Advancing agriculture through a phytobiome perspective Gwyn A. Beattie1, Kellye Eversole2 and Jan E. Leach3 1Iowa State University; 2Eversole Associates; 3Colorado State University

Major crop breeding efforts have propelled us through VISION: Knowledge that translates into an era of remarkable agricultural prosperity, but global applications demands for food and feed are increasing while annual We can achieve sustainable crop yield growths for essential food crops are slowing. productivity through a systems-level Moreover, we are facing increasing resource constraints, What genetic linkages connect phytobiome components? ►Support breeding that select for beneficial communities extreme weather events and increasingly limited arable understanding of diverse interacting land. We are currently at a critical juncture in which components What constitutes a “healthy phytobiome”? new approaches are needed to sustainably increase ►Develop biologicals and predictors of crop and health global crop productivity. We outline a vision for What are the mechanisms by which specific management agriculture in which crop management is founded not practices promote ecosystem health? on managing the individual or system components but ►Design novel or improved management practices rather on exploiting systems-level knowledge of the many interacting components within phytobiomes. Phytobiomes Can we exploit predictive and prescriptive analytics to design site-specific solutions to environmental challenges? consist of all living in, on or ►Incorporate biological information into around plants (e.g., microbes, , precision agriculture technologies other plants), and the environment Phytobiomes: Systems in Context (i.e., soil, air, water and ) Biological and Environmental Context The road forward American Phytopathological Society Climate launched a new, open-access journal and Weather Form linkages among disciplines to Plants A Strategic Plan: recruit a broad base of expertise to Micro- Arthropods, Other The Phytobiomes Roadmap the field of phytobiomes and Macro-organisms Animals and Plants Public & Private sector scientists Molecular biologists Viruses Attract and Soil scientists Engineers Growers strengthen a cross- Organismal biologists Extension Statisticians Arachnids Chemists Ecologists Agronomists trained workforce Agribusiness Myriapods Computational scientists breeders Consumers Worms Atmospheric scientists Crop consultants Birds Algae Rodents Fungi Ruminants Nematode Weeds The International Alliance for Phytobiomes Research

Soils A nonprofit consortium of industry, academic, and governmental agencies

Management Context Mission: Goals: to establish a science and Identify research gaps and help technology foundation for site- coordinate projects to address Species specific, phytobiome-based these gaps; Cultivar enhancement of sustainable Establish national, international, Irrigation GMO/Non-GMO Herbicides food, feed, and fiber production and multinational public-private Tile drainage projects and networks Insecticides Livestock mgt www.phytobiomes.org/Roadmap Initial Research Priorities: Planting time >> Whole genome sequence database of microbes with Organic or Harvesting time geospatial data in the pre-competitive space inorganic Till/No-till fertilizer >> Establish standards, reference materials, best practices and Monoculture protocols, including reporting standards, for phytobiomes Cover crops Crop rotations Origin: >> Advance predictive and diagnostic agricultural models American Phytopathological Society dynamically linked to real-time weather and climate data

Phytobiomes ≠ Plant www.phytobiomesalliance.org Phytobiomes ≠ Plant systems (these are focused on the interactions of a single plant species, such as maize) Phytobiomes knowledge should help identify the best plant(s) to grow at a given site in a given period www.phytobiomes.org Phytobiomes Alliance Sponsors