Crop Production and Environmental Stress: a Call to Arms for Biotechnological Tools and Microbiome-based Solutions

Agriculture and crop production worldwide are under threat due to various abiotic stresses that reduce the yield of cultivated plants, posing a serious risk to achieving the necessary food production to feed the world's growing population. For example, around 15% of croplands are contaminated with toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, nickel and arsenic, which impose serious limitations on farming and could potentially trigger a public health crisis as these metals can enter the food chain by accumulating in crops and livestock. Furthermore, the current climate scenario involves an increased number of drought periods that can last longer. This reduces crop production, depletes nutrients and has a negative impact on soil microbiota. Similarly, rising salinity levels in soils, driven by human activities among other factors, are reducing the available land for cultivation. These are just three examples of the most significant abiotic stresses negatively affecting agriculture, the effects of which are set to worsen in response to climate change. Therefore, new strategies must be implemented to minimise the harmful effects on plant growth and development in these detrimental conditions.

Fortunately, researchers have a wide range of technologies at their disposal to help them design approaches to tackle the aforementioned issues. In particular, the potential synergy between plant biotechnological tools and microbiome applications is a valuable method for finding tailored solutions to help plants survive and develop in adverse environments. Microbiome components, such as plant-growth-promoting bacteria or arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), can enhance plant fitness and resilience by improving nutrient availability and water uptake, and by increasing the production of beneficial metabolites and phytohormones, which positively impact soil health. Meanwhile, the selection of tolerant plant genotypes that respond appropriately to abiotic stress, together with the ability to edit their genomes precisely through technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9, offers the possibility of developing integrated methods to minimise the harmful effects of detrimental conditions. However, our understanding of how plant-microbiome interactions are established and maintained over time is limited.

This collection aims to bring together research manuscripts dealing with the application of microbiome-based solutions alongside plant biotechnology in order to address the growing threat of abiotic stress. The goal is to provide knowledge for environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions that can help to meet the global demand for food.

Topics covered include (but are not limited to):

- Application of bacteria, bacterial consortia or AMF to improve plant fitness under abiotic stress in field trials, greenhouse or tissue culture systems.

- Omics analysis of the interactions between crop plants and beneficial microorganisms.

- Gene-editing approaches to improve plant responses under abiotic stress or ease interactions between plants and the microbiome.

- Use of innovative delivery methods for microbiota application (nanotechnology, organic carriers).

- Characterisation of plant-microbiome interaction-related metabolites with potential agricultural applications.

- Use of bio-stimulants to enhance plant-microbiome interactions, alongside complementary network analyses to depict microbiome evolution over time.

All submissions in this collection undergo the journal’s standard peer review process. Similarly, all manuscripts authored by a Guest Editor(s) will be handled by the Editor-in-Chief. As an open access publication, this journal levies an article processing fee (details here). We recognize that many key stakeholders may not have access to such resources and are committed to supporting participation in this issue wherever resources are a barrier. For more information about what support may be available, please visit OA funding and support, or email OAfundingpolicy@springernature.com or the Editor-in-Chief.