Microbiological Research Opens a New Door in Understanding Plant Nutrition
In 2010, a research paper was published in PLOS ONE entitled "Turning the Table: Plants Consume Microbes as a Source of Nutrients." This research was conducted in Australia with the help of people from Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The stated objective of this research was to "explore the possibility that plants take up and digest microbes as a source of nutrients." The summary of their results "show that the uptake process involves modification of the walls of root cells which is followed by active incorporation and degradation of the incorporated microbes."
This team of researchers used some of the best scientific methods available, such as radioactive isotopes, gold labeling, and laser/electron microscopy to arrive at their recorded data. This data resulted in some very interestingly stated conclusions: "High production crop systems carry a strong pollution footprint which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and pollutes ground and surface waters (45), and new approaches to supply soil-derived nutrients efficiently to plants are being sought. Exploring the synergistic interactions between plants and microbes by harnessing soil microbes to supply crops with nutrients may be a further strategy."
This team of scientists is credited with terming this idea of plants eating microbes for minerals as rhizophagy. As this research received worldwide recognition, Dr. James White from the Department of Plant Biology at Rutgers University took the lead in discussing rhizophagy research in the United States around 2018. Growers Mineral, Corp. was introduced to Dr. White's research during the beginning of COVID-19 in 2020 through the microBIOMETER company headed by Dr. Judith Fitzpatrick. Since that introduction, we have followed Dr. White's research to try and understand better the process termed rhizophagy.
This is an excerpt from the Late Fall Growers Solution (2025) written by Jim Halbeisen, Director of Research.
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