Microorganisms are important for crop resilience and human and animal health. Possible adaptation of this so-called microbiome offers great opportunities for society. After all, this microbiome performs important functions in terms of protection against pathogens, nutrient availability and digestion of food. The three awarded projects will provide more insight into the microbiome as a whole, its function in soil or in agriculture and horticulture, and its transmission to humans and animals.
The three consortia will investigate the effects of the soil microbiome on human health, the potential to grow better crops after microbiome adaptations, and exploiting peptide-producing microbiota for sustainable crop protection.
In all three consortia multiple EPS members are involved and in two of them as main applicants:
- Healthy from soil to gut: the effect of the soil microbiome on human health (MicroHealth)
( main applicant: Harro Bouwmeester, UvA) - Steering soil microbiomes for better crop quality: the holy grail to improve human health?
- Precision medicine for agriculture: harnessing peptide-producing microbiota for sustainable crop protection
(main applicant: Marnix Medema, WUR)