Understanding of how adaptive traits progressed between root and soil microbes under extreme environments enables to identify the genetic basis of crop improvement on root system. This project mainly targets maize landraces adapted to local environments to track the co-adaptation signature of root/rhizosphere and its hosted microbes under the drought and nutrient deprivation. Metagenomic sequencing together with GWAS analysis disentangles the biological complexity between root and its association with soil microbes.

Partners: SWU, China