Part 1 Advances in analysing soil microbiomes

• 1.Advances in soil viromics in understanding viral diversity and function: Azza Larafa, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada/Université de Montréal, Canada and Mamadou L. Fall , Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada;
• 2.Advances in metaproteomics for analyzing soil microorganisms: Paolo Nannipieri, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), Italy; Jing Se, Zhejiang University, China; and Laura Giagnoni, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics (DICATAM), Italy;

Part 2 Bacteria and fungi in soil

• 3.Emerging roles for soil Bacteroidetes in complex carbon and organic phosphorus cycling: Ian D. E. A. Lidbury, Lucy Rogers, Sophie R. M. Groenhof and Andrew Hitchcock, University of Sheffield, UK; and Lauren S. McKee, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden;
• 4.Advances in understanding Actinobacteria in soil: Yuanyuan Bao, Xin Li and Ruirui Chen, Nanjing Forestry University, China; Youzhi Feng, Nanjing Forestry University, China and Chinese Academy of Sciences, China;
• 5.Fungi: advances in understanding the role of root-associated fungi in soil: Nimalka Weerasuriya, University of Western Ontario, Canada and A & L Biologicals, Canada; Noor Saeed Cheema, Marianna Wallace and R. Greg Thorn, University of Western Ontario, Canada; and Saveetha Kandasamy, Soledad Saldias and George Lazarovits, A & L Biologicals, Canada;

Part 3 Analysing structure and dynamics of soil microbiomes

• 6.Advances in understanding microbial communities in the rhizosphere: R. Regmi, Qi Yang, and Vadakattu V. S. R. Gupta, CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Australia;
• 7.Nematodes and their trophic interactions in the soil microbiome: Liliane Ruess, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany;
• 8.Advances in understanding soil microbiomes in ecosystem functioning across trophic chains: Karoline Jetter, University of Ulm, Germany; and Patrick Schäfer, Justus Liebig University, Germany;

Part 4 Soil microbiomes and ecosystem services

• 9.Advances in understanding the role of soil microbiomes in carbon cycling in soil: Alain F. Plante, University of Pennsylvania, USA; and Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA;
• 10.Advances in understanding the role of soil microbiomes in nutrient cycling: Tim Clough, Lincoln University, New Zealand;
• 11.Advances in understanding and exploiting the role of soil microbiomes in protecting crops against pathogens and pests: Rekha Kandaswamy, Bhagyam Agri-Enclave Pvt. Ltd, India; Himani Datta, SGS North America Inc., USA; Niladri Chaudhry, Food Corporation of India, India; Anuradha Gautam, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India; and Vasvi Chaudhry, University of Tübingen, Germany;
• 12.Advances in understanding the role of soil microbiomes in promoting crop resilient to drought stresss: Zakaria M. Solaiman and Kadambot H. M. Siddique, The UWA Institute of Agriculture, and UWA School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Australia;

Part 5 Promoting soil microbiomes and their contribution to soil ecosystem services

• 13.Understanding and optimizing soil physical properties to promote soil microbiomes: Wei Shi, North Carolina State University, USA;
• 14.Assessing the impact of inorganic fertilisers on soil microbiomes: Joann K. Whalen, McGill University, Canada and Center for Sustainable Soil Sciences (C3S), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morocco; and Shamim Gul, McGill University, Canada and University of Balochistan, Pakistan;
• 15.Understanding how land-use management affects soil microbiomes: Lucas William Mendes, Thierry Alexandre Pellegrinetti and Alexandre Pedrinho, Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Brazil; and Dennis Goss-Souza, Federal Institute of Paraná, Brazil;