Abstract
Global population growth poses a threat to food security in an era of increased ecosystem degradation, climate change, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss. In this context, harnessing naturally-occurring processes such as those provided by soil and plant-associated microorganisms presents a promising strategy to reduce dependency on agrochemicals. Biofertilizers are living microbes that enhance plant nutrition by either by mobilizing or increasing nutrient availability in soils. Various microbial taxa including beneficial bacteria and fungi are currently used as biofertilizers, as they successfully colonize the rhizosphere, rhizoplane or root interior. Despite their great potential to improve soil fertility, biofertilizers have yet to replace conventional chemical fertilizers in commercial agriculture. In the last 10 years, multi-omics studies have made a significant step forward in understanding the drivers, roles, processes, and mechanisms in the plant microbiome. However, translating this knowledge on microbiome functions in order to capitalize on plant nutrition in agroecosystems still remains a challenge. Here, we address the key factors limiting successful field applications of biofertilizers and suggest potential solutions based on emerging strategies for product development. Finally, we discuss the importance of biosafety guidelines and propose new avenues of research for biofertilizer development.
Highlights
Soil and plant-associated microbes play a key role in ecosystem functioning by carrying out numerous biogeochemical cycles and organic matter degradation (Paul, 2015)
We focus on the direct mechanisms by which microorganisms enhance the availability and acquisition of essential plant nutrients
It is estimated that more than 84% of total soil Zn occurs as structurally lattice bound [e.g., zincite (ZnO) and zinc sulfide (ZnS)], while only 1% is in water soluble form and available for plant uptake (Sharma et al, 2013; Prasad et al, 2016)
Summary
Soil and plant-associated microbes play a key role in ecosystem functioning by carrying out numerous biogeochemical cycles and organic matter degradation (Paul, 2015). In the late 1950s, several studies with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculants reported positive plant growth promotion (PGP) effects through phosphorus (P) uptake (Koide and Mosse, 2004) Despite their numerous advantages and low cost, the commercialization of biofertilizers is not widespread. In the last 10 years, multi-omics technologies enhanced our understanding of the complexity of microbiomes, as they allowed us to better characterize the structure and function of microbial communities (Kaul et al, 2016) These novel approaches are increasingly applied to describe soil microbial communities and their influence on plant nutrient acquisition and other PGP traits (Saad et al, 2020; Tosi et al, 2020a,b).
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