The biology of Ciceribacter spp. and their adaptations as biological chassis for engineered nitrogen fixation

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In order to overcome the pressures that an ever-increasing population will put on global food production systems, sustainable means of maximising crop outputs are required. Generating crops that can fix their own nitrogen, minimising the need for chemical fertiliser application, is a "holy grail" for agriculture. As only legumes can form nodule-based symbioses with rhizobial bacteria, and the immense challenges of trying to engineer nodule-like symbiosis into cereal crops, engineering and utilising free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria that form close associations with plant roots offers a sustainable alternative to fertiliser application. Two Ciceribacter spp. were identified in an initial screen from barley roots and are potential candidates for engineering as biological chassis for nitrogen fixation and release of nitrogen to cereal crop roots.Priority areas | Sustainably enhancing agricultural production; Synthetic biology.