11 research outputs found
Beneficial soil microbiome for sustainable agricultural production
The projected increase in world population and the need to reduce the
reliance on non-renewable inputs, such as synthetic agrochemicals, are challenging
the current vision of agriculture. In particular, to achieve a fair and sustainable
global food security, disruptive changes in crop production are unavoidable.
A promising strategy proposes to exploit the metabolic capabilities of soil microbial
communities, i.e., the microbiome, to conjugate stable yield with reduced impact on
the agroecosystem. In this chapter, we introduce the microbiome populating the root-soil interface from an evolutionary perspective. Next, we discuss the molecular
bases of plant-microbe interactions in soil and how these interactions impact plant
growth, development and health. We illustrate how plant-probiotic members of the
microbiome can be isolated from soil and further characterized for their biological
activities, a key pre-requisite for translational applications. In addition, we focus on
paradigmatic examples of soil microbes turned into inoculants for agriculture, their
fate on soil, their impact on the native microbiome and the beneficial effects exerted
on crop productio