Effects of bacteria co-cultivation on health of duckweed (Lemna minor) strains. Improved health of the duckweed fronds, as indicated by higher chlorophyll content can be discerned in the bacteria treated (370-1 and 9509-4) samples as compared to the mock control (-). (Image courtesy of Sarah Lebeis, University of Tennessee)
Duckweed is a family of aquatic plants that are capable of quickly converting wastewater into an easily harvestable biomass with low lignin content. Recent research has demonstrated the potential of duckweed to be used as a sustainable source of renewable biomass for biofuel. While scaling-up duckweed farming does not require the use of arable land that are being used for other crops, making this an economically viable source of biomass requires understanding its microbiome. This project focuses on defining the role of the microbiome in different aquatic environments to increase duckweed biomass and extract carbon, nitrogen, and phosphate from its environment. The results are expected to provide researchers with a platform to move forward with the functional deployment of defined microbial amendments for the optimal farming of different species of duckweed in the future.
Proposer’s Name: Sarah Lebeis