Soil-Beneficial Microorganisms and Plant Growth: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Protection and Biotic Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 165

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Life, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Patsy University Center, University of Comoros, Moroni, Comoros
2. Laboratory of Agro-Food, Biotechnology and Valorization of Plant Bioresources (AGROBIOVAL), Department of Biology, Faculty of Science Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University (CAU), Marrakesh, Morocco
Interests: organic and biological fertilizers; plants stress tolerance; biotic and abiotic stresses; plant-growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPM); arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; bacteria of soils
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A Special Issue entitled “Soil-Beneficial Microorganisms and Plant Growth: 2nd Edition” is to be published in Plants. Beneficial microorganisms (BMs) and their potential positive impacts have garnered widespread interest in the agricultural sector. Indeed, BMs play a significant role in plant growth, development, and protection. Nevertheless, and with regard to the agro-biological approach, it is essential to emphasize that they also have the capacity to protect plants and soils against environmental stresses such as diseases, drought, salinity, and soil poverty.

In recent decades, the importance of BMs as natural biostimulants/biofertilizers has been evaluated, highlighting their potential in plant growth and soil fertilization. Furthermore, given the high global demand for food, the use of BMs is a major asset for sustainable development in agriculture.

The current developments and difficulties in developing novel BM formulations for growth promotion and plant protection are addressed in this Special Issue. Original research articles, reviews, and methodologies are welcome.

Dr. Mohamed Anli
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • plant growth-promoting microorganisms
  • plant physiology
  • biostimulants/biofertilizers
  • crop production
  • crop protection
  • soil-beneficial microorganisms
  • organic agriculture
  • climate change
  • environmental stresses

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

23 pages, 3221 KiB  
Article
Drought Modulates Root–Microbe Interactions and Functional Gene Expression in Plateau Wetland Herbaceous Plants
by Yuanyuan Chen, Shishi Feng, Qianmin Liu, Di Kang and Shuzhen Zou
Plants 2025, 14(15), 2413; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14152413 - 4 Aug 2025
Abstract
In plateau wetlands, the interactions of herbaceous roots with ectorhizosphere soil microorganisms represent an important way to realize their ecological functions. Global change-induced aridification of plateau wetlands has altered long-established functional synergistic relationships between plant roots and ectorhizosphere soil microbes, but we still [...] Read more.
In plateau wetlands, the interactions of herbaceous roots with ectorhizosphere soil microorganisms represent an important way to realize their ecological functions. Global change-induced aridification of plateau wetlands has altered long-established functional synergistic relationships between plant roots and ectorhizosphere soil microbes, but we still know little about this phenomenon. In this context, nine typical wetlands with three different moisture statuses were selected from the eastern Tibetan Plateau in this study to analyze the relationships among herbaceous plant root traits and microbial communities and functions. The results revealed that drought significantly inhibited the accumulation of root biomass and surface area as well as the development of root volumes and diameters. Similarly, drought significantly reduced the diversity of ectorhizosphere soil microbial communities and the relative abundances of key phyla of archaea and bacteria. Redundancy analysis revealed that plant root traits and ectorhizosphere soil microbes were equally regulated by soil physicochemical properties. Functional genes related to carbohydrate metabolism were significantly associated with functional traits related to plant root elongation and nutrient uptake. Functional genes related to carbon and energy metabolism were significantly associated with traits related to plant root support and storage. Key genes such as CS,gltA, and G6PD,zwf help to improve the drought resistance and barrenness resistance of plant roots. This study helps to elucidate the synergistic mechanism of plant and soil microbial functions in plateau wetlands under drought stress, and provides a basis for evolutionary research and conservation of wetland ecosystems in the context of global change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Beneficial Microorganisms and Plant Growth: 2nd Edition)
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