1. Introduction to Plant-Microbe Interactions; Ben Lugtenberg
Part I. Introductory Chapters
2. The Importance of Microbiology in Sustainable Agriculture; Thomas Schäfer and Tom Adams
3. Life of Microbes in the Rhizosphere; Ben Lugtenberg
4. Life of Microbes on Aerial Plant Parts; Johan H.J. Leveau
5. Life of Microbes Inside the Plant; Jesús Mercado-Blanco
6. Microbial Cell Surfaces and Secretion Systems; Jan Tommassen and Han A.B. Wösten
7. Microbial Biofilms and Quorum Sensing; Aurelien Carlier, Gabriella Pessi, and Leo Eberl
8. Bacterial Volatiles as Airborne Signals for Plants and Bacteria; Choong-Min Ryu
Part II. Phytopathogens and Pest Insects
9. Phytopathogenic Bacteria; Jan van der Wolf and Solke H. De Boer
10. Plant Pathogenic Fungi and Oomycetes; Pierre J.G.M. de Wit
11. Phytopathogenic Nematodes; Johannes Helder, Mariëtte Vervoort, Hanny van Megen, Katarzyna Rybarczyk Mydlowska, Casper Quist, Geert Smant, and Jaap Bakker
12. Herbivorous Insects - a Threat for Crop Production; Eddy van der Meijden
13. Phytopathogenic Viruses; Carmen Büttner, Susanne von Bargen, and Martina Bandte
14. Induced Disease Resistance; Corné M.J. Pieterse and Saskia C.M. Van Wees
15. Apologies to the Planet - Can we Restore the Damage?; Dulce Eleonora de Oliveira and Marc Van Montagu
16. Will the Public ever Accept Genetically Engineered Plants?; Inge Broer
Part III. Control of Plant Diseases and Pests using Beneficial Microbes
17. Microbial Control of Phytopathogenic Nematodes; Xiaowei Huang, Keqin Zhang, Zefen Yu, and Guohong Li
18. Microbial Control of Root-Pathogenic Fungi and Oomycetes; Linda Thomashow and Peter A.H.M. Bakker
19. Control of Insect Pests by Entomopathogenic Nematodes; Vladimír Puza
20. Bacillus thuringiensis-based Products for Insect Pest Control; Ruud A. de Maagd
21. Post Harvest Control; Emilio Montesinos, Jesús Francés, Esther Badosa, and Anna Bonaterra
Part IV. Plant Growth Promotion by Microbes
22. The Nitrogen Cycle; Martine A.R. Kox and Mike S.M. Jetten
23. Biological Nitrogen Fixation; Frans J. de Bruijn
24. Phosphate Mobilisation by Soil Microorganisms; José-Miguel Barea and, Alan E Richardson
25. Arbuscular Mycorrhizas: the Lives of Beneficial Fungi and their Plant Host; Paola Bonfante and Alessandro Desirò
26. Plant Hormones Produced by Microbes; Stijn Spaepen
27. Stress Control and ACC Deaminase; Bernard R. Glick
28. Plant-Microbe Interactions and Water Management in Arid and Saline Soils; Daniele Daffonchio, Heribert Hirt, and Gabriele Berg
29. Rhizoremediation; Sofie Thijs and Jaco Vangronsveld
Part V. Important Technologies
30. Microbial Communities in the Rhizosphere Analyzed by Cultivation-independent; DNA-based Methods; Susanne Schreiter, Namis Eltlbany, and Kornelia Smalla
31. Visualization of Plant-Microbe Interactions; Massimiliano Cardinale and Gabriele Berg
Part VI. Products for Plant Growth-promotion and Disease Suppression
32. Commercialisation of Microbes: Present Situation and Future Prospects; Willem J. Ravensberg
33. Commercialization of Microbes: Manufacturing, Inoculation, Best Practice for Objective Field Testing, and Registration; Faina Kamilova, Yaacov Okon , Sandra de Weert, and Katja Hora
34. Towards a New Generation of Commercial Microbial Disease Control and Plant -Growth Promotion Products; Rainer Borriss
35. Important Organizations and Companies; Ben Lugtenberg
Part VII. Paradigms in Plant-Microbe Interactions
36. Trichoderma: a Multi-Purpose Tool for Integrated Pest Management; Matteo Lorito and Sheridan L. Woo
37. Agrobacterium, the Genetic Engineer; Paul J.J. Hooykaas
38. Take-All Decline and Beneficial Pseudomonads; David M. Weller
39. The Oomycete Phytophthora infestans, the Irish Potato Famine Pathogenl; Charikleia Schoina and Francine Govers
40. 41. Soybean Production in the Americas; Woo-Suk Chang, Hae-In Lee, and Mariangela Hungria
Part VIII. Future Prospects and Dreams
42. Exploring the Feasibility of Transferring Nitrogen Fixation to Cereal Crops; Muthusubramanian Venkateshwaran
43. The Minimal Rhizosphere Microbiome; Jos M. Raaijmakers
44. The Edible Plant Microbiome: Importance and Health Issues; Gabriele Berg, Armin Erlacher, Martin Grube
45. From Nodulation to Antibiotics; Eva Kondorosi

The use of microbial plant protection products is growing and their importance will strongly increase due to political and public pressure. World population is growing and the amount of food needed by 2050 will be double of what is produced now whereas the area of agricultural land is decreasing. We must increase crop yield in a sustainable way. Chemical plant growth promoters must be replaced by microbiological products. Also here, the use of microbial products is growing and their importance will strongly increase. A growing area of agricultural land is salinated. Global warming will increase this process. Plants growth is inhibited by salt or even made impossible and farmers tend to disuse the most salinated lands. Microbes have been very successfully used to alleviate salt stress of plants. Chemical pollution of land can make plant growth difficult and crops grown are often polluted and not suitable for consumption. Microbes have been used to degrade these chemical pollutants.

Prof. Lugtenberg is well-known expert in his field (beneficial bacteria which kill plant-pathogenic fungi or promote plant growth), appreciated for publication record and editing job, with a significant network. Used to play several important roles within the community, e.g. President of the International Society of Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions.