Harnessing Intercellular Signals to Engineer the Soil Microbiome

Jack Connolly, William Harcombe, Michael J. Smanski, Linda L. Kinkel, Eriko Takano, Rainer Breitling

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Plant and soil microbiomes consist of diverse communities of organisms from across kingdoms and can profoundly affect plant growth and health. Natural product-based intercellular signals govern important interactions between microbiome members that ultimately regulate their beneficial or harmful impacts on the plant. Exploiting these evolved signalling circuits to engineer microbiomes towards beneficial interactions with crops is an attractive goal. There are few report thus far of engineering the intercellular signalling of microbiomes, but this article argues that it represents a tremendous opportunity for advancing the field of microbiome engineering. This could be achieved through the selection of synergistic consortia in combination with genetic engineering of signal pathways to realise an optimised microbiome.
Original languageEnglish
JournalNatural Product Reports
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 23 Nov 2021

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

  • Manchester Institute of Biotechnology

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