Dear Colleagues,

We are living in the Anthropocene, the human-dominated era in which anthropogenic activities are dramatically threatening ecosystem biodiversity and natural resource consumption by driving and exacerbating climate warming dynamics. Microorganisms represent an untapped reservoir of functionalities still to be understood. There is an urgent need to improve basic and applied knowledge on the potentialities of the diversity, functionality and dynamics of microbes and microbial assemblages to alleviate the anthropogenic pressure on our planet.

The aim of this Special Issue is to host researchers’ contributions on the exploitation of microbial resources to face Anthropocene-driven issues, including:

• Improving sustainable agriculture practice (reducing the input of chemical fertilizers, saving irrigation water, and microbiome engineering);
• Sustaining aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem biodiversity (for pollination, nutrient uptake, weed control, disease suppression, symbiosis, and beneficial interactions);
• Promoting pollutant clean-up (xenobiotics and new emerging contaminants);
• Counteracting antibiotic resistance spread;
• Boosting plant resistance to biotic and abiotic stress;
• Coping with climate change’s impact on biogeochemical cycles and soil fertility loss.

Dr. Eleonora Rolli
Prof. Dr. Rachele Isticato
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 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. Microorganisms 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 2700 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.

• plant–microbe interactions
• bioremediation
• plant–soil feedback
• holobiont
• sustainability
• biodiversity