Darwin21 Approaches

A world-wide network of desert researchers will be established to build the first world heritage stock center for desert microbes. Using latest genomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics methods, a first world-wide accessible molecular database on rhizosphere microbial genomes and their gene functions will be created. By bioinformatic and functional analysis of the isolated microbes, new metabolic pathways will be identified and analysed for their use in medicine, chemical and synthetic engineering.

By functional analysis on the desert and crop host plants, the potential of the rhizosphere microbes to enhance plant stress tolerance will be established. This knowledge should lay the ground for many applications and last not least the ability to re-establish agriculture in arid regions and thereby help to secure future world food production.