Tools and challenges to exploit microbial communities in agriculture

Plants contain diverse microbial communities. The associated microorganisms confer advantages to the host plant, which include growth promotion, nutrient absorption, stress tolerance, and pathogen and disease resistance. In this review, we explore how agriculture is implementing the use of microbial inoculants (single species or consortia) to improve crop yields, and discuss current strategies to study plant-associated microorganisms and how their diversity varies under unconventional agriculture. It is predicted that microbial inoculation will continue to be used in agriculture.