AUTHOR=Díaz-Rodríguez Alondra María , Salcedo Gastelum Lilian Alejandra , Félix Pablos Carmen María , Parra-Cota Fannie Isela , Santoyo Gustavo , Puente Mariana Laura , Bhattacharya Dhruba , Mukherjee Joydeep , de los Santos-Villalobos Sergio 

TITLE=The Current and Future Role of Microbial Culture Collections in Food Security Worldwide

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

VOLUME=Volume 4 - 2020

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2020.614739

DOI=10.3389/fsufs.2020.614739

ISSN=2571-581X

ABSTRACT=Food security is the maintenance of nutritional well-being through the availability of food, which is necessary to satisfy all physiological needs, and thus maintain the health of the population. However, the global agricultural issues due to the rapid population growth cause an increase in competition for resources such as water, land, and energy, leading to overexploitation of agro-ecosystems, and the inability to produce enough efficient and equitable food. Therefore, the development of sustainable agro-biotechnologies is determinant to increase crop yield and quality, reducing the negative impacts caused by intensive non-sustainable agricultural practices. In this way, the genetic and metabolic diversity of soil and plant microbiota in agro-ecosystems is a current and promising alternative to warranty global food security. Microbial communities play an important role in the improvement of soil fertility and plant development by enhancing plant growth and health through several direct and/or indirect mechanisms. Thus, the bio-augmentation of beneficial microbes into agro-ecosystems not only generates an increase in food production but also mitigates the economic, social, and environmental issues of intensive non-sustainable agriculture. In this way, the isolation, characterization, and exploitation of preserved beneficial microbes in microbial culture collections (MCC) is crucial for the ex situ maintenance of native soil microbial ecology focused on driving sustainable food production. This review aims to provide a critical analysis of the current and future role of global MCC on sustainable food security, as providers of a large number of beneficial microbial strains with multiple metabolic and genetic traits.