Promoting Sustainable Agriculture through the Manipulation of Plant-Associated Microbial Communities

Dear Colleagues,

Plants constitute a suitable environment for many groups of microorganisms, showing a great degree of variation in the strength of their association with their hosts. Microorganisms can colonize both the above- and belowground parts of the plants, living either as pure epiphytes or as endophytes. Some of them can create complex connection nets between the plant and their immediate surroundings, such as mycorrhiza. Plants usually favor microbial colonization by non-pathogenic species representing a huge biodiversity that is far from being fully characterized. Plant-associated microorganisms can form rich communities with complex interactions governing their structure and function. The beneficial effects that microbial communities can have on plant health and development open the door to the possibility of manipulating those communities in order to reduce the negative impact that the overuse of pesticides and fertilizers have on agroecosystems and associated natural environments.  

The use of microbial communities to increase plant production covers a diverse set of strategies comprising physical, chemical, and microbiological manipulations to modify the structure and function of soil microbial communities; the addition of compost and plant extracts directly on the aerial parts of the plant in order to prevent the attack and establishment of parasites; the inoculation with non-pathogenic strains of plant pathogens to minimize pathogen infection; the use of well-characterized microbial consortia with selected functions to improve plant defense and development; and the use of adjoining plant species leading to modifications of the rhizosphere communities.

The present Special Issue aims to provide an updated collection of research studies and reviews dealing with the most important aspects of applied microbiology and plant production. The Special Issue welcomes studies dealing with, but not limited to, the following subjects: 

• Solarization and other physical and chemical methods to modify the composition of soil microbial communities;
• Use of plant-growth-promoting bacteria as soil inoculants;
• Control of plant pathogenic organisms by means of microbial antagonists;
• Use of microbial consortia to enhance plant productivity;
• Non-nutritive effects of compost and vermicompost on plant-associated microbial communities and plant performance;
• Role of the phyllosphere on plant health;
• Manipulation of phyllosphere and rhizosphere microorganisms to enhance plant health;
• Plant and soil microbial communities in organic and conventional plant production systems;
• Contribution of the plant microbiome to the chemical characteristics of the plant host.

Dr. Fernando Monroy
Guest Editor

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• applied microbiology
• plant microbiome
• endophytes
• mycorrhiza
• compost
• phyllosphere
• rhizosphere