Microbial Interactions with Plants: Advancing Nitrogen Fixation, Uptake, and Utilization
A special issue of Nitrogen (ISSN 2504-3129).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 369
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Microbial interactions with plants play a crucial role in nitrogen cycling, fundamentally influencing plant growth, soil health, and ecosystem sustainability. While nitrogen-fixing bacteria such as rhizobia have been extensively studied for their symbiotic relationships with legumes, a wider range of microorganisms—including mycorrhizal fungi, free-living nitrogen fixers, and other nitrogen-transforming microbes—have emerged as vital players in enhancing nitrogen availability and uptake for plants. These diverse microbial interactions are key to developing sustainable agricultural practices, reducing dependency on synthetic fertilizers, and supporting more efficient nutrient utilization.
This Special Issue in Nitrogen aims to explore recent advances in our understanding of how microbial partnerships with plants drive nitrogen fixation, enhance nitrogen uptake, and optimize nitrogen utilization. We welcome studies focused on the following topics:
- Mechanisms of nitrogen fixation, uptake, and assimilation facilitated by various microbial species;
- The role of symbiotic and associative microbes in boosting plant nitrogen efficiency;
- Genetic and biotechnological innovations for improving microbial contributions to nitrogen cycling;
- Applications of microbial inoculants and biofertilizers for sustainable nitrogen management in agriculture.
We welcome original research, comprehensive reviews, and case studies examining the biological, ecological, and applied dimensions of nitrogen-focused plant–microbe interactions, with an emphasis on strategies for enhancing nitrogen sustainability in agricultural systems.
Dr. Jun Zhou
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- nitrogen fixation
- nitrogen uptake
- symbiosis
- biofertilizers
- nutrient cycling
- plant–microbe interactions
- sustainable nitrogen management
- nitrogen assimilation
- rhizobia
- soil microbiome
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