PGPR-Mediated Salinity Stress Tolerance
摘要
A major abiotic stressor that hinders crop growth and results in low yields, salinity poses a serious threat to global food security. By producing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and peroxiding vital biomolecules, it simultaneously inhibits plant growth, induces ionic toxicity, osmotic stress, and oxidative stress. An accumulation of Na+ and Cl− in the soil due to excessive salt causes hyperosmotic and hyperionic stress, which hinders the ability of plants to absorb nutrients and water. Conventional approaches to salinity management frequently don’t function well over an extended period of time or in a sustainable manner. In recent times, microbe-assisted strategies, especially the use of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR), have become promising, environmentally friendly ways to improve plant resilience under salt stress. These strategies could also help restore soil fertility and increase crop productivity. This chapter will examine the forefront developments in PGPR-mediated salinity stress tolerance, including CRISPR-edited strains and synthetic microbial consortia, focusing on integrative and innovative methodologies. CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats) enables precise modification of genes in plants related to stress tolerance, enhancing traits like ACC deaminase activity and exopolysaccharide production etc. These engineered strains help plants maintain ion balance, osmotic stability, and antioxidant defense under salinity. The advancements made in the field of PGPR-mediated resilience through multi-omics approaches (viz., genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) to unravel the intricate interactions between PGPR and plants have been discussed, including their molecular pathways involved in stress tolerance.