Exploring plant microbiome: a holistic approach to sustainable agriculture

Abstract

Plant microbiome comprises dynamic consortium of all the microbes (bacteria, fungi, viruses, and nematodes) colonizing multiple tissues in rhizosphere, phyllosphere, and endosphere or microbiome comprising all the microbial genomes. The interplay between plant–microbe interaction and unveiling its role helps in accelerating plant growth for better productivity and sustainability. At present, the crop production is constrained by a number of factors like unanticipated climatic changes, demographic patterns and the need for sustainable production is a must. Traditional farming practices have already been exhausted in terms of their effectiveness in increasing production and productivity which necessitates the inclusion of microbial innovations. Success in use of microorganisms as bioinoculant in biofertilizers and biopesticides would offer opportunities to serve as an alternative to chemical products in farming practices and promoting sustainability. Exploring plant microbiota with regard to different species and/or plant genotype, environmental condition, nutrient uptake, and biotic/abiotic stresses would provide us with suitable strategies and better candidate for a particular area. Since these microorganisms are rich repositories of biosynthetic pathways and production of specific biomolecules, the research in allied sectors and advancement of genetic tools would aid in modulating the properties of specific microbes and improved microbial consortium is helpful to agriculture community to meet the demands of expanding population in a sustainable manner. Advancements in genetic engineering to improve characteristic and inclusion of genetic modified organisms with upgraded functions to fulfill food security issues can address the issue up to a certain extent. Crop breeding programs have yet to be explored for improvement and selection of plant microbiome. The advent of automated DNA synthesis, sequencing, molecular biology, and computational bioinformatics with the latest gene editing tools like CRISPR-Cas has found variable applications in agriculture sector but their implementation in microbial research is limited. Deciphering this key relation between plant microbiome and their influence on soil and plant growth is critical to examine and utilize their benefits in sustainable food production. The research in sustainable agriculture is progressing to improve soil health and increase productivity among which the plant microbiome is emerging as a new horizon which is less explored but provides with wider range of opportunities for a healthier mother earth reaching through sustainable ends. © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.