StRategies fOr iMproving Agronomic practices based oN miCrobiomEs.

Project Information

ROMANCE

Grant agreement ID: 897795

DOI

10.3030/897795

Project closed

EC signature date 25 February 2020

Start date 1 September 2020

End date 31 August 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 160 932,48

EU contribution

€ 160 932,48

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDAD DE SALAMANCA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ROMANCE (StRategies fOr iMproving Agronomic practices based oN miCrobiomEs.)

Reporting period: 2020-09-01 to 2022-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The Action “Strategies for improving agronomic practices based on microbiomes (ROMANCE)” dives into the events happening belowground in cropping systems subjected to different agronomic practices, such as intercropping and crop rotations. These agrosystems have a plethora of microorganisms living in association with soils and plants, which are known as microbiome. The selection of proper agricultural practices is important to ensure the agrosystem health and influence microbiome shifts.
ROMANCE research questions address how the microbiome members, especially bacteria (bacteriome), interact with each component of the agrosystem, including plant-microbe, soil-microbe and microbe-microbe, and which bacteriomes have key roles in each analysed cropping system. The research approach established were directed to determine the core and the accessory bacterial microbiome with their commonly associated functions. Then, collected data allow the design of simplified native bacterial consortia based on the microbiota and/or functions that make agronomic systems work well versus the ones working worse. This knowledge allowed the design of bacterial consortia based on simplified native bacterial communities, which will improve crop fitness and productivity, as well as protect against quarantine pathogens. The final goal to help farmers selecting the best management practices for their conditions and the best bacterial consortium buffering most of their agrosystem limitations or deficiencies.

The overall objectives of ROMANCE are: i) to study the belowground bacteriome associated to intercropping and crop rotation systems, ii) to functionally characterize the bacteriome using a multi-omics approach (genomics, proteomics, metagenomics and culturomics) aand iii) to select and test simplified bacterial communities forming patentable consortia.

In summary, ROMANCE created a toolkit to aid in the selection of agro-practices and biofertilizers through a holistic vision of the belowground microbiomes, addressing the pros and cons of using microbiota profiling versus bacterial functionalities (bacteriomes) to design field-applicable products.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

ROMANCE work was conducted via 3 work packages and 6 clear technical objectives. WP1 determined “who is who” and “who is present” in the bacteriomes associated to the different stages of wheat-canola, vetch-wheat, wheat-vetch and lentil-wheat crop rotations under different localization and water regimes. WP2 dives into the functions of the bacteriome members, answering the question “what do they do” under a combined approach using metagenome and culturome data. WP3 looks to select the best-performing bacteria consortium designed taking into consideration differential factors affecting crop productivity. Overall, ROMANCE produced a huge amount of data, strains and information about soils and crop rotations. Although still preliminary, the main scientific results derived from ROMANCE were the following: i) bacteriomes associated to crops in rotation reveal common and unique taxa with diverse behaviors under different water regimes, ii) soils and roots are sources of novel taxa and iii) bacterial native consortia designed including PGP rhizospheric and endospheric strains isolated from crops are best-performing than consortia designed based on core bacteriomes and abundancies.

The fellow has published one review manuscript from her collaboration with researchers from the secondment institution and 2 more publications based on results obtained with the wheat-canola rotation and the nematode biocontrol exerted by a novel strain are forthcoming. She presented ROMANCE results in 4 congresses (2 online, 2 in person), which abstracts were selected as oral communication. The Fellow exceeded goals by becoming member of the editorial board of well-recognized journal. During the grant, she earned a teaching qualification issued by the National (Spanish) Agency for Evaluations and Accreditations (ANECA) and secured funding being PI of 2 projects focused in training and teaching innovation.
The metagenome, amplicon and genome datasets and germplasm collection generated during this action will be available and be present in many publications and projects that will be launched in the close future.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

ROMANCE is a multi- and interdisciplinary project, which generated high-quality outputs. This action has pushed the frontiers of knowledge about the belowground hidden bacterial diversity and functions benefiting agriculture. ROMANCE outputs include the generation of a germplasm collection and an omics database as well as the design of efficient bacterial synthetic communities (SynComs) that can be used as models for research or in field applications.
The grantee acquired new knowledge and technical skills and developed new competencies, mainly due to the establishment of international collaborations.
As a parallel goal of the MSCA IF program is to foster the development of the individual researcher, the fellow was involved in transversal activities (teaching, training courses and outreach activities), impacting positively her scientific career in academia. The fellow supervises a PhD student working directly on the project as well as mentored and supervised several master and undergraduate students.

ROMANCE impacts positively the socio-economic sector due to the planned production and application of mixed inoculants based on selected plant probiotic bacteria. Those inoculants constitute a feasible sustainable alternative to chemical fertilizers, which have many negative effects on the environment and health. Additionally, it will impact economically, alleviating the higher expenses that farmers are experienced in the purchase of chemical fertilizers. The final goal is to provide eco-sustainable solutions for the farmers; thus, the outcomes of this action are even more attractive at economic and ecological level, representing a real alternative to reduce or avoid the use of synthetic fertilizers applied on the fields.

The success of a biofertilizer designed based on soil/plant associated microbiome is determined by many factors. One of them is the selection of the agronomic practice, which at the same time depend on many factors, such as soil, climatic conditions, farmer´s economy and management practices, amongst others. Both biofertilizer development and agronomic practices should be selected carefully to obtain the maximum benefits (crop yields) without compromising the environment. Knowledge generated in ROMANCE will be the key for further applications.

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