Science Breakthrough: Soybean Nitrogen Improves Crop Yields, Could Feed Many People Worldwide

Biologists from Washington State University has found a new way to proliferate the flow of nitrogen from the specialized bacteria in soybean root nodules to the seed-producing organs. This promotes the growth of soybean plants and produces up to 36 percent more seeds.

The research was published in Current Biology. It was led by Mechthild Tegeder, a biologist from Washington State University and colleagues, according to Phys.Org. The study indicates a breakthrough in science in improving the grain yields that could meet the feeding needs of the growing human population while protecting the environment. She further explained that they would like to transfer what they have learned to other legumes and plants that humans grow for food.

Tegeder explained that the biggest implication in their research is that by ramping up the natural nitrogen allocation process they can heighten the amount of food they produce without contributing to further agricultural pollution. She heightened the number of proteins that aid transfer the nitrogen to the rhizobia bacteria to the plant's leaves and other areas where needed. The result is promising for the production of crops.

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient needed by plants in large quantity to promote plant growth. A plant tissue contains 1 to 6 percent nitrogen. It is important to manage the nitrogen because it is the most limiting nutrient in crop production and it is easily lost from the soil system.

Tegeder would also like to apply her soybean-focused research on varieties of legumes. These include the common beans, chickpeas, peas and soybeans. Tegeder said that legumes with higher yields have huge implications for agriculture and food production around the world. She further said that their research has the potential to be transferred to other crop plants that don't fix nitrogen from the atmosphere but would benefit from being able to uptake nitrogen more efficiently from the soil.