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  • From: Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Indigenous Mexican Variety of Corn Captures the Nitrogen It Needs From the Air — UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
  • Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2018 14:21:51 -0400

Indigenous Mexican Variety of Corn Captures the Nitrogen It Needs From the
Air — UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
http://www.caes.ucdavis.edu/news/articles/2018/august/indigenous-mexican-variety-of-corn-captures-the-nitrogen-it-needs-from-the-air
Indigenous Mexican Variety of Corn Captures the Nitrogen It Needs From the
Air
Aug 07, 2018 — Amy Quinton
Association With Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria Allows the Corn to Thrive Without
Fertilizer
[image: corn.jpg] <http://www.caes.ucdavis.edu/news/images/corn.jpg>Sierra
Mixe corn growing in a field in Davis, CA next to a modern conventional
corn variety (in foreground). The Sierra Mixe corn can grow up to 16 feet
tall. (Alan Bennett)A multidisciplinary team from the University of
California, Davis, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Mars,
Incorporated have found that an indigenous variety of corn can “fix
nitrogen” from the atmosphere, instead of requiring synthetic fertilizers.
The team’s findings
<http://icm-tracking.meltwater.com/link.php?DynEngagement=true&H=btYXC68syxnIlVIaW0qBweEUHWPFwuN5EgnqFgPj0oiC1OMl9zi1RtQ%2BTkuKtV3RlnLrjFCijdNMXi4XePQi7isJUcd7KQrTbw%2FHjc3yaj8n8Cm%2FwGDN%2FLl7Tu3WOp1G&G=0&R=http%3A%2F%2Fjournals.plos.org%2Fplosbiology%2Farticle%3Fid%3D10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.2006352&I=20180807180002.000000200edb%40mail6-113-ussnn1&X=MHwxMDQ2NzU4OjViNjljNzkzYmE1YmE3YmJlZDhmMTcwMzs%3D&S=lxoqXVi3wr2bwf0MfU4BgBv4YjymlIc-3wbKQjY1uiw>
were
published today (Aug. 7) in the journal *PLOS Biology*.

If this trait can be bred into conventional varieties of corn, it could
reduce the need for added fertilizer and increase yields in regions with
poor soil. Corn that fixes nitrogen could also help farmers in developing
countries that may not have access to fertilizer.

“This research has been 40 years in the making and is a significant
breakthrough in our attempts to find a more sustainable way of growing
corn, one of the world’s key crops,” said co-author Howard-Yana Shapiro,
chief agricultural officer at Mars, Incorporated.

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plants. While nitrogen makes up 78
percent of the atmosphere, only legume crops were known to have the ability
to use it through their association with bacteria. For cereal crops like
corn, farmers must rely primarily on nitrogen fertilizers.
The discovery

Researchers spent years searching for isolated indigenous varieties of
corn, or landraces, where corn first originated in Mexico. It was thought
that such varieties might associate with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. In the
1980s, Shapiro observed such corn being grown in nitrogen-deficient soil in
the Sierra Mixe region near Oaxaca. It was not until the 2000s that new
technologies developed to allow them to intensely study this
nitrogen-fixing process.

“It has been difficult to identify such a landrace and demonstrate that
this nitrogen-fixing association actually contributes to nitrogen nutrition
of the plant,” said co-author Alan Bennett, distinguished professor of
plant sciences in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at
UC Davis. “Our interdisciplinary research team has been working on this for
nearly a decade.”
Sugar-rich mucilage, a gel-like substance, found in an indigenous corn from
the Sierra Mixe region supports the nitrogen fixation process by providing
a home for nitrogen-fixing microbes. (Mars, Incorporated)





















How it works

The study found that one corn variety grown in the Sierra Mixe region
obtains 28-82 percent of its nitrogen from the atmosphere. To do this, the
corn grows a series of aerial roots. During certain times of the year,
these roots secrete a gel-like substance, or mucilage. The mucilage
provides the low-oxygen and sugar-rich environment required to attract
bacteria that can transform nitrogen from the air into a form the corn can
use.

“Our research has demonstrated that the mucilage found in this Sierra Mixe
corn forms a key component of its nitrogen fixation,” said co-author
Jean-Michel Ané, professor of Agronomy and Bacteriology in the College of
Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW–Madison. “We have shown this through
growth of the plant both in Mexico and Wisconsin.”
Hope for sustainable agriculture

Researchers are a long way from developing a similar nitrogen-fixing trait
for commercial corn, but this is a first step to guide further research on
that application. The discovery could lead to a reduction of fertilizer use
for corn, one of the world’s major cereal crops. It takes 1-2 percent of
the total global energy supply to produce fertilizer. The energy-intensive
process is also responsible for 1-2 percent of global greenhouse gas
emissions.

“Corn yields in developing countries are one-tenth of those found in the
U.S., due both to variety development and access to affordable nitrogen
fertilizer,” said co-author Allen Van Deynze, director of research at the
UC Davis Seed Biotechnology Center. “This discovery opens the door to
significantly improving the genetic potential and food security for these
countries.”

“As one of the world’s largest food businesses, Mars is committed to
reducing the environmental strain caused by farming,” Shapiro added. “We
embarked on this uncommon collaboration decades ago to drive forward a
discovery that has the potential to create a lasting and positive impact on
sustainable agriculture.”

The municipal authority and community in the isolated village in the Sierra
Mixe region were an integral part of this research project. Biological
materials were accessed and utilized under an Access and Benefit Sharing
(ABS) Agreement with the community and with permission from the Mexican
government. An internationally recognized certificate of compliance under
the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing has been issued for such
activities.

