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Abstract
The soil is one of the critical resources of planet Earth, maintaining biodiversity and
ecosystem services. It contains the largest microbial diversity, which is crucial in
governing the functions of the soil. Therefore, proper elucidation of soil microbial
diversity is important to understand the critical factors contributing to soil ecological services and health. Still, very little has been known about soil microbial diversity as only a small fraction of soil microorganisms have been cultured and studied
for their structural and functional attributes. Because only about 1% of microbes are
culturable, the uncultured microbiota is considered as a treasure trove of the microbial world. Therefore, exploring this hidden resource is important, especially for
agricultural and environmental microbiology. The recent progress in molecular
microbial ecology has provided powerful tools to explore the genetic information of
soil microorganisms. Omic technologies (such as quantitative PCR, differential gradient gel electrophoresis, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics,
and single-cell genomics) are the most powerful tools for exploring the complex
aboveground–belowground microbial diversity of the soil and understanding the
structural and functional attributes of this diversity. This book depicts various conventional and advanced technologies for exploring soil microbial diversity to understand its utility and importance in soil functions and ecosystem services, and, most
importantly, achieving sustainable development goals.
Keywords Biodiversity · Ecosystem services · Land restoration · Metagenomics ·
Metatranscriptomics · Metaproteomics · Microbial ecology · Soil microbiome ·
Single-cell genomics · Sustainable agriculture