Microbes, the next breakthrough in the Agricultural Revolution?

Agricultural germplasm resources such as crops, livestock and poultry, aquatic products and agricultural microorganisms are the basis of new varieties breeding, the carrier of genetic information passed from one generation to the next, and one of the important resources indispensable for human survival. China's agriculture has a long history and rich germplasm resources, which are the most important agricultural heritage in China and even in the world. Among them, some local species are no less endangered and rare than the giant panda.

In 2020, the Opinions of The General Office of the State Council on Strengthening the Protection and Utilization of Agricultural Germplasm Resources (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions) were officially issued. The Opinions propose that by 2035, a systematic, scientific and efficient system for the protection and utilization of agricultural germplasm resources will be built, the total amount of resources preserved will rank among the top in the world, rare, endangered and unique resources will be effectively collected and protected, the level of in-depth identification, evaluation and comprehensive development and utilization of resources will be significantly improved, and the innovative utilization of resources will reach the international advanced level. Recently, Farmers Daily China Agricultural Network reporter interviewed Wei Hailei, chief scientist of the agricultural microbial resources team of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, on the protection and utilization of agricultural microbial germplasm resources.

Reporter: Food security for the world, planting the cornerstone. Seeds are the "chip" of agriculture and the source of ensuring national food security and high-quality development of agriculture and rural areas. The "Opinions of The General Office of the State Council on Strengthening the Protection and Utilization of Agricultural Germplasm Resources" has for the first time promoted agricultural microbial germplasm resources as a national strategy, what is the significance?

If crops and livestock are the issues that matter to today's jobs, then microbes will be the transformative force that will determine the next 50 or even 100 years of agricultural technology. For the first time, agricultural microbial germplasm resources were published in the form of a state-sponsored document, which highlights China's high vision for strategic resources and original innovation of agricultural science and technology under the new situation.

The "Opinions" clearly defined the basic, long-term and public welfare of the protection of agricultural microbial germplasm resources, made positive support for agricultural microbial germplasm resources, and strengthened the strategic core position of agricultural microbial germplasm resources from the policy. In addition, the "Opinions" carried out a top-level design and systematic deployment of resource protection work, requiring that resources be found out as soon as possible, clear the main responsibilities of resource protection units, adhere to the principle of government-led, diversified participation, and efficient use, and establish a national overall planning, hierarchical responsibility, and organic cohesion protection mechanism, indicating the direction for the construction of agricultural microbial germplasm resource protection and utilization system. It has laid a solid foundation for the innovative use of agricultural microorganisms, the construction of a modern seed industry power, the implementation of rural revitalization strategy, the protection of national food security, and the promotion of high-quality agricultural development, and will ensure that China occupies a dominant position in the future international competition.

The "Opinions" is the first important document focusing on the protection and utilization of agricultural germplasm resources since the founding of New China, opening a new chapter in the protection and utilization of agricultural microbial germplasm resources, and is an important opportunity to solve the long-term backward development of agricultural microbial germplasm resources in China. This is a historic and principled document that covers both the current and long-term management, and is of milestone significance.

Reporter: Microbial germplasm resources are very important and have a wide range of applications, so what is the most urgent need and the most important value in agriculture?

A: Microorganisms are an indispensable and important resource of nature and an important component of biodiversity. If plants are "producers" and animals are "consumers", then microorganisms are "disintegrators" and "drivers" of material transformation, playing an irreplaceable role in maintaining material and energy cycles and ecological balance.

The germplasm resources of agricultural microorganisms are rich, covering important groups such as bacteria, fungi and viruses, which are mainly used in fertilizer, food and medicine, feed, plant protection, agricultural environment and so on. Microbial germplasm resources play an important role in exploring the way of modern agricultural development that is efficient, safe, resource-saving and environmentally friendly. Especially in the context of green development, the application of agricultural microorganisms is extremely urgent. For example, the solution of "storing grain in the ground" requires the participation of microorganisms. The decline of cultivated land quality caused by high-intensity predatory planting and the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has become a bottleneck restricting the sustainable development of China's agriculture. Only when the soil is healthy can China produce safe food. Increasing soil fertility is one of the main effects of microbial fertilizers. For example, nitrogen-fixing microorganisms can increase nitrogen sources in soil. Phosphorus and potassium solubilizing microorganisms can decompose the insoluble phosphorus and potassium in soil and convert them into phosphorus and potassium compounds that can be absorbed and utilized by crops. At present, the annual output of microbial fertilizer is more than 30 million tons, the annual output value is about 40 billion yuan, and the use area is more than 500 million mu.

