BRIO

Banking Rhizosphere Micro-Organisms. European - Russian initiative to set up a network of rhizosphere microbiological resources centres

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Soil microbes play key roles in ecosystems and influence ecosystem processes, including nutrient acquisition, nitrogen cycling, carbon cycling, and soil formation. Soil microbes are the majority in soil and a large portion of the genetic diversity on Earth. Many microbes live in association with plant roots and can promote plant productivity and provide protection against stress and disease. Other microbes acts as pathogens and reduce plant growth. Sound environmental and agricultural practices favour balanced composition of biotic agents population in the rhizosphere. Well balanced micro-organisms population favours colonization of soil and nutrients intake, limits occurrence of pathogens (biotic stress), supports the development of commensal or symbiotic relationship between plant and micro-organisms, with a good tempering effect regarding abiotic stress (good water retention capacity, available macro- and micronutrients). Cultivated soils have been extensively studied. Pristine rhizospheres are less studied although these ecological niches contain important micro-flora and -fauna or help conceive the complex ecological microbes-plant relationship in soil, in the rhizosphere. The purposes of this project are: - to organize cooperation between specialised collections containing microbes isolated from the rhizosphere, - to constitute a common wide-range pool of micro-biodiversity exploitable for research and industry: the Pan-European Rhizosphere resources network (PERN). Collaboration between culture collections having material from West-European ecosystems and Russian Biological Resources Centres having micro-organisms from East-European biotopes will create a coordinated network of combined human expertise and culture collections. The network will offer scientists facilitated access to a wide range of micro-organisms coming from a broad spectrum of ecological zones spread over an extensive geographical range to study and exploit.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

The rhizosphere, that narrow region of soil where plant roots interact with microorganisms, is important for plant health in agriculture and in nature. A new collaboration between the EU and Russia is building a combined database of these microbes to support research in the field.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Studying microorganisms in the rhizosphere may provide new ways to prevent plant stress, uncover new pathogens and give insights into how ecosystems function. The EU-funded http://www.brionet.eu (BRIO) project is working towards a combined EU and Russian database and culture collection of rhizosphere microorganisms, for use in research and industry.

Each research group selected their best microorganism stocks for a common database, which has resulted in a list of 808 documented strains. The database incorporates the categories biopesticides, biofertilisers and bioremediation, and was tested successfully in February 2013.

A web portal to allow researchers access to these resources is now under development. Researchers have also completed a guideline for adding or removing material from the database, to ensure that no stocks are lost.

Once established, the BRIO network will support the EU's knowledge-based bio-economy by providing valuable knowledge and resources to stakeholders in science and industry. This will in turn facilitate further research and innovation in the field.