Sorgoleone with Drs. Sakiko Okumoto, Bill Rooney, and Guntur Subbarao

Sorgoleone with Drs. Sakiko Okumoto, Bill Rooney, and Guntur Subbarao

February 20, 2026 · 51 min · Episode 140

About this episode

The episode discusses sorgoleone, its role in biological nitrification inhibition, and the challenges in its research and application in agriculture.

" Synthesis, function, and genetic variation of sorgoleone, the major biological nitrification inhibitor in sorghum " with Drs. Sakiko Okumoto, Bill Rooney, and Guntur Subbarao When we fertilize our crops, some of the nitrogen from that fertilizer gets converted into different forms through processes called nitrification and denitrification. When non-plant available forms of nitrogen exit the soil through water or as gas, it's a serious environmental problem. Thankfully, plants have some pretty nifty ways to prevent nitrification, such as biological nitrification inhibition or BNI, a process that manages the bacteria that cause nitrification. In this episode, Sakiko, Bill, and Guntur join me to discuss sorgoleone, a product of sorghum roots that plays a key role in the BNI process. Tune in to learn: · What sorgoleone is · How it helps · What challenges breeders face in increasing it · What challenges researchers face in moving this research out into farms If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.70066 This paper is always freely available. Contact us at podcast@sciencesocieties.org or on Twitter…

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