Ajay Kumar is currently an Assistant Professor at the Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida, India. He previously served as a Visiting Scientist at the Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Israel (2018–2022), and completed his doctoral research at the Department of Botany, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, focusing on plant–microbe interactions. Dr. Kumar’s research expertise spans plant–microbe interactions, microbial biocontrol, postharvest fruit disease management, microbial endophytes of medicinal plants, and cyanobacteria–pesticide interactions. He is a prolific author in leading international journals and is also actively engaged in academic editing with major publishers such as Elsevier, Springer, CRC Press, and Wiley. Dr. Kumar currently serves as an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Microbiology and BMC Microbiology, a Guest Editor for Microorganisms and Plants (MDPI), and a Series Editor for Plant and Soil Microbiome (Elsevier). Naveen Chandra Joshi is currently an Assistant Professor at the Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Noida, India. His research interests include plant nutrient signaling, plant stress biology, and plant genetic engineering. Dr. Joshi is an experienced researcher and worked in various world-renowned institutions, including CEA-LPCV, France, Rutgers University, USA, and the Agricultural Research Organisation, Israel. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in leading scientific journals and currently serves on the editorial board of Frontiers in Plant Nutrition. Dr. Joshi has also been awarded several fellowships, including INRA, France, and ARO postdoctoral fellowships in 2011 and 2016, respectively. Dr. Joshi received his MSc in Biochemistry from GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in 2003 and a PhD in Life Sciences from prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2011.Sergio de los Santos-Villalobos is the director of the Microbial Resource Biotechnology Laboratory at Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, Mexico, where his research spans microbial ecology, plant–microorganism–soil interactions, microbial inoculant production, and agro-ecosystem conservation using isotopic techniques. His work integrates ecological, physiological, biochemical, and genetic approaches, from in vitro studies to field-level application. He has organized and taught numerous workshops, served as President of international scientific congresses, and spoken as a plenary speaker at conferences worldwide. His contributions have been recognized by Mexico's National System of Researchers (Level 2), a special mention in the 2013 AgroBio Award, and the 2014 Tecnos Award for contributions to biotechnology. He serves on expert panels focused on soil conservation and microbial inoculant development and currently acts as Associate Editor for several journals in the field. Prof. Laurent Dufossé is currently working as a Professor at the Reunion Island University, France. He obtained a Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Burgundy, Dijon (1993). He served as a Lecturer at the Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Quimper (1995–2006). He is involved in the field of Biotechnology of Food Ingredients for more than 30 years. His main research focused on the microbial production of pigments. This activity started 23 years ago and studies were and are mainly devoted to aryl carotenoids, such as isorenieratene, C50 carotenoids, anthraquinones, and azaphilones.
