Future farming

Expert opinion

15 Apr 2019 2 comments

Nitrogen-fixing maize – with or without

biotech?
Matt McIntosh
Correspondent North America

One way to improve profitability, is to reduce input costs. When it comes to maize, one of
those inputs – and a particularly significant one at that – is nitrogen fertiliser. But how much
could you save if your maize, like legumes, could fix its own nitrogen?

Thanks to modern understandings of genetics, researchers from the University of Wisconsin

in the United States now hypothesise traits from modern maize’s most ancient ancestor
could be reintroduced to produce nitrogen-fixing maize.

This, they say, is not a future aspiration; despite not knowing which specific gene triggers
nitrogen fixation, that benefit could be accomplished today through traditional plant breeding.
Fan that I am of modern (and unfortunately controversial) genetic technologies, that seems
like a boon.

Benefits from the Mountains of Mexico

According to Dr. Vania Pankievicz, a researcher from the University of Wisconsin’s
bacteriology and agronomy departments, farmers in Mexico’s southern Oaxaca state grow a
variety of Maize that doesn’t require nitrogen fertiliser.

The variety in question is a very long-season indigenous maize landrace (locally created
cultivar) called Sierra Mixe. Growing between 15 and 20 feet (5 to 6 metres) in height, this
landrace is produced year after year in nitrogen-deprived soils, and without nitrogen fertiliser.

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria
In presenting to Ontario farmers at an environmental farming conference earlier this year,
Pankievicz said she and other university colleagues – including Dr. Jean-Michel Ané, the
project’s lead researcher – now know the key to Sierra Mixe’s natural nitrogen success is its
ability to produce an abundance of “aerial roots” – plus mucilage, a glycerin-like substances
excreted from those areas of the stalk, and one rich in nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
Text continues underneath image

Aerial roots are above-ground roots that grow from nodes on the maizestalk. - Photo
Courtesy of Dr. Jean-Michel Ané, University of Wisconsin

Large roots from about 10 nodes per plant

Aerial roots are above-ground roots that grow from nodes on the maizestalk. While standard
commercialised maize varieties produce small roots from about 3 nodes per plant, Sierra
Mixe maize produces large roots from about 10 nodes per plant. Mucilage production is
similarly much higher. Constantly rehydrated by the Oaxaca region’s tropical rains, that
mucilage drips onto the soil where the bacteria within can make nitrogen available to the
plant.

Pankievicz says the current hypothesis for the genetic origins of Sierra Mixe’s bacteria-filled
mucilage production – and consequently, the ability to absorb nitrogen naturally – comes
from Mexicana, an ancient maize ancestor common to both it as well as commercial maize.
In modern varieties, she says, this trait was lost as new varieties were developed and grown
in environments with high nitrogen pressure; that is, with lots of seasonally applied fertiliser.

Text continues underneath image

Dr. Vania Pankievicz Pankievicz says there is no reason the genetic characteristic can’t be
reintroduced right now via traditional breeding with Sierra Mixe. - Photo: Matt McIntosh

Reintroducing genes
What gene specifically allows Sierra Mixe and Mexicana to naturally absorb nitrogen has not
yet been discovered, though it is being explored. Once that has been determined, modern
genetic manipulation techniques could be employed to quickly incorporate the ability into
high-productivity commercial varieties. The same could then be done for other grass and
cereal crops as well.

Also read: Pioneer CRISPR-Cas: GMO rules frustrate innovation

However, Pankievicz, says there is no reason the genetic characteristic can’t be reintroduced
right now via traditional breeding with Sierra Mixe. This, she says, would be highly effective
from a regulatory perspective (less biotech-related baggage) and prove to be the quickest
way to commercialisation.

Breeding program
Pankievicz believes the next step is to continue investigating how the trait works while
starting a breeding program. Doing so, she says, would complement long-standing research
initiatives looking for nitrogen-fixing bacteria strains that will associate with maize – as
happens with legumes. Together, success in both research areas would help develop even
less nitrogen-dependent yet commercially-viable maize varieties.

Text continues underneath video

Corn School - Nitrogen Hybrids

Realistic impact?
If high-productivity nitrogen-fixing maize is realised, farmers worldwide could benefit – that
would ideally include the largest producers in the American Midwest as well as the poorest
growers of Africa. Really making these theoretical nitrogen-fixing varieties work, of course,
would likely require some agronomic finesse at the field level, to be sure.

The cynic within my own mind, though, makes me question how successful nitrogen-fixing
commercial maize would be

But the prospective financial fertiliser savings certainly make this worth exploring. Given this
author’s proximity to North America’s Great Lakes region and the ongoing nutrient runoff
issues experienced there, musing poetically about a natural reduction in water-borne nitrates
is another tantalizingly positive possibility.

Text continues underneath image

Mucilage drips onto the soil where the bacteria within can make nitrogen available to the
plant. - Photo Courtesy of Dr. Jean-Michel Ané, University of Wisconsin
The cynic within my own mind, though, makes me question how successful nitrogen-fixing
commercial maize would be. This is particularly true if such varieties were developed through
biotechnology. The differences between regulatory environments and (often visceral) political
rhetoric around biotechnology in places like Canada, the United States, and the European
Union are themselves several elephants in a small room.

Regulatory challenges
As much as it pains me to say it, perhaps achieving this biological breakthrough over the
course of years via traditional breeding is the best approach to take. Doing so, one would
hope, might remove many of the regulatory challenges associated with commercializing
biotech-crops, and leave far less room for particularly-zealous special interest groups to
stymie development and dissemination.

As an aside, this piece may have become a vector for a wider political discussion about
science and policy. So, apologies to you, dear reader.

Regardless, nitrogen-fixing maize is an interesting prospect, however it might be realised.

To comment, register here Or register to be able to comment.

Misset Uitgeverij B.V. Copyright reserved.

The following rules apply to the use of this site: Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Cookie
Policy.