At present, the annual output of agricultural waste in China is more than 4 billion tons, with microbial technology as a link, through the fertilizer, biogas, edible fungi and feed of agricultural waste, the planting industry, aquaculture and residents' lives are closely connected, can reduce environmental pollution, improve the rural ecological environment, develop agricultural circular economy, and promote sustainable development of agriculture.

Reporter: It is well known that microorganisms play an important role in maintaining soil-plant ecosystems and safeguarding human health. With the development of science and technology, more and more attention has been paid to the application and effect of agricultural microorganisms. At present, what is the status quo of the protection and utilization of agricultural microbial germplasm resources in China? What are the outstanding weaknesses?

A: China is one of the countries with the richest microbial resources. In 1999, the State launched the task of basic scientific and technological work on microbial resources, and listed the collection, collation and preservation of microbial resources as a special project for basic national scientific and technological work. From the perspective of the only national agricultural microbial preservation institution - China Agricultural Microbial Species Preservation Management Center, 23,000 strains have been stored, belonging to more than 800 genera, more than 3,000 species, covering fertilizer microorganisms, edible fungi, feed microorganisms, plant protection microorganisms, agricultural environmental microorganisms, etc. On average, it provides 1,500 strains of strain services and technical services for more than 500 institutions of higher learning, research institutes and biological enterprises every year, which strongly supports the development of China's biological industry and scientific and technological progress.

However, China has long lacked systematic and sustained investigation, collection and protection of agricultural microbial germplasm resources. Compared with developed countries such as Europe and the United States, there is still a big gap in conservation species diversity, conservation quality, identification and evaluation, intelligent management, efficient utilization, and international participation.

In general, the protection and utilization of agricultural microbial germplasm resources in China are facing serious challenges. First, the protection and utilization system needs to be improved. Before the publication of the Opinions, the work of agricultural microbial germplasm resources in China lacked overall layout and unified deployment, resource investigation was not systematic, and repeated investment and low-level development were serious. Second, accurate identification and systematic evaluation need to be improved. A large number of agricultural microbial germplasm resources with scientific value and application prospects are "hidden in the reservoir", which limits the core competitiveness of transforming germplasm resources into supporting the development of seed industry, supplementing the shortcomings of resource protection and utilization, and solving the problem of "stuck neck" of seed sources. Third, the construction of national agricultural microbial germplasm resource bank needs to be strengthened. Agricultural microbial germplasm resources need professional storage technology, various storage methods and special storage facilities. Through the survey, it is found that all the depository units in the country generally have insufficient funds, simple equipment, single means, unfavorable sharing and other phenomena, and resources are faced with the risk of pollution, degradation, and even loss. It is urgent to increase investment in hardware facilities, professional teams, information integration and other aspects. The protection and utilization of agricultural microbial germplasm resources in China has a long way to go.

Reporter: At present, food security and ecological environment protection are the top priorities of development during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. The research and utilization of microbial resources with modern biotechnology as the core has become the strategic focus of global biological resources competition. In what aspects should the future agricultural microbial germplasm resources make efforts to promote the high-quality development of national agriculture?

A: The next agricultural revolution, microbes may be the breakthrough. In 2019, the American Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Medicine jointly released a research report, which listed microbial-related research as one of the five research directions that need to be broken through in the agricultural field in the next 30 years. It indicates that agricultural microorganisms will play an important role in the future national economy and people's livelihood.

Therefore, the work of agricultural microbial germplasm resources should be benchmarked against the international strategic trend, adhere to the "four aspects", and promote the high-quality development of national agriculture from the following aspects. First, to meet the major needs of the country, the National bacterial germplasm Resource Bank takes the lead in further improving the protection and utilization system of agricultural microbial germplasm resources, formulating and issuing the registration rules of agricultural microbial germplasm resources, standardizing technical requirements, promoting resource collection and unified identity information registration, and building a national agricultural microbial germplasm resource bank and big data platform to provide support for national strategic decision-making; The second is to face the frontier of science and technology, deepen the study of microbial diversity, develop and use advanced technologies such as microbiome and culture omics, tap new resources, new mechanisms, new functions, and reveal the mechanism and law of agricultural microorganisms from the individual, population, and interaction level; The third is to face the main battlefield of agriculture, give play to the resource advantages of microorganisms, develop new and efficient microbial functional products, and solve outstanding problems in agricultural production; Fourth, for people's health, improve agricultural microbial detection and risk assessment mechanisms, and develop prebiotic and multifunctional microbial foods and health products to meet the growing health needs.