Exploring Cereal Metagenomics: Unravelling Microbial Communities for Improved Food Security

Abstract

Food security is an urgent global challenge, with cereals playing a crucial role in meeting the nutritional requirements of populations worldwide. In recent years, the field of metagenomics has emerged as a powerful tool for studying the microbial communities associated with cereal crops and their impact on plant health and growth. This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive overview of cereal metagenomics and its role in enhancing food security through the exploration of beneficial and pathogenic microbial interactions. Furthermore, we will examine how the integration of metagenomics with other tools can effectively address the adverse effects on food security. For this purpose, we discuss the integration of metagenomic data and machine learning in providing novel insights into the dynamic interactions shaping plant-microbe relationships. We also shed light on the potential applications of leveraging microbial diversity and epigenetic modifications in improving crop resilience and yield sustainability. Ultimately, cereal metagenomics has revolutionized the field of food security by harnessing the potential of beneficial interactions between cereals and their microbiota, paving the way for sustainable agricultural practices.

Omics approaches in understanding the benefits of plant-microbe interactions

“…EpiEffectors, such as zinc finger (ZF), transcription activator-like effector (TALE), or modified CRISPR/Cas9 complexes, such as dead Cas9 (dCas9), are used for targeted epigenome editing, and are often fused with the catalytic domain of epigenetic enzymes for precise modifications (Doddavarapu et al, 2024 ). Active DNA demethylation has been shown to positively affect plant resistance to pathogens such as Pseudomonas syringae (Masenya et al, 2024 ). The proline-alanine-valine (PAV) gene may be associated with specific genomic and epigenomic traits in fungi, offering potential predictive insights into fungal plant pathogen adaptation to hosts and aiding in the development of more effective disease prevention strategies (Joubert and Krasileva, 2024 ).…”

“…Epigenomic analysis revealed that hypermethylation of xyloglucan endotransglycosylase protein could be influenced by Neobacillus , a dominant and highly abundant species found exclusively in Naxos tubers (Boutsika et al, 2023 ). This integrated approach identifies pivotal microbial taxa, their pathways, and epigenetic markers shaping host-microbe interactions, and offers novel insights into agriculture (Masenya et al, 2024 ).…”