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Agriculture
Special Issues
Soil Microbial Function in Agricultural Management
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Soil Microbial Function in Agricultural Management

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2019) | Viewed by 4512

Special Issue Editors

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lily Pereg

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia; Acting President, Soil System Science, European Geosciences Union
Interests: Soil microbial ecology; soil microbial functions; soil health; soil biodiversity; microbial-plant interactions; N cycling; sustainable crop production; biocontrol; biofertilization; forest soil; forest fire
Dr. Stefano Mocali

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of the Agricultural Economy, Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, 50125 Cascine del Riccio, Italy
Interests: soil microbial ecology; soil biodiversity and ecosystem services; plant-soil-microbe initteractions; soil sustainability

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent times have seen growing awareness of the public, industry and researchers to the need of developing natural resource management strategies and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. It is now acknowledged that soil biodiversity supplies many ecosystem services essential to agriculture and the environment. Soil microbes can be seen as part of the “working class” of the soil community. They support primary production through organic matter (OM) and nutrient cycling. Microbes promote plant growth through disease suppression, secretion of plant growth hormones, enhancement of root mass, as well as improvement of water retention in the rhizosphere and water uptake. Microbes also contribute to climate control through the regulation of C and N fluxes as well as regulating several greenhouse gases, i.e. CO2 , CH4, and N2O. Other microbial services include control of pests and diseases for humans, animals, and plants and decontamination of the environment. Finally, soil biodiversity is important for maintaining soil physical structure and preventing soil degradation. Agricultural practices, such as the choice of fertilization, irrigation management and soil cultivation affect soil quality, biodiversity and productivity. Agricultural management strategies should take into account the impact of the various practices on soil microbial diversity, abundance and activity as these in return influence agricultural soil function, productivity and sustainability.

This special issue aims at collecting original and quantitative studies as well as critical reviews dealing with any topics related to soil microbial function in agricultural settings, both conventional and unconventional (e.g. organic) agriculture. Studies done at any type of climatic (arid, Mediterranean, tropical and cold) and topographic conditions, agriculatural land use and management practices are welcome, particularly those manuscripts where a connection of soil microbial function with agricultural management has been established.

Dr. Lily Pereg
Dr. Stefano Mocali
Guest Editors

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. Agriculture 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 2600 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

  • Soil microbial function
  • Soil health
  • Soil biodiversity
  • Nutrient cycling (N, P, C, K)
  • Agricultural management
  • Sustainable agriculture
  • Soil carbon
  • Crop and animal production
  • Organic agriculture
  • Soil ecosystem services

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

10 pages, 1394 KiB  
Communication
Differential Gene Expression in the Model Actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) Supports Nitrogen Mining Dependent on the Plant Carbon to Nitrogen Ratio
by Damien Finn, Kerrilyn Catton, Marijke Heenan, Peter M. Kopittke, Diane Ouwerkerk, Athol V. Klieve and Ram C. Dalal
Agriculture 2018, 8(12), 192; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture8120192 - 06 Dec 2018
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Abstract
Nitrogen mining is the process whereby microbial communities catabolise recalcitrant long-term organic matter (OM) to meet nutritional requirements that are not ensured by labile OM. Microbial degradation of recalcitrant OM impacts soil fertility and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural systems. Here [...] Read more.
Nitrogen mining is the process whereby microbial communities catabolise recalcitrant long-term organic matter (OM) to meet nutritional requirements that are not ensured by labile OM. Microbial degradation of recalcitrant OM impacts soil fertility and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural systems. Here we conducted a transcriptomics study to track differential gene expression in the model soil Actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) during the decomposition of mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) residues of relatively low and high carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratios (17.3 and 35.7, respectively) at 1, 7, and 14 days of incubation. A negative binomial general linear model showed that plant variety predominantly affected transcription (p < 0.001), although time of incubation also had an effect (p = 0.01). In the high C:N ratio treatment, the expression of cellulases, chitinase, N-acetylglucosaminidase, secreted peptidases, and mineral nitrogen (N) metabolism were increased after 24 h. The low C:N ratio treatment demonstrated preferential expression of glutamate dehydrogenase, transporters involved in glutamate uptake and glycolysis, indicating more efficient N and carbon (C) assimilation. After 14 days, the low C:N ratio treatment showed increased transcription of extracellular enzymes, glutamate dehydrogenase, and glutamate transport. These results show an important role for added plant organic N content in determining when the transcription of genes associated with N mining occurs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbial Function in Agricultural Management)
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