b'A featured segment designed to share business-critical information to seed-selling professionals. Visit SeedWorld.com to download this department STRATEGY and other tools.Soil Health for Feeding the SeedSoil health has become increasingly important, but how does the root microbiome fit into the equation to feed the seed?Joe Funk jfunk@issuesink.comWHEN VIEWEDfromwe need to teach. Using hand a cosmic perspective, lifesanitizer is places we know on planet Earth depends onhave a lot of harmful germs is a razor-thin continental crusta good practice, but you dont that makes up less than 0.4%need to use it every day. The of the Earths total volume.microbes we acquire get-Within this extremely thinting dirty as kids and as we skin is an even thinner layermove through life enable us known as the root microbi- to more quickly adapt to our ome, or rhizosphere, whereenvironment. The same is true plant roots meet soil, miner- for plants: microbes acquired als, water and soil microbes.by seed, soil, air and water Without this interactive zone,transmission all contribute to life could not exist.the performance potential This is one of the richestof a plant. The plant and its and most diverse microbialgenome can only do so much, reservoirs on Earth. In theand the genomes associated rhizosphere, there is estimatedwith a plant or human micro-to contain thousands ofbiome should be considered unique bacterial species, notMolly Cadle-Davidson serves as chief science officer at ABM.as adding to the genetic to mention other microorgan- potential of the host organism. isms such as archaea, fungito infection, plants in somepresent that are capable ofInterestingly, we have learned and protists. Compare this toregions are less susceptible tocausing disease but are notthat several traits thought to the less than 1,000 differentdisease than plants in otheractively causing disease, webe strictly plant-controlled bacterial species in the gut ofareas. What constitutes awonder why not? Then wetraits are in part or entirely any given human. Perhaps nothealthy microbiome is hardthink about the roles of theattributable to the plants surprisingly, the establishmentto define. In a healthy plant,other organisms in the micro- microbiome.of interactions with the soilthere are many beneficialbiome that we have not previ- Just as digestive tract biota represented a milestoneorganisms like rhizobia andously thought of as havingmicrobes interact with the for plants adaptation to theTrichoderma, but there area real synergy or interactionfood consumed by animals, terrestrial environment. Simplyalso many pathogens that arewith plants. That is somethingthe root microbiome mediates stated, soils support plantthere but not causing disease. actively under research. the soil-based diet of plants. health via the microbiome. This topic is so largeNeither we nor plantsThe microbial social network because the more we know,can thrive without germs. Weis not only beneficial to plants, Why Is a Microbiomethe more we realize we dontwould lack vigor, resilience,it is also essential to the entire Important? know, says Molly Cadle- and good health without ourcommunity of soil organ-For years, scientists haveDavidson, chief sciencemicrobes. There are manyisms. Microbes often cannot observed that despite the uni- officer at Advanced Biologicalgood germs all around us. Thisfunction without the support versal presence of soil patho- Marketing, Inc. When weidea that all germs are badof their social network since gens and conditions favorablerealize there are pathogensis not true. This is somethingtheyre constantly interact-52/ SEEDWORLD.COMJANUARY 2020'