Capacity of the zinc mobilizing microbiome for climate-smart & sustainable agriculture

Zinc is an essential plant micronutrient needed for the regulation of physiological and metabolic processes, including oxidative metabolism, transcriptional regulation and phytohormone signaling (Ricachenevsky et al., 2015). Poor zinc availability leads to increased disease susceptibility, stunted plant growth, weak rooting system, and frail pollen formation. Use of Zn fertilizers is generally recommended to fulfil crop nutrition requirements. However, credible agronomic management practices to ensure Zn bioavailability to plants are inevitable. Besides, climate change and soil deterioration because of the persistent use of chemical fertilizers may worsen the problem. Therefore, sustainable agronomic practices are necessary to provide adequate zinc nutrition, and promote food security.Plants can transport Zn by various transporter proteins, including ZIP family zinc-regulated transporter/iron-regulated transporter (ZRT/IRT), heavy metal ATPase family protein (HMA), vacuolar iron transporter (VIT), natural resistance-associated macrophage protein (NRAMP), and the metal tolerance protein (MTP) family (Ricachenevsky et al., 2015). These proteins are responsible for increased Zn cellular uptake, efflux, detoxification in the vacuole, and transport