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. 2015 Dec;38(4):401-19.
doi: 10.1590/S1415-475738420150053. Epub 2015 Nov 3.

Plant growth-promoting bacteria as inoculants in agricultural soils

Rocheli de Souza  1 , Adriana Ambrosini  1 , Luciane M P Passaglia  1
Affiliations

Plant growth-promoting bacteria as inoculants in agricultural soils

Rocheli de Souza et al. Genet Mol Biol. 2015 Dec.

Abstract

Plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere are the determinants of plant health, productivity and soil fertility. Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) are bacteria that can enhance plant growth and protect plants from disease and abiotic stresses through a wide variety of mechanisms; those that establish close associations with plants, such as the endophytes, could be more successful in plant growth promotion. Several important bacterial characteristics, such as biological nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, ACC deaminase activity, and production of siderophores and phytohormones, can be assessed as plant growth promotion (PGP) traits. Bacterial inoculants can contribute to increase agronomic efficiency by reducing production costs and environmental pollution, once the use of chemical fertilizers can be reduced or eliminated if the inoculants are efficient. For bacterial inoculants to obtain success in improving plant growth and productivity, several processes involved can influence the efficiency of inoculation, as for example the exudation by plant roots, the bacterial colonization in the roots, and soil health. This review presents an overview of the importance of soil-plant-microbe interactions to the development of efficient inoculants, once PGPB are extensively studied microorganisms, representing a very diverse group of easily accessible beneficial bacteria.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Rhizosphere/bacteria interactions. A) Different types of association between plant roots and beneficial soil bacteria; B) After colonization or association with roots and/or rhizosphere, bacteria can benefit the plant by (i) tolerance toward abiotic stress through action of ACC deaminase; (ii) defense against pathogens by the presence of competitive traits such as siderophore production; (iii) increase of fertility and plant growth through biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), IAA (indole-3-acetic acid) production, and phosphate solubilization around roots.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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