Soil Fungi in Sustainable Agriculture, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Microbe Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2024 | Viewed by 1360

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Biotechnology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, c/Fuentenueva s/n, E-18071 Granada, Spain
Interests: industrial microbiology; bioreactors and fermentation processes; cell and enzyme immobilization; biotechnological production of enzymes, organic acids, biofuels; plant microbiome; plant-microbial interactions; microbial mineral dissolution; production and formulation of soil inoculants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is the continuation of our previous special issue "Soil Fungi in Sustainable Agriculture".

Soil is the most complex living system containing different organisms involved in specific ecosystem services. Soil provides a natural habitat to organisms such as bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoans, and nematodes, but bacteria and fungi in particular are by far most numerous and involved in organic matter decomposition, biogeochemical cycling processes, soil formation and structure, and plant growth and health. It has been estimated that one gram of soil contains as many as 1010–1011 bacteria and up to 200 m fungal hyphae, but the number of bacteria in the mycosphere is higher than in bulk soil, indicating the effect of fungi within complex interactions with bacteria. Different free-living and symbiotic fungi play an important role in growth and health of plants and improving their stress tolerance. In addition, fungi take part in soil bioremediation, water absorption, nutrient mobilization and uptake, soil formation and aggregation, and control of plant pathogens. However, fungi are relatively understudied, and we know very little not only regarding specific fungal interactions with other soil organisms but also which are the factors that determine the fungal role in plant microbiota structure, dynamics, and functions. Another multidisciplinary task is learning how to explore fungi more effectively in the frame of sustainable agriculture following the 3-P strategy (prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics).

This Special Issue will collect studies on a wide range of soil/plant beneficial and pathogenic fungi, their interactions with below- and above-ground organisms, and their role in nutrient mobilization, plant nutrient acquisition, bioremediation, and biocontrol potential. Special attention will be paid to works on methods of selection/isolation of fungi, their characteristics, production and formulation as biofertilizers, biocontrol, and bioremediation agents. Another group of contributions is related to determination of the soil fungal diversity.

Prof. Dr. Nikolay Vassilev
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plant beneficial microorganisms
  • plant–fungi interactions
  • biofertilizers
  • inoculants
  • biocontrol agents

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

19 pages, 7318 KiB  
Article
Screening of the Biocontrol Efficacy of Potent Trichoderma Strains against Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceri and Scelrotium rolfsii Causing Wilt and Collar Rot in Chickpea
by Ranjna Kumari, Vipul Kumar, Ananta Prasad Arukha, Muhammad Fazle Rabbee, Fuad Ameen and Bhupendra Koul
Microorganisms 2024, 12(7), 1280; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12071280 - 24 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1153
Abstract
Chickpeas contribute to half of the pulses produced in India and are an excellent source of protein, fibers, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins. However, the combination of the wilt and root rot diseases drastically lowers its yield. The use of antagonist microbes that restrict [...] Read more.
Chickpeas contribute to half of the pulses produced in India and are an excellent source of protein, fibers, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins. However, the combination of the wilt and root rot diseases drastically lowers its yield. The use of antagonist microbes that restrict the growth of other phytopathogens is an ecofriendly approach to combat the serious threats raised by the plant pathogens. Trichoderma spp. are well known as biocontrol agents, especially against soil- and seed-borne phytopathogens. In this study, 21 Trichoderma isolates that were collected from different rhizospheric soils were evaluated against two notorious soil-borne pathogens, such as Fusarium oxysproum f.sp. ciceri and Sclerotium rolfsii. The maximum percentage of inhibition against the tested pathogens was observed in Trichoderma isolate PBT13 (72.97%, 61.1%) followed by PBT3 (72.23%, 59.3%). The mycelial extension rate method, dual culture (antagonism), production of cell-wall degrading enzymes (CWDs), and antifungal metabolites (by GC-MS) were used as selection criteria for potent Trichoderma isolates. Among the 21 isolates, PBT3, PBT4, PBT9, and PBT13 exhibited high antagonistic activity, production of antifungal metabolites, and chitinase and β-1,3-glucanase activity. These four species were subjected to molecular characterization using an internal transcribed spacer (ITS 1 and ITS4). The results of molecular characterization identified the four species as T. virnes, T. asperellum, T. lixii, and T. harzianum. Moreover, significant chitinase and β-1,3-glucanase activities of all Trichoderma isolates were recorded in the growth medium. Trichoderma harzianum (isolate PBT13) was found to exhibit the highest chitinase activity in terms of zone formation (4.40 ± 0.17 cm), whereas Trichoderma virens (isolate PBT3) exhibited the highest β-1,3-glucanase activity1.511 μmole/min. A GC-MS analysis of ethyl extracts from two isolates of Trichoderma (PBT9, PBT13) revealed the presence of 28 VOCs. Overall, this study suggests that these four Trichoderma strains are promising biological control agents (BCAs) and could be developed as bio-pesticides after stringent field trials for the management of soil-borne diseases of chickpeas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Fungi in Sustainable Agriculture, 2nd Edition)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop