Plant Growth-Promoting Microbes (PGPM) for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Horticultural Crop Production
A Special Issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524) belonging to the section "Biotic and Abiotic Stress".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 February 2027 | Viewed by 134
Editors
Interests: plant ecophysiology; PGPB; water deficit; salt stress; photosynthesis
Interests: plant ecophysiology; photosynthesis; environmental science; soil science
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Horticultural crop production is increasingly challenged by abiotic stresses, soil degradation, and nutrient limitations. Plant growth-promoting microbes represent promising tools to enhance crop performance and support more tolerant and sustainable production systems.
This Special Issue aims to collect original research articles and reviews addressing the role of plant growth-promoting microbes (PGPM) in horticultural crop production. The focus is on microbial-based strategies that improve plant growth, productivity, nutrient acquisition, stress tolerance, and crop quality in both conventional and ecologically based horticultural systems. Particular attention will be given to the mechanisms underlying plant–microbe interactions within abiotic stress interference and to the practical application of microbial inoculants under greenhouse, field, and controlled environment conditions.
This Special Issue welcomes contributions on the following topics:
- Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, endophytes, mycorrhizal fungi, and microbial consortia;
- Microbial mechanisms involved in plant growth promotion, including nutrient solubilization, phytohormone production, ACC deaminase activity, and siderophore production;
- Microbe-mediated tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heat, nutrient deficiency, and heavy metal stress;
- Effects of beneficial microbes on crop yield, fruit quality, nutritional value, and post-harvest performance;
- Microbial impacts on soil and root health, rhizosphere functioning, and plant-associated microbiomes;
- Development, formulation, and application of microbial inoculants and bio-fertilizers;
- Field, greenhouse, hydroponic, and controlled environment studies involving horticultural crops;
- Omics-based approaches to investigate plant–microbe interactions;
Dr. Christian Lorenz
Dr. Carmen Arena
Dr. Bernardita Valenzuela
Guest Editors
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Horticulturae 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 2400 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
- plant growth-promoting microbes
- horticultural crops
- PGPR
- bio-fertilizers
- bio-stimulants
- microbial inoculants
- abiotic stress
- rhizosphere
- plant–microbe interactions
- sustainable agriculture
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