Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have developed wheat plants using CRISPR gene-editing to promote natural nitrogen fixation by soil bacteria. This innovation boosts the plant's production of apigenin, a compound that encourages bacteria to form protective biofilms and convert atmospheric nitrogen into a usable form. The breakthrough promises reduced fertilizer use, lower pollution, and higher yields for farmers worldwide.
The development stems from work led by Eduardo Blumwald, a distinguished professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis. The team examined 2,800 chemicals naturally produced by plants and identified 20 that could stimulate nitrogen-fixing bacteria to create biofilms—sticky, low-oxygen coatings essential for the nitrogenase enzyme to function. Using CRISPR, they enhanced wheat's synthesis of apigenin, a flavone, leading to its release into the soil where it triggers bacterial activity.
In experiments, the modified hexaploid wheat showed improved grain yields under low-nitrogen conditions compared to unmodified plants. The research, detailed in a 2025 study in Plant Biotechnology Journal, builds on prior success with rice and aims to extend the approach to other cereals.
Wheat consumes about 18% of the world's nitrogen fertilizer, with over 800 million tons produced globally in 2020, per the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Yet plants absorb only 30% to 50% of applied fertilizer, with the rest leaching into waterways to form dead zones or emitting nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas.
Blumwald highlighted the potential for developing regions: "In Africa, people don't use fertilizers because they don't have money, and farms are small, not larger than six to eight acres," he said. "Imagine, you are planting crops that stimulate bacteria in the soil to create the fertilizer that the crops need, naturally. Wow! That's a big difference!"
In the US, farmers spent nearly $36 billion on fertilizers in 2023, according to the USDA. Blumwald estimated conservative savings of over $1 billion annually if 10% of fertilizer use on 500 million acres of cereals could be cut. The University of California has a pending patent, with funding from Bayer Crop Science and the UC Davis Will Lester Endowment. Co-authors include Hiromi Tajima, Akhilesh Yadav, Javier Hidalgo Castellanos, Dawei Yan, Benjamin P. Brookbank, and Eiji Nambara.