Beneficial microbe-plant interactions in milpa traditional agroecosystems and the effect of human intervention
Date:
Lecture / Seminar
Time: 11:30-12:30
Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
Lecturer: Dr. Jorge Rocha
Organizer: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences
Details: CIAD Unidad Regional Hidalgo
Abstract: The health of plants depends largely on their interactions with microbes. Howeve ... Read more The health of plants depends largely on their interactions with microbes. However, crop modernization affects these interactions, resulting in plants that rely on excessive inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, etc. Milpas are rain-fed polyculture agroecosystems found in Mesoamerica, where native maize landraces are grown in association with other species. Plant health in milpas is achieved with traditional practices and, therefore, plant-microbe beneficial interactions play an essential role in productivity. Milpas are central to the lives people in rural populations, as local or even familiar traditions, festivities and food preferences influence agricultural practices, resulting in unique characteristics of each parcel that potentially generates a wide diversity of beneficial plant-microbe interactions. In this seminar, we will review our recent progress in the study of beneficial microbe-plant interactions in milpas, including: 1) abundance, functions and structure of maize seed-endophytic communities comparing native vs. modern hybrid varieties, where the effect of modernization can be analyzed; and 2) the contribution of microbes for drought tolerance of native maize landraces adapted to arid regions, to explore the selection of microbes with specific beneficial functions as a result of the farmers’ preferences.
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