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What Is Expected from the Genus Azospirillum as a Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria?

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Bacteria in Agrobiology: Plant Growth Responses

Abstract

Bacteria capable of stimulating plant growth are generally known as plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB). Among them are Azospirillum species that influence plant growth through different mechanisms. Azospirillum is a Gram-negative bacterium that belongs to the alphaproteobacteria phylum. On the basis of the newly discovered species (at present 15), it is present not only in a wide diversity of plants, including those of agronomic importance such as cereals, sugarcane; and forage grasses, but also in other non-Poaceae plant species. Due to the capacity for improving plant yield in agronomically important crops, Azospirillum possesses biotechnological application as inoculant or biofertilizer. Among the mechanisms involved in promoting plant growth are N2 fixation, P solubilization, phytohormone production (auxins, cytokinins, and gibberellins), increased nutrient uptake, enhanced stress resistance, vitamin production, siderophores, and biocontrol activity. Some of them, as well as their agricultural application, are discussed in this chapter.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the support of CYTED (409AC0379) and CNPq (49.0013/2009-0) through the DIMIAGRI project. The first and second authors acknowledge the INCT – Instituto Nacional de C & T de Fixação Biológica de Nitrogênio. The third author acknowledges to CIUNT and ANPCyT (PICT 2007 N°472) grants and to Guerrero-Molina MF for providing Fig. 6.1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Embrapa Agrobiology, BR 465 Km 7, Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, CEP 23851–970, Brazil

    Veronica Massena Reis & Kátia Regina dos Santos Teixeira

  2. Faculty of Agronomy and Zootechny, National University of Tucumán, Av. Roca 1900, 4000, Tucumán, Argentina

    Raúl Osvaldo Pedraza

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  1. Veronica Massena Reis
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  2. Kátia Regina dos Santos Teixeira
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  3. Raúl Osvaldo Pedraza
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Correspondence to Veronica Massena Reis .

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  1. , Dept. of Botany Microbiology, Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar (Uttarakhand), 249404, India

    Dinesh K. Maheshwari

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Reis, V.M., Teixeira, K.R.d.S., Pedraza, R.O. (2011). What Is Expected from the Genus Azospirillum as a Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria?. In: Maheshwari, D. (eds) Bacteria in Agrobiology: Plant Growth Responses. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20332-9_6

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