Exploration of soil operative resistance factors: modulators of plant ecophysiological responses

The increasing intensity of environmental stresses presents significant challenges to modern agriculture. The assorted group of all environmental stress-related genes and mechanisms carried out by various soil-inhabiting microorganisms could readily contribute to resistance in crop plants represented as soil resistance factors (SRFs). It is essential to have a profound knowledge of the SRFs and their interaction with current basic challenges to develop appropriate strategies that effectively improve plant growth. Modern soil microbiological research is dedicated to understanding the relationship between the organization of gene and their function involved in various environmental processes. A significant fraction of the scientific community is primarily engaged in developing culture-independent techniques as a substantial (99%) portion of soil is still not cultivable in laboratory conditions. However, the SRFs and their exploitation are still in their commencement. The metagenomic method has proven to be a strong methodological tool for soil microbiome and SRF analysis. However, obtaining the appropriate detail of any particular gene that can completely characterize the intricacy of soil metagenomes and interpret meaningful conclusions about the native microbial communities is challenging. This review provides an overview of the metagenomic methods employed to gain insights into specific genes in soil microbiomes that confer resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses on crops.