nodule forming bacteria Sinorhizobium meliloti tagged posts

Clover Growth in Mars-like Soils Boosted by Bacterial Symbiosis

Clover growth in Mars-like soils boosted by bacterial symbiosis
Observed growth differences between clover (Melilotus officinalis) inoculated with nodule forming bacteria Sinorhizobium meliloti (left) and a clover plant not inoculated when grown in Martian regolith. Credit: Harris et al., 2021, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Benefits of nitrogen-fixing bacteria could aid efforts towards farming soils on Mars. Clover plants grown in Mars-like soils experience significantly more growth when inoculated with symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria than when left uninoculated. Franklin Harris of Colorado State University, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on September 29, 2021.

As Earth’s population grows, researchers are studying the possibility of farming Martian soils, or “regoli...

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