By Scout Nelson
Researchers were surprised by healthy potato plants growing in a potato disease research nursery in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The nursery had been established in 1942, and the potatoes had survived after 35 years of potato monoculture with almost no disease problems. Scientists expected serious microbial infections, but the crops continued thriving.
Deane Morrison highlighted research from the University of Minnesota, where Linda Kinkel and her research team investigated how naturally occurring soil microbes that protected crops from disease. The scientists suspected the answer was connected to the microbes living in the soil.
To test the idea, researchers collected soil samples and heated half of them to remove all living microbes. The remaining samples kept their natural microbial communities. Scientists then added pathogens to all the samples and grew potato plants in them. Only plants growing in soil with living microbes resisted infection.
“We couldn’t understand why,” says Linda Kinkel, a professor of plant pathology in the University of Minnesota's College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. “The field always included some potato varieties that were known to be highly susceptible to disease.”
Researchers later discovered that disease suppression was not caused by one beneficial microbe alone. Instead, a large network of interacting microbes worked together to support plants and control harmful pathogens. Beneficial microbes competed for nutrients released from plant roots and dead plant material while helping plants absorb phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and iron.
“It’s been established that overall, plants can leak up to 40 percent of the atmospheric carbon they have “fixed” into organic matter via photosynthesis,” Kinkel says. “Microbes compete actively for that food.”
The research showed that beneficial microbes produced natural defenses, including antibiotics, that limited dangerous pathogens.
“The bad guys become collateral damage from the interactions among the good guys,” Kinkel says. “It takes a village.”
Kinkel and her colleagues later patented microbial technologies to help farmers improve crop growth and reduce fertilizer and pesticide use. In 2013, the team launched Jord Bioscience to commercialize the technology. The company now conducts field trials across the United States and South America.
Kinkel’s work later earned recognition from the World Food Prize Foundation, which named her one of 39 Top Agri-Food Pioneers in 2025 for advancing agricultural biological research.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-npantos
Categories: Minnesota, Crops, Fruits and Vegetables, Sustainable Agriculture