by Matteo Cavallito<\/p>\n
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Certain soil microbes<\/strong> can help sunflower plants effectively fight off pathogens. The plants themselves, in turn, impact the abundance of beneficial microorganisms through their genetic characteristics. This is supported by a study<\/a> by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder<\/strong> published in the journal Molecular Ecology.<\/p>\n “Host-microbe interactions are increasingly recognized as important drivers of organismal health, growth, longevity and community-scale ecological processes,” the study points out. “However, less is known about how genetic variation<\/strong> affects hosts’ associated microbiomes and downstream phenotypes.” This study “demonstrate the potential for heritable microbial associations to play important roles in defence in natural and human-altered environments.”<\/p>\n