Patterns, Function and Application of Seed Microbiome: Bacteria, Fungi and Viruses presents the current understanding of seed and microbiota associations, emphasizing recent findings that highlight the latest insights into these interactions, and how they may ultimately influence plant ecology, health and productivity in both natural and agricultural systems. The development and dispersal of seeds and their transition to seedlings are among the most critical stages of the life cycle of plants and seed health is of crucial global importance for producing both quantity and high quality crops to feed world’s population. It is important for seeds to be produced that contain the best hybrid embryo so that it is free of diseases, includes beneficial endophytes and ensures a healthy start of a seedling. Focusing on the role of seed microbiota, their transmission and implications for producing healthier seeds as well as the relationship between the seed microbiome and primed plant resistance this book reveals the targeted use of the seed microbiome to enrich the soil biodiversity and its resilience and its resulting impact on plant health and yield. also explores the importance of nanotechnology in the development and production of crops for both improved plant production, and plant protection. It explores the different microbes that are vectored onto and within the seeds of both cultivated and non-cultivated plants, with an emphasis on the importance and roles of seed microbiomes in sustainable agriculture. It explains how to change seeds to increase microbiome vectoring; repairing damaged ones, and conserves seed microbiota. It also present seed microbiome roles for plant health and design effective microbiome engineering.
