Tools and challenges to exploit microbial communities in agriculture

Lorena Jacqueline Gómez-Godínez; Esperanza Martínez-Romero; Jacob Banuelos; Ramón I Arteaga-Garibay

doi:10.1016/j.crmicr.2021.100062

Tools and challenges to exploit microbial communities in agriculture

Curr Res Microb Sci. 2021 Sep 9:2:100062. doi: 10.1016/j.crmicr.2021.100062. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Authors

Lorena Jacqueline Gómez-Godínez¹, Esperanza Martínez-Romero², Jacob Banuelos³, Ramón I Arteaga-Garibay¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratorio de Recursos Genéticos Microbianos, Centro Nacional de Recursos Genéticos. Instituto Nacional de Investigación Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarios. Boulevard de la Biodiversidad 400, Rancho las Cruces, C.P. 47600. Tepatitlán de Morelos, Jalisco, México.
² Centro de Ciencias genómicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Campus Morelos, Cuernavaca, Morelos México.
³ Laboratorio de Organismos Benéficos, Facultad de Ciencias Agrícolas, Universidad Veracruzana. Circuito Aguirre Beltrán SN, Col. Universitaria, CP 91000, Xalapa, Veracruz, México.

Abstract

Plants contain diverse microbial communities. The associated microorganisms confer advantages to the host plant, which include growth promotion, nutrient absorption, stress tolerance, and pathogen and disease resistance. In this review, we explore how agriculture is implementing the use of microbial inoculants (single species or consortia) to improve crop yields, and discuss current strategies to study plant-associated microorganisms and how their diversity varies under unconventional agriculture. It is predicted that microbial inoculation will continue to be used in agriculture.

Keywords: Metagenomics; Microbial inoculants; Sustainable agriculture.

Publication types

Review