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The Power of Fungal Genetics - Cassava for Food Security and Sustainability in Colombia

685 views · Published 4 March 2016 · 7:06 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: ASM - Microbes Make Our World · 2016 · Science & Technology

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ASM traveled to Colombia to speak with and film the researchers behind an innovative biotechnology project that is producing exciting results. The international Swiss – Colombian collaborative research team from the University of Lausanne – Switzerland, the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and the Universidad de la Salle – Utopia campus has been working to create and test novel strains of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to improve cassava production.

AMF forms symbiotic relationships with the majority of the world’s plant species, including cassava and other major food security crops. By colonizing internal structures within the plant and extending its root system, AMF transports nutrients such as phosphate to the plants from inaccessible areas and sources in the soil. In exchange, the plant provides carbon to AMF species that have colonized the plant.

The research team’s studies show that, with the inoculation of certain AMF strains, only half of the necessary phosphate amendments are needed in nutrient-poor tropical soil to produce an equal or greater amount of cassava yield. On a large scale, this technology could potentially provide a more sustainable approach to resource management, allow small shareholder farmers to reduce their input costs, and help create a food secure future for many. In fact, an early model for this success is already being realized by graduates of the Utopia campus, all of whom come from conflict and post-conflict zones. By utilizing their education in agronomy in conjunction with this technology, they can begin rebuilding their home communities while ensuring a food secure future for Colombia and the greater global community.

About Cultures

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Cultures magazine is a quarterly publication at the American Society for Microbiology that explores the nexus of science, policy and global challenges we all share by bringing diverse voices to a common platform. Now in its second year, Cultures is being read by some 50,000 people in 160 countries, reaching young scientists in some of the most remote regions of the world. Past contributors to the magazine include President Jimmy Carter, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, and CDC Director Tom Frieden.

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