La milpa como modelo para el estudio de la microbiodiversidad e interacciones planta-bacteria

Research on agricultural microbiology aims at replacing agrochemicals with microorganisms or their natural products as biological control agents, since the use of technologies from the green revolution have had negative effects on the environment, on farmers and their families, the consumer, and on crop health. However, our current understanding about the beneficial microbe-plant interactions that mediate plant health in complex, natural settings is insufficient to achieve the success of these biological products. Milpas are traditional agroecosystems where several maize landraces are produced, together with other associated species. Technologies from the green revolution such as agrochemicals are largely absent in milpas , and therefore they represent a source of traditional knowledge on sustainable practices for agriculture. Recent studies show that modernization, as well as plant domestication cause disturbances in microbial communities from agroecosystems. Furthermore, unique beneficial bacteria-plant interactions occur in milpas , which may have been lost in modern agroecosystems. In this review, we discuss classic and modern research strategies from agricultural microbiology that can be applied in the study of milpas . Adopting milpas as a model habitat for microbe-plant interactions could result in the generation of knowledge that leads to decrease the use of agrochemicals in modern agroecosystems, as well as avoiding their growing use in milpas .