ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Crop and Product Physiology
This article is part of the Research TopicUnveiling the Potential of Biostimulants in Agriculture to Enhance Plant Stress Responses and ProductivityView all 8 articles
Silk-Trehalose seed coating technology preserves Rhizobium tropici viability and enhances zinc biofortification in common bean under marginal soil
Provisionally accepted
Manal Mhada1*
Salma MOUHIB1
Khaoula Errafii1
ADIL EL BAOUCHI1
Oumaima Zaher1
Dachena Romain Gracia1Augustine T. Zvinavashe2
Lamfeddal Kouisni1
Benedetto Marelli2- 1Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Ben Guerir, Morocco
- 2Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
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Sustainable food production requires global access to fertilizers, reducing yield gaps in marginal lands, and decarbonizing the agricultural sector. This study evaluates plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) preserved in silk-trehalose seed coatings for six months under ambient conditions for their potential to enhance crop yields in challenging soils. Common bean seeds coated with silk, trehalose, and Rhizobium tropici showed improved vigor, larger biomass, and enhanced root architecture compared to non-coated seeds under stress conditions. Field trials across three Moroccan experimental farms with contrasting soil types (favorable, low organic matter, and saline) demonstrated seed treatment was associated with 50-75% increases in yield parameters and a 53% increase in grain zinc concentration, depending on soil conditions. Additionally, the rhizosphere of treated plants exhibited an enhanced presence of beneficial microbes, such as Bacillus and Acidobacteria, without disrupting native bacterial communities. This low-tech seed coating approach offers a promising sustainable solution for enhancing food production and nutritional quality in resource-limited, environmentally challenged regions.
Keywords: Biofortification approach, Marginal lands, Rhizobium tropici, seed coating, Trehalose
Received: 03 Nov 2025; Accepted: 31 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Mhada, MOUHIB, Errafii, EL BAOUCHI, Zaher, Romain Gracia, Zvinavashe, Kouisni and Marelli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Manal Mhada
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