In this video and the accompanying review, Ulrich Mueller discusses how one might go about using host-mediated artificial selection to engineer microbiomes. In particular, he demonstrates a method for how to select on the root-associated microbiome of plants to improve plant growth. Videographer: Jeff Mertz, UT Austin College of Communications.
Check out the paper at: https://www.cell.com/trends/microbiology/abstract/S0966-842X(15)00172-9
Mueller, U.G., and Sachs, J.L. (2015). Engineering Microbiomes to Improve Plant and Animal Health. Trends in Microbiology. 23.
And read more great research at Trends in Microbiology: https://www.cell.com/trends/microbiology/home
2 Comments
Awesome work! I am an undergraduate student and I wish I had the opportunity to work on something like that. One day!
Have you looked at the phyllosphere microbiome in relation to any of your selection parameters?
Thanks for Good idea