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Agronomy
Special Issues
Plant–Microbial Interactions and Application of Microbial Products in Agricultural Ecosystems
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Plant–Microbial Interactions and Application of Microbial Products in Agricultural Ecosystems

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Farming Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 5749

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Muhammad Qasim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Interests: insect pests; entomopathogens; metabolites; insect ecology; enzyme activities

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The fundamental infrastructure of our world is sustained by maintaining agriculture and forest systems, which are also important for the global economy and environmental safety. Therefore, scientists are beginning to focus on the security and compatibility of agricultural products by various means of plant protection strategies and genetic engineering for crop production. For plant protection, most farmers rely on the chemical pesticides to overcome different confronting problems, e.g., plant diseases or insect pests. However, these pesticides cause different toxic or health problems to respective environments. Therefore, scientists are searching for less toxic or lethal substances and currently focusing on different biopesticides, particularly phytochemicals or plant extracts, which are very effective against different targeted herbivorous host insects and storage insects. Similarly, plant protection strategies also cover different natural enemies (predators and parasitoids) as well as plant byproducts (semio-chemicals), which play a significant role in the worldwide Integrated Pest Management program. Likewise, biopesticides are biofungicides, bioherbicides, and bioinsecticides (e.g., Bacillus spp.). Thus, microbial populations play a vital role in agriculture by improving production and quality. There are several microbial agents (bacterial, fungal, viral) that positively (by pathogenic to insect pests) or negatively (by pathogenic to plants) affect plant life.

There are several benefits of microbial insecticides in plant production and protection, which are listed as follows:
1) Microbial insecticides are pest-specific, nontoxic and nonpathogenic to other living organisms;
2) Overall, microbial insecticides can be applied in combination with chemical insecticides because these chemicals do not affect the viability of microbial products;
3) Microbial insecticides can be used at any crop stage because these pesticides do not cause any health risk by hazardous residuals;
4) Microbial insecticides play a positive role in plant growth by boosting beneficial soil microflora.

Dr. Muhammad Qasim
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • agricultural insect pests
  • fungal entomopathogens
  • plant pathogens
  • plant diseases
  • molecular ecology
  • metabolites
  • enzyme activities

