Published on 15 June 2023

Improved Crop Variety Mixtures Made Possible by Scientific Breakthrough

In an article recently published in Nature Communications, Agroscope and partners resolved a positive diversity effect in genotype mixtures to a single gene. This breakthrough will facilitate the design of improved crop variety mixtures.

In plant communities, diversity often increases productivity and functioning. The underlying causes are, however, poorly understood and difficult to study. In a new article published in Nature Communications, scientists from Agroscope and various Swiss and German universities succeeded in resolving a positive diversity effect in genotype mixtures to a single gene, encoding a sugar-proton symporter expressed in root tissues.

The scientists argue that genetic differences at this gene represent adaptation to different soil types which, when combined into mixtures, improve overall soil resource use.

This work represents a methodological breakthrough that will allow the study of ecological phenomena via genetic methods and facilitate the design of improved crop variety mixtures.

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