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MINI REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Terrestrial Microbiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1565940
This article is part of the Research TopicMonitoring, Modeling, and Mitigation in Terrestrial Ecosystems: Microbial Response to Climate ChangeView all 4 articles
Biodegradable Hydrogels and Microbial Consortia as a Treatment for Soil Dysbiosis
Provisionally accepted- University of Washington, Seattle, United States
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Terrestrial microbial communities drive many soil processes and can be pushed into a state of dysbiosis upon disturbance. This dysregulation negatively impacts soil biogeochemical cycles, which threatens plant and soil health. Effective treatment of soil dysbiosis requires simultaneous restoration of multiple system components, addressing both the physical structure of soil and its microbial communities. Hydrogels with microbial consortia simultaneously remedy soil hydrodynamics while promoting microbial reestablishment. The purpose of this review is to shed light on soil management practices through the lens of soil dysbiosis. This is important to address not only for soil health and crop productivity, but also to mitigate climate change through improved soil carbon sequestration and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. This review positions hydrogels and microbes as tools for the treatment of soil dysbiosis, contributing to agricultural and climate resilience.
Keywords: Crop health, environmental biotechnology, fungal-prokaryotic interactions, soil dysbiosis, Soil microbial ecology, sustainable agriculture
Received: 24 Jan 2025; Accepted: 11 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Davis, Mafune and Winkler. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Korena Mafune, University of Washington, Seattle, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.