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Potential of microbiome-based solutions for agrifood systems

Few microbiome-based solutions for agricultural productivity, food processing and human nutrition have been successfully commercialized. A systems-based approach that considers the ecology of microbial communities may help finetune extant tools to increase their reliability while promoting innovation and greater adoption.

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Fig. 1: An updated toolset for managing the microbiome as an ecological system.
Fig. 2: Critical knowledge gaps hinder our ability to consistently predict and manage the outcomes of microbial interventions.

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Acknowledgements

This workshop was facilitated by the Alexander Von Humboldt Research Award to B.K.S. and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle–Jena–Leipzig.

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B.K.S. conceived the idea in consultation with N.E. and S.J., and led the discussion which was attended by all authors. S.J. and B.K.S. wrote the manuscript and all contributed to refine it.

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Correspondence to Stephanie D. Jurburg or Brajesh K. Singh.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Food thanks James McDonald and Emilia Hannula for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Jurburg, S.D., Eisenhauer, N., Buscot, F. et al. Potential of microbiome-based solutions for agrifood systems. Nat Food 3, 557–560 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00576-x

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