SCIENTISTS have teamed up to create a new UK Crop Microbiome Cryobank (UK-CMCB) to safeguard future research and facilitate the sustainable yield improvement of six major food crops including barley, oats, oil seed rape, potato, sugar beet and wheat.

CABI, which is leading the BBSRC project, joins researchers from Rothamsted Research, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and the John Innes Centre, in developing a ‘Noah’s Ark’ of UK microbes from crop systems that will form the first publicly available resource of its kind anywhere in the world.

The UK-CMCB will provide a facility for researchers to source data and samples for their work, including living microbial material as well as genomic and metagenomic sequences from different microbiome environments, including the rhizoplane.

Curator, genetic resource collection at CABI, Dr Matthew Ryan, said: “By preserving these valuable crop microbial samples, from a ‘unique snapshot in time,’ we will generate a representative, very valuable and unique resource from key UK crop systems that will become a vital resource for scientific researchers for generations to come.

“We will be using UK-developed cryotechnology that uses liquid nitrogen to keep the samples secure at very cold temperatures. If you like, it is a ‘Noah’s Ark’ of UK microbes from crop systems and one that has many potential exciting uses.”

All of the project resources will be fully characterised using advanced DNA sequencing techniques in order for scientists to discover what microbes – fungi, bacteria, archaea (single-celled microorganisms with structure similar to bacteria) and viruses – are there, what they are doing in the microbiome and what role they play in enhancing crop growth. The UK-CMCB will create a curated database of sample information associated with annotated sequences, meta-data and analytical tools for end-users.

This will be the first synchronised resource covering the total microbiome of a variety of crops in standardised soil types, supported by bioinformatics, microbiologists, plant health experts and world class storage facilities.

Plant and soil microbiologist at Rothamsted Research, Dr Tim Mauchline, said: “Soil health is particularly important. If we can better understand the function of microbes present in our soils, we can use this information to help farmers produce sustainable crops. There is a clear need to increase food production and reduce our reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It is imperative that biological solutions are found to help ensure the UK’s food security.”

A further work package will be focussed on demonstrating the utility of the UK-CMCB for isolation of plant growth promoting bacteria and synthetic community construction.

The five-year project starts in October 2020 and will engage with CHAP, the UK’s Agritech centre for crop health and protection, academic researches and industry.

Ends.