Scientists engineer plant microbiome for the first time to protect crops against disease and cut use of pesticides

Scientists have engineered the microbiome of plants for the first time, boosting the prevalence of 'good' bacteria that protect the plant from disease. The findings published in Nature Communications by researchers from the University of Southampton, China and Austria, could substantially reduce the need for environmentally destructive pesticides. The paper is titled "Microbiome homeostasis on rice leaves is regulated by a precursor molecule of lignin biosynthesis."