Knowing how plants and microbes work together can boost crop yields

INTERACTIONS WITH microbes in the soil are crucial to the health of plants. Some bacteria turn nitrogen from the air into ammonia, and thence into nitrates, thus “fixing” that element in a form which plants can absorb and turn into proteins. Others, by secreting antibiotics, protect plants from pathogens. Others still, through the formation of colonies called biofilms on the surfaces of soil particles, help trap water in the soil. And fungi, which consist of long networks of hyphae that often penetrate plant roots, facilitate the uptake by those roots of nutrients from the soil