Role of Soil Microorganisms in Agricultural Production and Environmental Biotechnologies
A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2026
Special Issue Editor
Interests: food and environmental microbiology; yeast biology; taxonomy and phylogenetics; bioinformatics; metagenomics; metabolomics of stress response
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
You are invited to contribute to this Special Issue, which seeks to present scholarly publications focused on soil microorganisms. The objective is to advance understanding and enhance practical applications within a multidisciplinary context.
Recent advancements in metagenomics and metabarcoding have considerably expanded our understanding of microbial communities in both natural and agricultural soils. These innovations have elucidated the intricate relationships between soil microbiota and plants, particularly under varying environmental conditions, thereby increasing scientific interest in soil microbiology. Concurrently, heightened awareness regarding environmental pollution and health concerns for humans and animals has contributed to a notable decline in pesticide use for crop protection and nutrition. The intersection of these developments has fostered both fundamental and applied research in soil microbiology, aiming to enhance knowledge in this complex discipline and to pioneer novel technological applications. Such applications include stimulating plant growth through bacterial or fungal promoters, developing biocontrol agents (BCAs) capable of competition or antagonism, and harnessing the vast potential of microbial metabolisms for biotechnologies to mitigate pollution and improve soil quality. This Special Issue seeks to present high-quality scientific contributions addressing soil microorganisms and their roles in agriculture and biotechnology. Topics include, but are not limited to, plant growth promoters, microbial decontamination, and interactions among microorganisms, plants, and mesofauna. Research papers, minireviews, and methodological papers are all welcome for submission.
Prof. Dr. Gianluigi Cardinali
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 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-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.
Keywords
- soil
- microbiology
- bacteria
- fungi
- biotechnology
- agriculture
- PGP
- BCA
- stimulation
- plant protection
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