Exploring interactions of plant microbiomes

Bioprospecting plant-associated microbiomes.

There is growing demand for new bioactive compounds and biologicals for the pharmaceutical, agro- and food industries. Plant-associated microbes present an attractive and promising source to this end, but are nearly unexploited. Therefore, bioprospecting of plant microbiomes is gaining more and more attention. Due to their highly specialized and co-evolved genetic pool, plant microbiomes host a...

Plant microbiomes and sustainable agriculture

B acteria had been around long before multi-cellular eukaryotes evolved and quickly began to colonize these new life forms as another suitable habitat and potential source of nutrients. Nearly all higher organisms across taxa now have bacterial communities living on and within them—from mutually beneficial symbioses to antagonistic parasitic conflicts. They have co-evolved with their microbiota...

Plant-Associated Microbes: From Rhizobia To Plant Microbiomes

Plant pathogen effector proteins as manipulators of host microbiomes?

To understand the mechanisms underlying disease development in plants, molecular plant pathology research has mostly focused on the characterization of direct interactions between plant pathogens and their hosts. Collectively, this research has demonstrated that plants sense microbial invaders using various types of receptors (recently coined as ‘invasion pattern receptors’, IPRs) that sense mi...

Research priorities for harnessing plant microbiomes in sustainable agriculture

Feeding a growing world population amidst climate change requires optimizing the reliability, resource use, and environmental impacts of food production. One way to assist in achieving these goals is to integrate beneficial plant microbiomes-i.e., those enhancing plant growth, nutrient use efficiency, abiotic stress tolerance, and disease resistance-into agricultural production. This integratio...