Fighting Poisons with Bacteria

       According to a NY times article an effort has been underway to reduce the amount of arsenic found in rice plants in Asia. The experiments are begin conducted at the university of Delaware by Harsh Bias.  Arsenic contamination in rice plants has become a problem in India and other Asian countries. Bias is trying to remove the percentages of arsenic from plants and not through changing the DNA of the plant but by introducing bacteria in hopes that it will be able to reduce the amount of poison in the plant.

      Much of the identification of bacteria can be credited to DNA sequences which has made it easier to identify different types of related bacteria. At the university of California Dr. Sundaresan has been working to identify bacteria using DNA sequencing. he has found so far over a quarter of a million bacteria in the rice microbiome. He has been sharing the data he has collected with Bias. with this information Bias was able to isolate three different strains and coat the plants with individual strains. he found that one bacteria P. agglomerans did in fact reduce the amount of arsenic  found in the plant. these experiments have lead to new possibilities as quoted by Shannon Pinson, a plant genetics," I would love the microbes to add to the genetic possibilities and the possibilities of the water management and shorting the growing period." there is still a lot more information to be found pertaining to all the effects the bacteria will have on the plant.

       This is an interesting alternative to genetic modified organisms. There is much more work to be done on this subject to see how the bacteria reacts in different environments. the discovery of different bacteria that can reduce arsenic percentages in the plant can be very beneficial to the people of Asia who depend on the rice plant for a source of income. lastly it is impressive how much DNA sequencing has advanced science in all different areas.


Article:http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/science/going-inside-the-rice-microbiome.html
Related Article:http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm?ACCN_NO=425079