This ABS Agreement is designed to ensure the equitable sharing of benefits
arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, contributing to the
conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

This research was facilitated through the tremendous cooperation of
SEMARNAT and SAGARPA, two agencies of the Mexican government responsible
for implementation of the access and benefit-sharing provisions of the
Nagoya Protocol.

Other authors include Pablo Zamora, Cristobal Heitmann, Alison Berry,
Donald Gibson, Kevin Schwartz, Srijak Bhatnagar, Guillaume Jospin, Aaron
Darling, Jonathan Eisen, Richard Jeanotte, and Bart Weimer of UC Davis;
Javier Lopez, Instituto Tecnologico del Valle de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico;
Pierre-Marc Delaux, Dhileephumar Jayaraman, Shanmugam Rajasekar, Danielle
Graham, and Junko Maeda of UW–Madison.

This paper is dedicated to co-author Cristobal Heitmann, whose energy and
enthusiasm were a major catalyst in this research. He died while the
manuscript was under review, and his research for the paper was part of his
M.S. thesis. Read more
<http://icm-tracking.meltwater.com/link.php?DynEngagement=true&H=btYXC68syxnIlVIaW0qBweEUHWPFwuN5EgnqFgPj0oiC1OMl9zi1RtQ%2BTkuKtV3RlnLrjFCijdNMXi4XePQi7isJUcd7KQrTbw%2FHjc3yaj8n8Cm%2FwGDN%2FLl7Tu3WOp1G&G=0&R=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu%2F2018%2F05%2F15%2Fcris-heitmann-scholarship-fund-will-support-graduate-students-in-plant-sciences%2F&I=20180807180002.000000200edb%40mail6-113-ussnn1&X=MHwxMDQ2NzU4OjViNjljNzkzYmE1YmE3YmJlZDhmMTcwMzs%3D&S=RXgZYksU_e_q1_8HUNGGH9ckowXqKyBBTN_0A1dX0fw>
about
Cris and the scholarship in his name.

Learn more
<http://icm-tracking.meltwater.com/link.php?DynEngagement=true&H=btYXC68syxnIlVIaW0qBweEUHWPFwuN5EgnqFgPj0oiC1OMl9zi1RtQ%2BTkuKtV3RlnLrjFCijdNMXi4XePQi7isJUcd7KQrTbw%2FHjc3yaj8n8Cm%2FwGDN%2FLl7Tu3WOp1G&G=0&R=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucdavis.edu%2Ffood&I=20180807180002.000000200edb%40mail6-113-ussnn1&X=MHwxMDQ2NzU4OjViNjljNzkzYmE1YmE3YmJlZDhmMTcwMzs%3D&S=CEIFMezQ2vhi5jE8wKG2tK2nAtPXuufNmPegNNhUxPc>
about
how UC Davis experts help feed a growing population.
Media contact(s)

Amy Quinton
<http://icm-tracking.meltwater.com/link.php?DynEngagement=true&H=btYXC68syxnIlVIaW0qBweEUHWPFwuN5EgnqFgPj0oiC1OMl9zi1RtQ%2BTkuKtV3RlnLrjFCijdNMXi4XePQi7isJUcd7KQrTbw%2FHjc3yaj8n8Cm%2FwGDN%2FLl7Tu3WOp1G&G=0&R=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucdavis.edu%2Fperson%2Farticles%2F23463&I=20180807180002.000000200edb%40mail6-113-ussnn1&X=MHwxMDQ2NzU4OjViNjljNzkzYmE1YmE3YmJlZDhmMTcwMzs%3D&S=zOl9kMHBZiFXF56uSwXbwvmE9HJPEKjKyQ8FTmb4LXE>,
UC Davis News and Media Relations, 530-752-9843, cell 530-601-8077,
amquinton@ucdavis.edu

Matthew Thomlinson
<http://icm-tracking.meltwater.com/link.php?DynEngagement=true&H=btYXC68syxnIlVIaW0qBweEUHWPFwuN5EgnqFgPj0oiC1OMl9zi1RtQ%2BTkuKtV3RlnLrjFCijdNMXi4XePQi7isJUcd7KQrTbw%2FHjc3yaj8n8Cm%2FwGDN%2FLl7Tu3WOp1G&G=0&R=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucdavis.edu%2Fperson%2Farticles%2F24691&I=20180807180002.000000200edb%40mail6-113-ussnn1&X=MHwxMDQ2NzU4OjViNjljNzkzYmE1YmE3YmJlZDhmMTcwMzs%3D&S=ydonGHNgRHfpL9mE4kaGeoPSTqagAxR3bzFIU9E7SAk>,
Mars, Incorporated, matthew.thomlinson@cnc-communications.com

Liz Larvin
<http://icm-tracking.meltwater.com/link.php?DynEngagement=true&H=btYXC68syxnIlVIaW0qBweEUHWPFwuN5EgnqFgPj0oiC1OMl9zi1RtQ%2BTkuKtV3RlnLrjFCijdNMXi4XePQi7isJUcd7KQrTbw%2FHjc3yaj8n8Cm%2FwGDN%2FLl7Tu3WOp1G&G=0&R=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucdavis.edu%2Fperson%2Farticles%2F24692&I=20180807180002.000000200edb%40mail6-113-ussnn1&X=MHwxMDQ2NzU4OjViNjljNzkzYmE1YmE3YmJlZDhmMTcwMzs%3D&S=hWCCKOrx5eVbsWl0TWMH-7lJAoe_qVxk7j3XCWnkYrk>,
Mars, Incorporated, liz.larvin@cnc-communications.com



  • [permaculture] Indigenous Mexican Variety of Corn Captures the Nitrogen It Needs From the Air — UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Lawrence London, 08/10/2018

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