Coated seed is common for legume species such as alfalfa and clover. Coatings contain rhizobia bacteria and often a fungicide to inoculate roots and to help protect seedlings.

But legumes, including beans, lentils, and peanuts, have a trick up their sleeve. They grow special root nodules that house friendly bacteria called rhizobia, which take nitrogen from the air and ...

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, the University of Cologne, and the University of Copenhagen have uncovered a hidden talent of the Casparian strip—a root structure ...

ensuring these are well nodulated with appropriate rhizobia bacteria strains; and, where possible adding legumes before the autumn break if they are likely deficit in density.

Is there a more enigmatic island than Rapa Nui (Easter Island), deforested and depopulated and studded with giant stone statues? We know it transformed from palm-clad to treeless within a few ...