Crop productivity on one third of the world’s arable land is reduced due to low bioavailability of iron, a critical micronutrient for plant fitness and survival. In addition to their own capacity to mobilize the micronutrient from recalcitrant soil pools, plants enlist the services of their root-associated microbiota to overcome iron starvation. So far, the underlying genetic and molecular determinants of this cooperative plant-microbial interaction remain unidentified. In my project, I will address these outstanding questions by combining diverse commensal culture collections, molecular tools, and gnotobiotic systems.
