Abstract
The rhizospheric interactions between plant and the microbiome influence fertility of soil, growth, development, and yield of crop plants. The interplay between plant and the microbes provides various services to the plant which are helpful for the production of agricultural crops in a sustainable manner. Among all the factors, the most influential factor that can improve plant microbiome interplay is the soil microbial community of the rhizosphere, where soil microbes, soil, and the plant roots interact with each other. Microbial interventions to improve plant microbiome interactions involve the introduction of microbial inoculants, which consist of naturally occurring diverse microflora of soil that improve health of crop plant and can protect the host plant from stresses and diseases through a diverse range of mechanisms. The use of beneficial microbes as inoculants for production of crops increases the diversity of microorganisms in soil and also ensures the production of sufficient food for the growing human population. The soil microbiome and the plants work together in coordination with each other for the benefit of plant and soil. The number of functional characters of microbes such as fixation of molecular nitrogen, solubilization of inorganic phosphate and production of iron chelating agents, and plant growth promoting hormones are used as plant growth promotion traits for the selection of microbial isolates to be used as bio-inoculants. Microbial inoculants are economic and easy to use and their incorporation reduces the dependence on chemical fertilizers. Thus, their application protects the environment from adverse effects of inorganic fertilizers. But, there are number of natural factors that influence and limit the effectiveness and efficiency of inoculated microbes under field conditions. The use of microbial inoculants for sustainable agriculture will be an environmental benign approach to improve plant microbiome interactions for nutrient management and ecological functions.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Adesemoye AO, Torbert HA, Kloepper JW (2009) Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria allow reduced application rates of chemical fertilizers. Microb Ecol 58:921–929
Altieri MA (2004) Linking ecologists and traditional farmers in the search for sustainable agriculture. Front Ecol Environ 2:3542
Anonymous (2008) “Promoting Bio-fertilizers in Indian Agriculture Nilabja Ghosh, Institute of Economic Growth”, University Enclave, Delhi 110007, India
Arun KS (2007) Bio-fertilizers for sustainable agriculture. Mechanism of P solubilization, 6th edn. Agribios publishers, Jodhpur, pp 196–197
Behie SW, Zelisko PM, Bidochka MJ (2012) Endophytic insect-parasitic fungi translocate nitrogen directly from insects to plants. Science 336(6088):1576–1577
Berendsen RL, Pieterse CMJ, Bakker P (2012) The rhizosphere microbiome and plant health. Trends Plant Sci 17:478–486
Bulgarelli D, Schlaeppi K, Spaepen S, Ver Loren van Themaat E, Schulze-Lefert P (2013) Structure and functions of the bacterial microbiota of plants. Annu Rev Plant Biol 64:9.1–9.32
Chaparro JM, Sheflin AM, Manter DK, Vivanco JM (2012) Manipulating the soil microbiome to increase soil health and plant fertility. Biol Fertil Soils 48(5):489–499
De-la-Pena C, Badri DV, Lei Z, Watson BS, Brandao MM, Silva-Filho MC, Sumner LW, Vivanco JM (2010) Root secretion of defense- related proteins is development-dependent and correlated with flowering time. J Biol Chem 285:30654–30665
Faoro H, Alves AC, Souza EM, Rigo LU, Cruz LM, Janabi SM, Monteiro RA, Baura VA, Pedrosa FO (2010) Influence of soil characteristics on the diversity of bacteria in the southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Appl Environ Microbiol 76:4744–4749
Flores HE, Vivanco JM, Loyola-Vargas VM (1999) 'Radicle' biochemistry: the biology of root-specific metabolism. Trends Plant Sci 4:220–226
Gianinazzi S, Gollotte A, Binet MN, van Tuinen D, Redecker D, Wipf D (2010) Agroecology: the key role of arbuscular mycorrhizas in ecosystem services. Mycorrhiza 20:519–530
Gold MV (1995) Organic production/organic food: information access tools. USDA National Agricultural Library, Alternative Farming Systems Information Centre (http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/organic_production)
Guiñazú LB, Andrés JA, Del Papa MF, Pistorio M, Rosas SB (2009) Response of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) to single and mixed inoculation with phosphate-solubilizing bacteria and Sinorhizobium meliloti. Biol Fertil Soils 46:185–190
Hamilton EW, Frank DA (2001) Can plants stimulate soil microbes and their own nutrient supply? Evidence from a grazing tolerant grass. Ecology 82:2397–2402
