Building plant microbiome vault: a future biotechnological resource

Abstract

The plant-microbiome symbiotic association will need to be taken advantage of for feeding the burgeoning millions in the face of climatic perturbations and environmental deterioration. Since the plants select their microbiome from the soils on which they grow, soils, therefore, remain the key source of microbiome for sustainable food production. Building a reliable and reproducible plant microbiome vault of key crops growing with desirable traits such as high yielders under low input conditions, drought tolerant plots, disease suppressive soils, etc. can become an important and irreparable biotechnological resource for future agriculture. Based on the available literature, a complementary approach is discussed wherein i) rhizosphere and bulk soils are preserved with the best available protocols in such a way that their biological components remain undisturbed for long periods and the viable microbiome can be accessed; supplemented side-by-side with ii) systematic isolation, screening and preservation of the ‘Minimal Effective Microbiome Set’ (‘MEMS’) for building the plant microbiome vault.