ABSTRACT
Plants have evolved with a plethora of microorganisms having important roles for plant growth and health. A considerable amount of information is now available on the structure and dynamics of plant microbiota as well as on the functional capacities and mechanism of isolated community members. Due to the interesting functional potential of plant microbiota as well as due to current challenges, there is an urgent need to bring microbial innovations. To enhance plant growth and health, it is essential to know which microorganisms are present in the plant microbiome and what they are doing. This chapter reviews the importance and functionalities of the plant microbiome and discusses challenges and concepts in regard to the application of plant-associated bacteria and fungi. In order to achieve a systems-level understanding of the plant microbiota, it is indispensable to move from population inventories and phylogeny-inferred putative functional traits to actual data on microbiota activities in situ.