Hartmann A, Rothballer M, Schmid M (2008) Lorenz Hiltner, a pioneer in rhizosphere microbial ecology and soil bacteriology research. Plant Soil 312(1):7–14
http://www.lookfordiagnosis.com/mesh_info.php?term=Azospirillum&lang=1
Khan A, Zaki MJ, Tariq M (2006) Seed treatment with nematicidal Rhizobium species for the suppression of Meloidogyne javanica root infection on mung bean. Int J Biol Biotechnol 3(3):575–578
Lugtenberg B (2015) Life of microbes in the rhizosphere. In: Lugtenberg B (ed) Principles of plant microbe interactions. Springer International Publishing Switzerland, Heidelberg, p 715
Mali GV, Bodhankar MG (2009) Antifungal and phytohormone production potential of Azotobacter chroococcum isolates from groundnut (Arachis Hypogea L.) rhizosphere. Asian J Exp Sci 23:293–297
Megali L, Glauser G, Rasmann S (2013) Fertilization with beneficial microorganisms decreases tomato defenses against insect pests. Agron Sustain Dev. doi:10.1007/s13593-013-0187-0
Mendes R, Garbeva P, Raaijmakers JM (2013) The rhizosphere microbiome: significance of plant beneficial, plant pathogenic, and human pathogenic microorganisms. FEMS Microbiol Rev 37:634–663
Morales SE, Holben WE (2011) Linking bacterial identities and eco- system processes: can ‘omic’ analyses be more than the sum of their parts? FEMS Microbiol Ecol 75:2
Odame H (1997) Biofertilizer in Kenya: research, production and extension dilemmas. Biotechnol Dev Monit 30:2023
Rahman M (2005) Effect of BAU-Biofungicide and nematicide Curaterr against root-knot of French bean. M.Sc. Thesis, Department of Plant Pathology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymen singh
Raj SA (2007) Bio-fertilizers for micronutrients. Biofertilizer Newsletter (July). pp. 8–10
Revillas JJ, Rodelas B, Pozo C, Martinez-Toledo MV, Gonzalez LJ (2000) Production of B-group vitamins by two Azotobacter strains with phenolic compounds as sole carbon source under diazotrophic and adiazotrophic conditions. J Appl Microbiol 89:486–493
Rousk J, Baath E, Brookes PC, Lauber CL, Lozupone C, Caporaso JG, Knight R, Fierer N (2010) Soil bacterial and fungal communities across a pH gradient in an arable soil. ISME J 4:1340–1351
Rudrappa T, Czymmek KJ, Paré PW, Bais HP (2008) Root-secreted malic acid recruits beneficial soil bacteria. Plant Physiol 148:1547–1556
Ryan MH, Angus JF (2003) Arbuscular mycorrhizae in wheat and field pea crops on a low P soil with increased Zn-uptake but no increase in P-uptake or yield. Plant Soil 250:225–239
Sahoo RK, Ansari MW, Dangar TK, Mohanty S, Tuteja N (2013) Phenotypic and molecular characterization of efficient nitrogen fixing Azotobacter strains of the rice fields. Protoplasma. doi:10.1007/s00709-013-0547-2
Sahoo RK, Ansari MW, Pradhan M, Dangar TK, Mohanty S, Tuteja N (2014) Phenotypic and molecular characterization of efficient native Azospirillum strains from rice fields for crop improvement. Protoplasma. doi:10.1007/s00709-013-0607-7
Saikia SP, Bora D, Goswami A, Mudoi KD, Gogoi A (2013) A review on the role of Azospirillum in the yield improvement of nonleguminous crops. Afr J Microbiol Res 6:1085–1102
Schloss PD, Handelsman J (2006) Toward a census of bacteria in soil. PLoS Comput Biol 2:92
Sharon E, Bar EM, Chet I, Herrera EA, Kleifeld O, Spiegel Y (2001) Biological control of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica by Trichoderma harzianum. Phytopathology 91(7):687–963
Venkatashwarlu B (2008) Role of bio-fertilizers in organic farming: Organic farming in rain fed agriculture: central institute for dry land agriculture, Hyderabad, 85–95
Wani SA, Chand S, Ali T (2013) Potential use of Azotobacter chroococcum in crop production: an overview. Curr Agric Res J 1:35–38
Wani SP, Lee KK (1995) Microorganisms as biological inputs for sustainable agriculture. In: Thampan PK (ed) Organic agriculture. Peekay Tree Crops Development Foundation, Cochin, pp 39–76
Wani SP, Lee KK (2002) Population dynamics of nitrogen fixing bacteria associated with pearl millet (P. americanum L.) In: Biotechnology of nitrogen fixation in the tropics. University of Pertanian, Serdang, pp 21–30
Youssef MMA, Eissa MFM (2014) Biofertilizers and their role in management of plant parasitic nematodes. A review. J Biotechnol Pharm Res 5(1):1–6
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gosal, S.K., Kaur, J. (2017). Microbial Inoculants: A Novel Approach for Better Plant Microbiome Interactions. In: Kumar, V., Kumar, M., Sharma, S., Prasad, R. (eds) Probiotics in Agroecosystem. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4059-7_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4059-7_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-4058-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-4059-7
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)