Project Grant 2516137

This Project Grant award of $800,000 from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) will support research at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) to evaluate and enhance arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in major cereal crops like corn and rice. The project aims to improve the crops' ability to efficiently utilize phosphorus fertilizers through their beneficial interactions with soil fungi. Specifically, the research will employ natural plant genetic variants to boost the level of interaction between the crops and soil fungi, and assess the impact on plant performance under standard and low phosphorus field conditions. The project will also characterize the soil microbial communities to better understand how novel plant varieties can work with fungi to enhance phosphorus uptake and utilization. This trilateral collaboration with partners in the U.K. and Germany is expected to run from July 2025 through June 2028, contributing to fundamental knowledge on crop nutrient signaling and microbial associations while developing a basis for breeding towards greater nutrient efficiency through improved arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.