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.