Browsing by Author "Samir Droby"

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Biocontrol Potential of Microbial Consortia: Approaches in Food Security and Disease Management
(Springer International Publishing, 2022) Hariom Verma; Chandra Kant; Sandeep Kumar Singh; James F. White; Ajay Kumar; Samir Droby
In the current scenario of climate change, the uncertainty of environmental factors and adverse impacts of chemical pesticides on the texture and productivity of soil along with increasing health concerns to humans appear as a global challenge in the management of agricultural yield to meet the food demand of burgeoning global populations. However, microbial consortia applied as either plant or soil inoculants have largely been used in the last few decades for the enhancement of agricultural productivity, improvement of nutrient status in the soil, improvement of fruit quality, and as biocontrol agents to control the growth of devastating phytopathogens during harvest or postharvest storage. The functional aspects of microbial consortia have been shown effective in broader ways as compared to individual cultures. Moreover, the efficiency of microbial consortia is higher due to the presence of several strains where each strain performs specific functions and shows better performance in functional behaviours in order to withstand environmental fluctuations. In this chapter, we have tried to compile the latest aspects and advancements in the development and application of microbial consortia for effective phytopathogen control so that the goals of food security could be achieved. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
Endophytes and seed priming: agricultural applications and future prospects
(Elsevier, 2020) Ajay Kumar; Samir Droby; James Francis White; Vipin Kumar Singh; Sandeep Kumar Singh; V. Yeka Zhimo; Antonio Biasi
In the current scenario of climate change, numerous strategies have been employed in the area of sustainable agriculture or plant science to generate plants, which can withstand various types of biotic and abiotic stresses. Currently, a range of biotic and abiotic stresses such as cold, draught, salinity, water deficit, or extreme pH is present that directly or indirectly influence the germination, growth, and productivity of crops. Seed priming has been developed as a crucial method to germinate the seed or increase plant resistance against various biotic and abiotic stresses. Seed priming is the induction of a particular physiological state in plants by the treatment of natural and synthetic compounds to seeds before germination. Seed priming with microbial inoculum, termed as “bio-priming,” involves the application of beneficial microbes, such as bacteria, fungi actinomycetes, to seed that enhance the uniformity, establishment, and growth of various crops. Seed bio-priming allows the bacteria to enter/adhere to the seeds and also acclimatization of microbes in the prevalent conditions. Seed priming with the use of endophytic microbial strains appears as more beneficial or stable than rhizospheric microbial strains due to better colonization adaptability and suitability under biotic and abiotic stress conditions. © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Entry, colonization, and distribution of endophytic microorganisms in plants
(Elsevier, 2020) Ajay Kumar; Samir Droby; Vipin Kumar Singh; Sandeep Kumar Singh; James Francis White
Inside plants, microbial communities live as endophytes without causing any disease symptoms or adverse impacts to the host plant. These microbial communities may comprise bacteria, fungi, and archaea. In the last few decades endophytic microbes have been broadly used in sustainable agriculture as biofertilizers, biocontrols, or inducers of abiotic stress tolerance. Successful colonization by endophytes in the host plant is a key factor for beneficial plant microbe interaction that results in various plant growth promoting mechanisms. Colonization includes a series of phenomenon such as attachment, entry, motility, transmission, and multiplication of endophytic populations within the host plant. In this chapter, we will discuss the mechanisms of colonization, the rhizophagy cycle, and genomic insights of endophytic behavior and functions that will aid in the advancement and application of endophytes in various aspects of sustainable agriculture. © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Microbial biosurfactant: A new frontier for sustainable agriculture and pharmaceutical industries
(MDPI, 2021) Ajay Kumar; Sandeep Kumar Singh; Chandra Kant; Hariom Verma; Dharmendra Kumar; Prem Pratap Singh; Arpan Modi; Samir Droby; Mahipal Singh Kesawat; Hemasundar Alavilli; Shashi Kant Bhatia; Ganesh Dattatraya Saratale; Rijuta Ganesh Saratale; Sang-Min Chung; Manu Kumar
In the current scenario of changing climatic conditions and the rising global population, there is an urgent need to explore novel, efficient, and economical natural products for the benefit of humankind. Biosurfactants are one of the latest explored microbial synthesized biomolecules that have been used in numerous fields, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food processing, and environment-cleaning industries, as a source of raw materials, for the lubrication, wetting, foaming, emulsions formulations, and as stabilizing dispersions. The amphiphilic nature of biosurfactants have shown to be a great advantage, distributing themselves into two immiscible surfaces by reducing the interfacial surface tension and increasing the solubility of hydrophobic compounds. Furthermore, their eco-friendly nature, low or even no toxic nature, durability at higher temperatures, and ability to withstand a wide range of pH fluctuations make microbial surfactants preferable compared to their chemical counterparts. Additionally, biosurfactants can obviate the oxidation flow by eliciting antioxidant properties, antimicrobial and anticancer activities, and drug delivery systems, further broadening their applicability in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Nowadays, biosurfactants have been broadly utilized to improve the soil quality by improving the concentration of trace elements and have either been mixed with pesticides or applied singly on the plant surfaces for plant disease management. In the present review, we summarize the latest research on microbial synthesized biosurfactant compounds, the limiting factors of biosurfactant production, their application in improving soil quality and plant disease management, and their use as antioxidant or antimicrobial compounds in the pharmaceutical industries. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
The potential application of endophytes in management of stress from drought and salinity in crop plants
(MDPI AG, 2021) Hariom Verma; Dharmendra Kumar; Vinod Kumar; Madhuree Kumari; Sandeep Kumar Singh; Vijay Kumar Sharma; Samir Droby; Gustavo Santoyo; James F. White; Ajay Kumar
Endophytic microorganisms present inside the host plant play an essential role in host fitness, nutrient supply and stress tolerance. Endophytes are often used in sustainable agriculture as biofertilizers, biopesticides and as inoculants to mitigate abiotic stresses including salinity, drought, cold and pH variation in the soil. In changing climatic conditions, abiotic stresses create global challenges to achieve optimum crop yields in agricultural production. Plants experience stress conditions that involve endogenous boosting of their immune system or the overexpression of their defensive redox regulatory systems with increased reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, rising stress factors overwhelm the natural redox protection systems of plants, which leads to massive internal oxidative damage and death. Endophytes are an integral internal partner of hosts and have been shown to mitigate abiotic stresses via modulating local or systemic mechanisms and producing antioxidants to counteract ROS in plants. Advancements in omics and other technologies have been made, but potential application of endophytes remains largely unrealized. In this review article, we will discuss the diversity, population and interaction of endophytes with crop plants as well as potential applications in abiotic stress management. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.