Harnessing Cellulose-Producing Microbes to Boost Drought Resilience in Crops

Project partners: Biorenewables Development Centre & CroBio

Project focus area: Agriculture and food production

Climate change has accelerated the frequency of severe droughts, threatened global food security and increased reliance on chemical fertilisers. UK biotech company CroBio partnered with the BDC to develop an improved, living microbial soil amendment that helps crops withstand drought conditions.

The project aimed to optimise a high-performance living microbial soil amendment. The project successfully boosted specific microbial traits to form a cellulose-based, sponge-like material around plant roots. This biological “shield” produced by the microorganism was shown previously to improve soil structure, boost moisture retention, and ensure nutrient availability even under water stress.

We used the wild-type CroBio strain to enhance the production of cellulose material through the adoptive laboratory evolution, providing a stable foundation for further strain development research.  We performed controlled plant growth trials to assess CroBio soil amendment under drought conditions and provided vital data for future trials.

The solution could reduce the crop’s water requirements and reliance on synthetic fertilisers, lowering the environmental footprint of industrial farming, and offering an innovative product for farmers to secure crop productivity. This collaboration underscores the UK’s leadership in bio-based innovation and improves CroBio’smicrobial technology designed to restore soil health and enhance agricultural climate resilience.

For more information

For more information on this project, contact us, or view all Engineering Biology SPARK Award winners.

This project funding is part of the Engineering Biology Innovation Network, led by Innovate UK Business Connect in collaboration with Innovate UK and UKRI’s Technology Mission Fund. The network’s goal is to progress innovations, create a commercially focused community and foster new consortia to advance innovations towards commercial applications.