Special Issue "Microbiology Applied to Crop Systems"

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2023 | Viewed by 2338

Special Issue Editors

Laboratory of Agrobiology, Ufa Institute of Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa 450054, Russia
Interests: agrobiotechnologies; pseudomonas; PGPB; plant growth stimulant; biofungicides; destruction of organohalogen compounds; pesticides pressure

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microorganisms (in particular PGPM) are promising for the development of effective and environmentally friendly microbiological plant growth regulators and antidotes based on them. The potential advantage of microorganisms is their versatility. They are simultaneously able to stimulate growth, suppress pathogens, increase fertility, destroy pesticides, and integrate into the rhizosphere biome, which prolongs their effect. Rhizospheric and endophytic microorganisms affect the absorption of nutrients by the plant, and their reaction to herbicides, drought, salinization, and pollution. However, the effectiveness of PGPM strongly depends on the circumstances in which they are used. Currently, new information appears on the compatibility of microbiological regulators with different agricultural practices. The combination of beneficial microorganisms with pesticide treatment is of interest since pesticides are widely used and are associated with environmental risks.

The effect of combining microbial stimulants or biopesticides with a variety of traditional and innovative agricultural practices, including herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, fertilizer, no-till, drip irrigation and others; microbiomes of soil, rhizosphere and phyllosphere during these agricultural practices; the potential for microbiological transformation and detoxification of pesticides; mitigating of pesticide pressure on plants by microbiological agents are scientific questions that are primarily discussed in this Special Issue. Additionally, the scientific contribution to the investigation of the crop-PGPM interactions under stress caused by unfavorable natural and anthropogenic factors is approved.

Original research manuscripts as well as reviews are welcome and interdisciplinary and field research is encouraged.

Dr. Sergey Chetverikov
Prof. Dr. Guzel Kudoyarova
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • crop yield
  • plant growth promoting microorganisms (PGPM)
  • biopesticide
  • microbiom
  • plant-microorganism interaction
  • environmental stress
  • pesticide detoxification

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Effects of Watermelon Cropping Management on Soil Bacteria and Fungi Biodiversity
Agriculture 2023, 13(5), 1010; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13051010 - 04 May 2023
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Abstract
Watermelons grown in sandy soil are rich in trace elements, particularly selenium, and are therefore also known as selenium-rich sand watermelons. However, continuous watermelon cultivation in the same sandy field decreases soil fertility and degrades the ecosystem, ultimately resulting in low-quality watermelons. Introducing [...] Read more.
Watermelons grown in sandy soil are rich in trace elements, particularly selenium, and are therefore also known as selenium-rich sand watermelons. However, continuous watermelon cultivation in the same sandy field decreases soil fertility and degrades the ecosystem, ultimately resulting in low-quality watermelons. Introducing different crops into the crop pattern could alleviate the problems posed by continuous cropping. A field experiment was conducted to explore the effects of different crop patterns on soil microbial communities and soil properties via standard techniques. The results showed that 14,905 bacterial and 2150 fungal operational taxonomic units were obtained and assigned to eight bacterial and five fungal phyla, respectively. Soil bacterial communities primarily comprised Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes, Actinobacteria, and Acidobacteria, and the soil fungal community was dominated by Ascomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Basidiomycota. Different crop patterns had a significant effect on the Chao and ACE indexes of fungal communities in the soil. The rotation of six years of watermelon and one year of wheat had the highest richness indexes of all the rotations. Different crop patterns had significant effects on soil properties, such as organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN), total potassium (TK), available phosphorus (AP), available K, nitrate nitrogen (NN), and pH. The soil OM, TN, NN, and pH of six years of watermelon and one year of wheat cultivation were significantly higher than those of the other three crop patterns. In addition, the soil TK and AP of the continuous watermelon planting treatment were significantly higher than those of the other three crop patterns. Redundancy analysis results revealed many complex relationships between soil properties and soil bacterial or fungal communities. Employing different crop patterns plays an important role in the effective regulation of soil microbial diversity and properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbiology Applied to Crop Systems)
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Article
Endophytic Bacteria Isolated from Tea Leaves (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) Enhanced Plant-Growth-Promoting Activity
Agriculture 2023, 13(3), 533; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13030533 - 23 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1176
Abstract
Tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) is a traditional and economically important non-alcoholic beverage-producing plant grown in large plantations in the northern region of Thailand and has a diverse community of endophytic bacteria. In this study, a total of 70 bacterial isolates [...] Read more.
Tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) is a traditional and economically important non-alcoholic beverage-producing plant grown in large plantations in the northern region of Thailand and has a diverse community of endophytic bacteria. In this study, a total of 70 bacterial isolates were isolated from healthy asymptomatic samples of tea leaves from five different tea gardens in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Based on 16S rDNA sequence analysis, these bacterial isolates were taxonomically grouped into 11 different genera, namely Bacillus, Curtobacterium, Enterobacter Microbacterium, Moraxella, Neobacillus, Priestia, Pseudarthrobacter, Pseudomonas, Sporosarcina, and Staphylococcus. All these isolates were evaluated for their potential to produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), siderophores, and cellulolytic enzymes while having phosphate-solubilizing and tannin tolerance capacity. Most isolated bacterial endophytes belonged to the Bacillus genus and exhibited multiple plant-growth-promoting abilities. All bacterial endophytes could produce varied concentrations of the indole-related compounds, and the strain Curtobacterium citreum P-5.19 had the highest production of IAA at 367.59 µg/mL, followed by Pseudarthrobacter enclensis P-3.12 at 266.97 µg/mL. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of the total isolates solubilized inorganic phosphate, while 77%, 65%, and 52% were positive for extracellular proteases, cellulases, and pectinases, respectively. Remarkably, 80% of the isolates were capable of growth on nutrient agar supplemented with 1% (w/v) tannic acid. C. citreum P-5.19 and P. enclensis P-3.12 were selected for evaluation of plant growth promotion, and it was found that both bacterial endophytes enhanced seed germination rate and improved seedling growth parameters such as fresh and/or dry weight, root length, and shoot lengths of sunflower and tomato seeds. The selected bacterial endophytes isolated from tea leaves in this study could be used in bioformulation for plant growth promotion and advancing sustainable agricultural practices contributing to the decreased use of chemical inputs. This is the first report of an endophytic bacterium, Pseudarthrobacter enclensis, being isolated from C. sinensis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbiology Applied to Crop Systems)
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