Advances in Plant Microbiome Research for Climate-Resilient Agriculture

Ashwani Kumar, PhD, is presently an Associate Professor in the Department of Botany at the University of Allahabad (A Central University), Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India. Before joining this position, he worked at Dr. Hari Singh Gour University (A Central University), Sagar, India, for more than nine years. His research focused on plant-microbe interactions, metagenomics, lignocellulosic biofuels, and bioremediation. Honored with several awards and fellowships throughout his career, he has published over 80 articles (Google Scholar Citations: 6469; i-10:71, h-index: 36; Scopus citations: 4067), 30 book chapters, and edited one book. He is serving as an editorial board member for several prestigious journals. He has been featured in the top 2% of the World Scientists List thrice (2020, 2021, 2022). He is a life member of several professional organizations in India, and he was elected as a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, the International Society of Environmental Botanists, and the National Institute of Ecology. He earned his PhD in Bioenergy from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India, and served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Durban University of Technology and Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa.

Introduction 1. Plant Microbiome Research: Tools and Techniques to Analyze Plant Microbiome for Sustainable Agriculture Productivity 2. Microbial Endophytes as Warriors for Plant Defense Against Abiotic and Biotic Stresses 3. Phyto-Microbiomes: Role in Sustainable Agriculture Practices under Abiotic Stress 4. Role of Metabolomics in Bioremediation for Sustainable Crop Production 5. Plant Endomicrobiome Services in Global Food Security and Agriculture Sustainability 6. Future Perspectives of Endophytic Microbiome in Sustainable Agriculture 7. Impact of Abiotic and Biotic Stresses on Agricultural Crops 8. Rhizosphere Microbiome Manipulation 9. Microbial Traits in Plant Stress Tolerance and Importance for Agriculture 10. Adaptation Strategies for Salinity Stress in Maize: An Overview on Exogenous Chemical and Phyto-Microbiome Approaches 11. The Beneficial Plant Microbial Association for Sustainable Agriculture