Microbial Systems As Paradigms Of Successful And Sustainable Interactions

Increase in global population, drastic changes in the environment, soil degradation and decrease in quality and quantity of agricultural productivity warranted us to adapt sustainable farming practices. This book focuses on soil health management and creating biased rhizosphere that can effectively augment the needs of sustainable agriculture.

Considering the ever-increasing global population and finite arable land, technology and sustainable agricultural practices are required to improve crop yield. This book examines the interaction between plants and microbes and considers the use of advanced techniques such as genetic engineering, revolutionary gene editing technologies, and their applications to understand how plants and microbes help or harm each other at the molecular level. Understanding plant-microbe interactions and related gene editing technologies will provide new possibilities for sustainable agriculture. The book will be extremely useful for researchers working in the fields of plant science, molecular plant biology, plant-microbe interactions, plant engineering technology, agricultural microbiology, and related fields. It will be useful for upper-level students and instructors specifically in the field of biotechnology, microbiology, biochemistry, and agricultural science. Features: Examines the most advanced approaches for genetic engineering of agriculture (CRISPR, TALAN, ZFN, etc.). Discusses the microbiological control of various plant diseases. Explores future perspectives for research in microbiological plant science. Plant-Microbial Interactions and Smart Agricultural Biotechnology will serve as a useful source of cutting-edge information for researchers and innovative professionals, as well as upper-level undergraduate and graduate students taking related agriculture and environmental science courses.

This first volume of a two-volume work presents the manifold applications of beneficial microbes and microbiomes in plant growth promotion, in enhancing crop resilience and in control of phytopathogens through microbial antagonists. In-depth insights into latest technologies such as biopriming of seeds and soil inoculation of rhizosphere microorganisms are provided. The two-volume work “Microbial Biocontrol” introduces mechanisms of plant-microbe interactions and explores latest strategies of how microbes can be applied in biocontrol and management of plant pathogens, replacing chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The book covers different groups of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, but also the interplay of entire microbiomes, and reviews their specific benefits in crop growth promotion, in enhancing the plants’ tolerance against biotic and abiotic stress as well as in post-harvest management of various plant diseases. Novel tools such as CRISPR/Cas9 and microbe derived nanoparticles are also addressed besides the legal aspects of biocontrol applications. Today, rising global population and changing climatic conditions emerge as a major challenge for agronomist farmers and researchers in fulfilling the requirements of global food production. The conventional agricultural practices utilize undistributed use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to enhance growth and yield of agricultural products and fresh foods, but their extensive and continuous use have led to a range of negative consequences on the food quality and safety, to environment as well as to human and animal health. Microbial biocontrol applications are presented as a solution, paving the way to a sustainable agriculture in compliance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The book addresses researchers in academia and agriculture.

Sustainable Communities for a Healthy Planet presents an unconventional collection of ideas, practices, and ways of living together with the potential to enable long-term human and planetary health. Grounded in first-hand accounts from researchers, health practitioners, and social innovators across diverse fields, Katharine Zywert’s book argues that the most promising approaches often depart substantially from the incentive structures, goals, and mindsets that define the status quo and do not necessarily align with mainstream sustainability discourses. The book instead presents promising approaches that disrupt dominant ideas about mental health, ageing, and chronic illness; circumvent exploitative markets for medications, medical technologies, and professionalized care; attend not only to the health of individual human bodies, but to the health of internal ecologies, human populations, nonhuman species, and the planet as a whole; and embody alternative, more inclusive ways of practicing medicine within communities and ecosystems. The stories assembled in this book illustrate how human beings might live healthy lives, supported by health systems that are not dependent on perpetual economic growth. Sustainable Communities for a Healthy Planet challenges conventional ways of thinking about the future of health systems and asks hard questions about what it takes to cultivate human and planetary health in a time of rapid ecological, economic, and social change.

Industrial agriculture is responsible for widespread environmental degradation and undermines the pursuit of human well-being. With a projected global population of 10 billion by 2050, it is urgent for humanity to achieve a more sustainable approach to farming and food systems. This concise text offers an overview of the key issues in sustainable food production for all readers interested in the ecology and environmental impacts of agriculture. It details the ecological foundations of farming and food systems, showing how knowledge from the natural and social sciences can be used to create sustainable alternatives to the industrial production methods used today. Beginning with a discussion of the role of agriculture in human development, the primer examines how twentieth-century farming methods are environmentally and socially unsustainable, contributing to global change and perpetuating inequalities. The authors explain the principles of environmental sustainability and explore how these principles can be put into practice in agrifood systems. They emphasize the importance of human well-being and insist on the centrality of social and environmental equity and justice. Sustainable Food Production is a compelling guide to how we can improve our ability to feed each other today and preserve the ability of our planet to do so tomorrow. Appropriate for a range of courses in the natural and social sciences, it provides a comprehensive yet accessible framework for achieving agricultural sustainability in the Anthropocene.

Microbial Biomass informs readers of the ongoing global revolution in understanding soil and ecosystem microbial processes. The first paper on the subject was written by David Jenkinson in 1966, and here new insights and expansions are given on the fascinating world of soil microbial processes. In terms of contemporary issues, it also serves to support urgent efforts to sustainably manage land to feed a growing world population without compromising the environment. It presents new methods of investigation which are leading to more sustainable management of ecosystems, and improved understanding of ecosystem changes in an increasingly warmer world. The book approaches the topic by looking at the emergence of our understanding of soil biological processes, and begins by tracing the conception and first measurement of soil microbial biomass. Following this, changes in ecosystems, and in natural ecosystem processes are discussed in relation to land management issues and global change. Microbial biomass and its diversity are recognized as key factors in finding solutions for more sustainable land and ecosystem management, aided by new molecular and other tools. Information from the use of these tools is now being incorporated into emerging microbial-explicit predictive models, to help us study changes in earth system processes. Perfect for use in research and practice, this book is written for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and professionals of agronomy, chemistry, geology, physical geography, ecology, biology, microbiology, silviculture and soil science.