Modern tomatoes can’t get same soil microbe boost as ancient ancestors
Beneficial soil microbe Trichoderma harzianum helpswild-type tomato plants grow larger and improves their defense against disease. Plants treated with the microbe (right of each frame) grew taller and amassed significantly more root growth than non-treated plants. Purdue University scientists hope to identify the genes that allow the plants to benefit from soil microbes to strengthen modern hybrids. (Photos courtesy Lori Hoagland and Amit Jaiswal)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Tomato plants are especially vulnerable to foliar diseases that can kill them or impact yield. These problems require a number of pesticides in conventional crops and make organic production especially difficult.