Awareness of the current environmental degradation caused by conventional farming practices (including the overuse of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides that have immense and adverse effects on humans, animals, and environments) require researchers to find approaches to crop production that are less dependent on chemical inputs. To face this challenge, the use of plant beneficial rhizospheric microorganisms such as Bacillus sp, Pseudomonas sp, and Burkholderia sp to improve plant growth, coupled with the use of entomopathogenic fungi as a biological control technique, can be a sustainable alternative.

There is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the potential of various microbes to enhance plant productivity and yield in cropping systems. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these phenomena and the signals involved, as well as the potential applications for a sustainable agriculture approach, and the biotechnological aspects for possible rhizosphere engineering, are still matters of discussion.

Global food insecurity is a chronic issue that is likely to deteriorate in accordance with climate change, rapid population growth, and the increasing scarcity of arable land. To keep up with food demand, it was seemingly necessary to increase the application of agrochemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides for improved crop production. The intensive use of agrochemicals has led to severe consequences, including the deterioration of soil and the environment.

The use of rhizospheric microorganisms as vital components for soil fertility and plant growth promotion through their direct and indirect processes in plant rhizospheres can be a great alternative to chemical fertilizers and has the potential to reduce their use. Moreover, the biological control of pests has already been recognized as an alternative to the use of pesticides: both technologies open novel and real possibilities in the search for cleaner and healthier agricultural practices.

This Research Topic publishes original, peer-reviewed research that focuses on the interactions between plants and microorganisms, as well as plant growth-promoting, rhizospheric, endophytic, symbiotic microorganisms, and biological control. We welcome manuscripts that advance the knowledge and understanding of aspects including (but not limited to):
• Molecular communication between plants and plant growth-promoting microorganisms;
• Nitrogen fixer microorganisms;
• Nutrient solubilizer microorganisms;
• The reciprocal relationship between the plant immune system and the microbiome, and its relevance for plant health;
• Phytostimulators microorganisms;
• Production of siderophores and volatile organic compounds by rhizobacteria;
• Filamentous fungi in biological control;
• Filamentous fungi as plant growth promoters;
• Mycorrhiza.

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Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

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