Rhizosphere pseudomonads as probiotics improving plant health

Abstract

Many root-colonizing microbes are multifaceted in traits that improve plant health. Although isolates designated as biological control agents directly reduce pathogen growth, many exert additional beneficial features that parallel changes induced in animal and other hosts by health-promoting microbes termed probiotics. Both animal and plant probiotics cause direct antagonism of pathogens and induce systemic immunity in the host to pathogens and other stresses. They also alter host development and improve host nutrition. The probiotic root-colonizing pseudomonads are generalists in terms of plant hosts, soil habitats and the array of stress responses that are ameliorated in the plant. This article illustrates how the probiotic pseudomonads, nurtured by the carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) sources released by the plant in root exudates, form protective biofilms on the root surface and produce the metabolites or enzymes to boost plant health. The findings reveal the multifunctional nature of many of the microbial metabolites in the plant-probiotic interplay. The beneficial effects of probiotics on plant function can contribute to sustainable yield and quality in agricultural production.

Keywords: antimicrobials; biofertilizer; biofilms; biopesticide; induced systemic resistance.

Figure 1

Summary of the potential probiotic‐like effects associated with plant colonization by beneficial pseudomonads. The image of a wheat root tip is shown, colonized by Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6 and stained to reveal cells with accumulations of nitric oxide.

Figure 2

Schematic diagram of the basic positive interplay between the metabolism of the plant and its probiotic‐like root colonizers.