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Project title

SoilSynbiotics

Primary Funding Agency

DAFM

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

Maynooth University (NUIM)

Lead Applicant

n/a

Project Abstract

Maintaining soil health is central to the sustainability of agriculture and a key factor in productivity. At present, however, soil resources are seriously threatened by various anthropogenic influences, including climate change. As a result of climate change, agriculture and the ecosystem are becoming more insecure and complex, and their sustainability is decreasing. Diverse functions such as the production of bioactive metabolites, the regulation of plant health and protection against pathogens are associated with the soil microbiome. These functions depend largely on the quantity and quality of the microbiota, which among other things be determined by the composition of the soil. In order to enable the best possible colonization with microorganisms and thus achieve benefits for the plants and soil in general, living bacteria (probiotics) are necessary. So-called prebiotics (in human often oligosaccharides) serve as the food source for these bacteria. These are not only a source of food, but can also be used as selection agents. In order to ultimately increase the probability of the microorganisms surviving in the soil,probiotic bacteria and substances with a prebiotic effect are combined and declared as synbiotics. Converting what is known about the human diet to soil microbiome enhancers is the overall topic of the project. However, so far no real pre- and probiotics or synbiotics for enhancing the soil microbiome are available. The project SoilSynbiotics will tackle this need by combining following research aspects for a sustainable management of soil quality: - Analysis of the soil microbiome and identifying the beneficial and non-beneficial microbes in various soil samples (soil metagenome, soil metaproteome) - Identifying �prebiotics� to boost the beneficial microbes and reduce the non-beneficial ones - Production and formulation of prebiotics to enable the usage in agriculture - Identifying of �probiotic� microorganisms - Cultivation and formulation of probiotics for agricultural use

Grant Approved

�720,000.00

Research Hub

n/a

Research Theme

Ireland's Future Climate, its Impacts, and Adaptation Options

Start Date

01/09/2022�

Initial Projected Completion Date

31/08/2025