The impact of the rhizosphere microbiota on root system development and tolerance to environmental constraints in cereals

Food security and alleviation of poverty of the rural populations are major concerns in many countries. Increasing problems can be expected in the near future due to shortage of water resources and increased desertification foreseen as a consequence of global warming. These conditions will cause an increased evapotranspiration in plants; therefore, improving tolerance of agricultural systems against abiotic stresses (drought, heat and salinity) represents a key element of ensuring yield stability in the future.

Cereals like durum wheat, barley, sorghum and pearl millet are major crops contributing to food security for poor farmers in arid regions of the world. Genomic knowledge and several biotechnological tools are available for these species (transformation techniques, transcriptomics tools etc.) and the sequencing of their genome is in progress.