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Factors Affecting the Variation of Microbial Communities in Different Agro-Ecosystems

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Microbial Strategies for Crop Improvement

Abstract

Soil microbial communities play an important role in supplying essential nutrients to plants by decomposing various organic matters. Composition, structure and functions of microbial communities in soil are, however, under the constant control of the environment including various agricultural management practices. Due to scarcity of convenient methods for exploration, our understanding of the different degrees and dynamics of microbial community variations are limited. An attempt will be made to understand such structural and functional variations employing molecular tools. Earlier it was believed that it is the plant community that exerts control over the microbial community, but recently, some findings have suggested that it is actually the microbial community that acts as a driver of plant community structure and dynamics. Attention will therefore be paid to highlight some of these issues, and the effect of various farm management practices on the composition and functions of microbial communities This is likely to lead to the development of best management practices for improving soil fertility and, consequently, agricultural productivity to improve the sustainability of agro-ecosystems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agricultural sciences, Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202002, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Munees Ahemad, Almas Zaidi, Md Saghir Khan & Mohammad Oves

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  1. Munees Ahemad
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  2. Almas Zaidi
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  3. Md Saghir Khan
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  4. Mohammad Oves
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Correspondence to Md Saghir Khan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Agricultural Microbiology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202002, India

    Mohammad Saghir Khan , Almas Zaidi  & Javed Musarrat ,  & 

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Ahemad, M., Zaidi, A., Khan, M.S., Oves, M. (2009). Factors Affecting the Variation of Microbial Communities in Different Agro-Ecosystems. In: Khan, M.S., Zaidi, A., Musarrat, J. (eds) Microbial Strategies for Crop Improvement. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01979-1_15

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