Improve the quality and productivity of your crops through selecting positive and effective interactive core-microbiomes As microbial cells are present in overwhelming numbers in our soil, it is perhaps inevitable that microbes are found extensively in plant and animal tissue. The role of microbiomes on the regulation of physiological processes in animals has been extensively researched in recent years, but the overarching role of the plant microbiome has yet to be discovered. Core Microbiome: Improving Crop Quality and Productivity is an attempt to remediate some of that deficit, as the first book to summarize feature of microbial communities that make up the plant microbiome. There is substantial evidence that these communities are crucial in disease control, enhanced nutrient acquisition, and stress tolerance—a feature more important than ever due to climate change. A further focus on improving how core microbiomes interact so that they are both phenotypically and genotypically very adaptive and sustainable will allow the reader to improve the quality and productivity of crops so that they may be considered sustainable agriculture. Core Microbiome readers will also find: Descriptions of the basic structure of core microbiomes and their functions across various habitats New and cutting-edge trends and technological innovations highlighted that use core microbiomes to harness plant microbiome interaction The structure, classification, and biotechnological applications of aquatic core microbiomes, in addition to the material on plant microbiomes As a broad introduction to the interaction of core microbiome and plant productivity, Core Microbiome is ideal for researchers and scientists working in the field of environmental science, environmental microbiology, and waste management. Similarly, undergraduate and graduate students in these fields, as well as in agriculture, biotechnology, biosciences, and life and environmental sciences will also benefit from this work.

The Food Forum convened a public workshop on February 22-23, 2012, to explore current and emerging knowledge of the human microbiome, its role in human health, its interaction with the diet, and the translation of new research findings into tools and products that improve the nutritional quality of the food supply. The Human Microbiome, Diet, and Health: Workshop Summary summarizes the presentations and discussions that took place during the workshop. Over the two day workshop, several themes covered included: The microbiome is integral to human physiology, health, and disease. The microbiome is arguably the most intimate connection that humans have with their external environment, mostly through diet. Given the emerging nature of research on the microbiome, some important methodology issues might still have to be resolved with respect to undersampling and a lack of causal and mechanistic studies. Dietary interventions intended to have an impact on host biology via their impact on the microbiome are being developed, and the market for these products is seeing tremendous success. However, the current regulatory framework poses challenges to industry interest and investment.

The book brings a completely different perspective than available books by combining the information gained from the human genome with that derived from parallel metagenomic studies, and new results from investigating the effects of these microbes on the host immune system. Although there are a number of books that focus on the human genome that are currently available, there are no books that bring to the forefront the mix of the human genome and the genomes and metagenomes of the microbial species that live within and on us.

A comparative, holistic synthesis of microbiome research, spanning soil, plant, animal and human hosts.

The human microbiome is the bacteria, viruses, and fungi that cover our skin, line our intestines, and flourish in our body cavities. Work on the human microbiome is new, but it is quickly becoming a leading area of biomedical research. What scientists are learning about humans and our microbiomes could change medical practice by introducing new treatment modalities. This new knowledge redefines us as superorganisms comprised of the human body and the collection of microbes that inhabit it and reveals how much we are a part of our environment. The understanding that microbes are not only beneficial but sometimes necessary for survival recasts our interaction with microbes from adversarial to neighborly. This volume explores some of the science that makes human microbiome research possible. It then considers ethical, legal, and social concerns raised by microbiome research. Chapters explore issues related to personal identity, property rights, and privacy. The authors reflect on how human microbiome research challenges reigning views on public health and research ethics. They also address the need for thoughtful policies and procedures to guide the use of the biobanked human samples required for advancing this new domain of research. In the course of these explorations, they introduce examples from the history of biomedical science and recent legal cases that shed light on the issues and inform the policy recommendations they offer at the end of each topic's discussion. This volume is the product of an NIH Human Microbiome Project grant. It represents three years of conversations focused on consensus formation by the twenty-seven members of the interdisciplinary Microbiome Working Group. "The microbiome is a relatively new area of medical attention. Ethical issues related to the microbiome have barely been identified, much less carefully analyzed. This volume is an excellent start toward that ethical analysis. Many of the arguments are persuasive and provocative. In particular, some contributors challenge the ethical need for anonymizing microbiome specimens as well as the need for individual informed consent for specific uses of these specimens. I highly recommend this volume for all those interested in the microbiome and in new frontiers in medical ethics." -Leonard M. Fleck, Michigan State University

The study of plant-microbe associations by new techniques has significantly improved our understanding of the structure and specificity of the plant microbiome. Yet, microbiome function and the importance of the plant’s microbiome in the context of human and plant health are largely unexplored. Comparable with our human microbiome, millions of microbes inhabit plants, forming complex ecological communities that influence plant growth and health through its collective metabolic activities and host interactions. Viewing the microbiota from an ecological perspective can provide insight into how to promote plant health and stress tolerance of their hosts or how to adapt to a changing climate by targeting this microbial community. Moreover, the plant microbiome has a substantial impact on human health by influencing our gut microbiome by eating raw plants such as lettuce and herbs but also by influencing the microbiome of our environment through airflow. This research topic comprising reviews, original and opinion articles highlights the current knowledge regarding plant microbiomes, their specificity, diversity and function as well as all aspects studying the management of plant microbiomes to enhance plant growth, health quality and stress tolerance.