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2962 KiB  
Article
Mycorrhizal Effects on Active Components and Associated Gene Expressions in Leaves of Polygonum cuspidatum under P Stress
by Ci Deng, Rui-Ting Sun, Qiang Ma, Qing-He Yang, Nong Zhou, Abeer Hashem, Al-Bandari Fahad Al-Arjani, Elsayed Fathi Abd_Allah and Qiang-Sheng Wu
Agronomy 2022, 12(12), 2970; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12122970 - 25 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1241
Abstract
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) participate in the process of plant secondary metabolism and thus affect the production of secondary metabolites. However, it is not clear whether and how AMF affect the growth and secondary metabolites of Polygonum cuspidatum, a medicinal plant rich [...] Read more.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) participate in the process of plant secondary metabolism and thus affect the production of secondary metabolites. However, it is not clear whether and how AMF affect the growth and secondary metabolites of Polygonum cuspidatum, a medicinal plant rich in resveratrol and polygonin, under different phosphorus (P) levels. This study was performed to analyze the effects of Glomus mosseae on the growth, leaf gas exchange, P concentration, active ingredient concentrations, and expressions of associated genes of P. cuspidatum under P-deficient (0 mol/L P) and P-sufficient (0.2 mol/L P) conditions. The root mycorrhizal colonization rate of inoculated plants was 62.53–73.18%. G. mosseae improved shoot and root biomass as well as leaf P levels to some extent, but the improvement was more prominent under P-sufficient than P-deficient conditions. The fungal colonization also significantly increased leaf photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, and intercellular CO2 concentration, which was more prominent under P-deficient rather than P-sufficient conditions. P addition promoted the concentration of active medicinal components in leaves, especially in uninoculated plants. G. mosseae distinctly raised leaf chrysophanol, emodin, polydatin, and resveratrol concentrations, which was more prominent under P-deficient conditions. However, physcion was raised by G. mosseae only under P-sufficient conditions. AMF and P addition up-regulated expressions of PcCRS1, along with the up-regulation of PcRS11 by P addition and PcRS11 and PcSTS by AMF under P-sufficient conditions. It is concluded that an adequate P fertilizer and AMF facilitate the production of active medicinal components in P. cuspidatum, associated with expressions of associated genes such as PcCRS1. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant–Microbial Interactions and Application of Microbial Products in Agricultural Ecosystems)
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9 pages, 810 KiB  
Article
Powdery Mildew Fungus Oidium lycopersici Infected-Tomato Plants Attracts the Non-Vector Greenhouse Whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, but Seems Impair Their Development
by Muhammad Qasim, Komivi Senyo Akutse, Dilbar Hussain, Omar Mahmoud Al-Zoubi, Tariq Mustafa, Luis Carlos Ramos Aguila, Saad Alamri, Mohamed Hashem and Liande Wang
Agronomy 2022, 12(11), 2791; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12112791 - 10 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1896
Abstract
The mechanism underlying the mediation of the behavior and fitness of non-vector herbivores by fungal pathogen-infected host plants is still unclear. In this study, we experimentally assessed the effects of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) plant infection status on non-vector herbivores using tomato [...] Read more.
The mechanism underlying the mediation of the behavior and fitness of non-vector herbivores by fungal pathogen-infected host plants is still unclear. In this study, we experimentally assessed the effects of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) plant infection status on non-vector herbivores using tomato powdery mildew disease fungus (Oidium lycopersici) and the greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum as a model multitrophic plant-pathogen, non-vector herbivore interaction. In behavioral bioassays, powdery mildew-infected plants (PM) and plants damaged by combined attack of powdery mildew and whiteflies (PMWF) attracted significantly more whiteflies (32.6% and 58.1% for PM and PMWF, respectively) than control (Con) plants (16.5%) or plants damaged only by whiteflies (WF) (24.2%). Whiteflies feeding on PM or PMWF plants secreted almost twice as much honeydew as on the Con or WF plants. This indicated that whiteflies fed more on diseased plants than healthy plants. However, the preferences and increased feeding did not increase the fitness and immature growth of T. vaporariorum, but significantly prolonged their immature developmental durations, compared with those of whiteflies that developed on Con plants or WF plants. The results showed that powdery mildew infestation attracted more whiteflies but reduced their development and fitness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant–Microbial Interactions and Application of Microbial Products in Agricultural Ecosystems)
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23 pages, 2347 KiB  
Article
Mycorrhizal Inoculation Improves the Quality and Productivity of Essential Oil Distilled from Three Aromatic and Medicinal Plants: Thymus satureioides, Thymus pallidus, and Lavandula dentata
by Oumaima Akachoud, Hafida Bouamama, Natacha Facon, Frédéric Laruelle, Btissam Zoubi, Abderrazak Benkebboura, Cherki Ghoulam, Ahmed Qaddoury and Anissa Lounès-Hadj Sahraoui
Agronomy 2022, 12(9), 2223; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12092223 - 18 Sep 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2184
Abstract
In Morocco, extensive use, traditional practices, and climate change have seriously impacted the productivity of aromatic and medicinal plants (AMP). To mitigate these adverse effects, this study aims at evaluating the potential of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), namely Rhizophagusirregularis and Funneliformis [...] Read more.
In Morocco, extensive use, traditional practices, and climate change have seriously impacted the productivity of aromatic and medicinal plants (AMP). To mitigate these adverse effects, this study aims at evaluating the potential of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), namely Rhizophagusirregularis and Funneliformis mosseae, in improving biomass, essential oils (EOs), and biomolecule production in Thymus satureioides, T. pallidus, and Lavandula dentata. Compared to non-inoculated-AMP, AMF induced significant increases in biomass production by 37.1, 52.4, and 43.6%, and in EOs yield by 21, 74, and 88% in T. satureioides, T. pallidus, and L. dentata, respectively. The EOs of inoculated-AMP exhibited increased proportions of major compounds such as thymol (23.7%), carvacrol (23.36%), and borneol (18.7%) in T. satureioides; α-terpinene (32.6%), thymol (28.79%), and δ-terpinene (8.1%) in T. pallidus; and camphor (58.44%), isoborneol (8.8%), and fenchol (4.1%) in L. dentata. Moreover, AMF significantly improved the anti-germinative and antifungal activities of the EOs. Indeed, IC50 values decreased by 1.8, 16.95, and 2.2 times against Blumerai graminis, Zymoseptoria tritici, and Fusarium culmorum, respectively, compared to non-inoculated-AMP. This study highlights the performance of the symbiosis between AMF and AMPs in terms of high quality of EOs production while respecting the environment. The associations F. mosseae-Thymus and R. irregularis-Lavandula are the most efficient. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant–Microbial Interactions and Application of Microbial Products in Agricultural Ecosystems)
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