Student shows microbes help plants - a podcast by The Food Fix

How can plants grow in the boiling waters near volcanoes? How do they survive in deserts? How do they survive a flood? The answer is that trillions of partners help them survive. These partners are microbes!

Microbes are microscopic creatures like bacteria and fungi. They interact with plants to ensure the availability of nutrients, enhance root growth, battle toxic substances and improve plants’ resistance to disease, flood, heat and drought.

James Kramer is a doctoral student in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at Michigan State University. He studies how microbes help plants to become more resilient to environmental hazards. The research has implications to improve food production across the globe.

Photo: James Kramer

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