Microbial communities associated with plants: learning from nature to apply it in agriculture

Abstract

It is a new consensus that any living organism depends on its partners to strive under environmental conditions along their living period. Plants are also highly dependent on their associated microbes, which can support its development and proper protection under stressors. Along their evolution, plants learned to interact to soil microbiota, extracting their utmost capacity to provide resources for plant development and successful colonization of terrestrial systems, where the great soil biodiversity is keen on properly exert this role. Functional systems, such as the rhizosphere, provide evidences of the powerful selection exerted by plants upon the living soil microbes. In counterpart, the anthropogenic activity, mainly in forms of agricultural managements, has neglected this symbiosis, interfering in soil biodiversity, and consequently, reducing plant development through the interference in their association with beneficial microbes. This mini review has collected information to build a suitable hypothesis that if we better learn about the connection between plants and its associated microbiota in nature, we can lead agriculture to a better exploration of this omnipresent source of nutrients and protection, increasing yield and sustainability.