Combining indigenous microbial probiotics with AI-enabled micropropagation for diverse, stress-resilient Spartina alterniflora stock off the East Coast of the United States.
Salt marsh off the U.S. East Coast
Team & Partners: Drs. Joel Kostka, Else-Marie Ulrika Egertsdotter, & Caitlin Petro (Georgia Tech), Dr. Heather Joesting (Georgia Southern University), Drs. Emily Coffey & Lauren Eserman-Campbell (Atlanta Botanical Garden), Dr. Sydney Williams (University of Georgia & Georgia Sea Grant), University of Georgia Marine Institute, GA/SC/NC Departments of Natural Resources, Southeastern Plant Conservation Alliance, Bald Head Island Conservancy
Challenge: Marsh restoration is bottlenecked by outdated practices that lack genetic and microbial methods to boost plant resilience.
Approach: Isolate growth-promoting microbes from Spartina root zones and assemble synthetic probiotic consortia, develop an AI-assisted somatic embryogenesis pipeline to produce diverse propagules year-round, and validate probiotic-inoculated plants in mesocosms and a field pilot.
Anticipated outcomes: “Climate-Ready Spartina Toolkit” including probiotic formulations, micropropagation SOPs, and AI screening protocols, plus a seed bank, cryopreserved embryo library, and probiotic culture collection ready for regional deployment.
