Governments and big agbiotech players are betting on plant-symbiotic bacteria to improve crop growth without the need for chemical fertilizers. Syngenta Biologicals and Intrinsyx Bio have entered a collaboration to exploit endophytes — naturally occurring symbiotic bacteria discovered living in trees thriving in unusually harsh conditions. The endophytes developed by Intrinsyx benefit plant health not only by fixing nitrogen in root nodules, but also by improving phosphorous and potassium uptake, as well as enhancing crops’ resistance to salinity and drought. Intrinsyx products consist of formulations that can be applied as seed treatments or by foliar application.

Syngenta is also partnering with Ginkgo Bioworks to select and develop agriculturally relevant microbial strains using Ginkgo’s machine learning algorithms. The aim is to identify strains that produce nutritionally important chemicals known as secondary metabolites, which plants themselves produce to defend against pathogens and herbivores, as well as against environmental stresses such as drought, salinity or harsh temperatures.

各国政府和大型农业生物技术公司正在押注于植物共生细菌，以在不需要化肥的情况下改善作物生长。先正达生物制品公司 (Syngenta Biologicals) 和 Intrinsyx Bio 公司已开展合作，开发内生菌——一种天然存在的共生细菌，存在于树木中，在异常恶劣的条件下茁壮成长。 Intrinsyx 开发的内生菌不仅可以固定根瘤中的氮，还可以提高磷和钾的吸收，以及增强作物对盐度和干旱的抵抗力，从而有益于植物健康。 Intrinsyx 产品由可用作种子处理或叶面施用的配方组成。

先正达还与 Ginkgo Bioworks 合作，利用 Ginkgo 的机器学习算法选择和开发农业相关的微生物菌株。其目的是鉴定能够产生具有重要营养的化学物质（称为次生代谢物）的菌株，植物自身产生这些化学物质是为了抵御病原体和食草动物，以及抵御干旱、盐度或恶劣温度等环境压力。