Nature’s Own Engineers: Role of Rhizosphere Microbiome to Confer Resistance to Host Plants Against Drought and Salinity
摘要
The two main abiotic factors that continuously reduce agricultural productivity are salinity and drought. The predicament is further worsened by a rapid population explosion and constantly shifting climate. A number of strategies have been considered to reduce abiotic stress and boost output. Because chemical fertilizers can increase productivity and profit, they have become overly popular; nonetheless, the extended use of these fertilizers damages the ecosystem of the soil. It is necessary to use sustainable farming methods in order to boost crop yields, reduce stress, and protect the environment. The rhizosphere is the biologically most diverse part of the ecosystem of plants that includes a wide variety of beneficial as well as pathogenic microbial communities. Both plant growth-promoting endophytic bacteria (PGPEB) and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can be used as bioinoculants and have largely been found to be the most promising candidates for regulating salinity and drought. Several processes, including phytohormone modulation, antioxidant enzyme production, and upregulation of stress-responsive genes, may contribute to the beneficial effects of PGPR-host interaction. In order to counteract various abiotic challenges, such as salinity and drought, rhizosphere engineering has become increasingly popular as an emerging modern technique. The purpose of this chapter is to examine our present knowledge of the cooperative mechanism that underlies PGPR’s resistance to salinity and drought stress as well as the potential future applications of rhizosphere engineering for sustainable agriculture. In order to support further research in these areas, the chapter also highlights a few pertinent future research questions.