and MME3:c increased N uptake and use efficiency of plants grown under low N soil. Our results indicate that synos expression is a valid strategy to boost the phytostimulatory capacity of plant-associated bacteria and improve the adaptability of plants to N deficiency. KEY POINTS: • synos expression improves P. koreensis MME3 traits important for rhizospheric colonization • B. distachyon inoculated with MME3:SyNOS shows improved root growth • MME3 inoculation improves plant N uptake and use efficiencies in N-deficient soil.
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Affiliation(s)
- María M Labarthe
- Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Balcarce, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Guillermo A Maroniche
- Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Balcarce, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Lorenzo Lamattina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
- IIB, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Cecilia M Creus
- Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Balcarce, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Marti-Jerez K, Català-Forner M, Tomàs N, Murillo G, Ortiz C, Sánchez-Torres MJ, Vitali A, Lopes MS. Agronomic performance and remote sensing assessment of organic and mineral fertilization in rice fields. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1230012. [PMID: 37860263 PMCID: PMC10582757 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1230012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Accepted: 09/15/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
Introduction Rice heavily relies on nitrogen fertilizers, posing environmental, resource, and geopolitical challenges. This study explores sustainable alternatives like animal manure and remote sensing for resource-efficient rice cultivation. It aims to assess the long-term impact of organic fertilization and remote sensing monitoring on agronomic traits, yield, and nutrition. Methods A six-year experiment in rice fields evaluated fertilization strategies, including pig slurry (PS) and chicken manure (CM) with mineral fertilizers (MIN), MIN-only, and zero-fertilization. Traits, yield, spectral responses, and nutrient content were measured. Sentinel-2 remote sensing tracked crop development. Results Cost-effective organic fertilizers (PS and CM) caused a 13% and 15% yield reduction but still doubled zero-fertilization yield. PS reduced nitrogen leaching. Heavy metals in rice grains were present at safe amounts. Organic-fertilized crops showed nitrogen deficiency at the late vegetative stages, affecting yield. Sentinel-2 detected nutrient deficiencies through NDVI. Discussion Organic fertilizers, especially PS, reduce nitrogen loss, benefiting the environment. However, they come with yield trade-offs and nutrient management challenges that can be managed and balanced with reduced additional mineral applications. Sentinel-2 remote sensing helps manage nutrient deficiencies. In summary, this research favors cost-effective organic fertilizers with improved nutrient management for sustainable rice production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Marti-Jerez
- Sustainable Field Crops, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Amposta, Spain
| | - Mar Català-Forner
- Sustainable Field Crops, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Amposta, Spain
| | - Núria Tomàs
- Sustainable Field Crops, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Amposta, Spain
| | - Gemma Murillo
- Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, Lleida, Spain
| | - Carlos Ortiz
- Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, Lleida, Spain
| | | | - Andrea Vitali
- Ente Nazionale Risi, Rice Research Centre, Castello d’Agogna, Italy
| | - Marta S. Lopes
- Sustainable Field Crops, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Lleida, Spain
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