Pioneering Bioinoculant Methods for Sustainable Agriculture and Ecosystem Restoration

Agricultural sustainability is increasingly crucial as global demands on food production continue to rise. Traditional reliance on agrochemicals for enhancing yield has resulted in unintended consequences, including soil degradation, ecological imbalance, and food safety concerns due to chemical residues. Microorganisms play a key role in the plant environment, significantly impacting plant health and the properties of the soil. Their role extends to vital plant activities, supporting nutrient acquisition, shielding plants against pathogens, bolstering resilience to abiotic stresses, and mineralizing complex chemical compounds. Bioinoculants present an environmentally friendly solution, offering benefits like enhancing plant growth, promoting phytostimulation, enabling biocontrol of pests, and detoxifying contaminated soils.

Despite its longstanding presence in sustainable agriculture, bioinoculant development faces several hurdles before it can be effectively implemented on a broad scale. Challenges include developing comprehensive consortia formulations, optimizing these for diverse environmental conditions, fostering synergistic microbial interactions, and combining microorganisms with various advantageous traits. Overcoming these obstacles requires innovative approaches to characterization and formulation, which could accelerate bioinoculants’ widespread application and reduce the eco-impact of conventional farming.

This Research Topic invites contributions that highlight cutting-edge developments and insights in the utilization of bioinoculants for agriculture. We welcome articles that explore:

• Novel molecular and functional characterization techniques for bioinoculants targeting bioremediation, plant growth promotion, and biocontrol.

• The integration of multi-omics data to elucidate the dynamics of microbial interactions within inoculants and soils.

• The discovery and detailed study of new genes related to xenobiotic degradation and beneficial plant traits.

• Advanced methodologies for designing and optimizing both individual microbial strains and consortia.

• Innovative bioformulation strategies and delivery mechanisms for bioinoculants.

Through this collection, we aim to propel forward the adoption of bioinoculants, contributing to sustainable agricultural practices capable of rejuvenating soil health and supporting robust plant growth. Article types of interest include Original Research, Review, Short Notes, and Opinions.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Bioremediation, Consortia, Microbiome, Plant-growth Promoting Properties

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.