Abstract
Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been studied over centuries for their role in increasing nutrient uptake, providing various growth hormones and mitigating biotic and abiotic stresses. The production of growth hormones, organic acids and enzymes for nutrient mineralization and solubilization; rhizo-remediation of heavy metals; synthesis of osmoprotectants, antioxidants, hydrolytic enzymes and antifungal compounds; quorum quenching; release of siderophores; etc. have been so far linked with plant-beneficial PGPR activities. Apart from these roles, a novel trend in PGPR-mediated plant benefits is structural modification of the root system architecture of the associated plants. Root system is the most important organ that satisfies most of the plant needs but unfortunately left unattended in research areas. However, there are certain studies reporting the capability of PGPR to improve or strengthen the plant root system architecture (RSA). Synchronizing the ability of PGPR to improve the root development of field crops is lacking which would be highly useful to help the crops sustain the adverse conditions. In the present review, PGPR-mediated root architectural improvements are linked to plant growth promotion. Various mechanisms adopted by different PGPR for RSA alteration and the resulting multiple benefits to the plant are highlighted and sequentially explained. This article would facilitate detailed understanding on PGPR-mediated RSA studies and pave a platform for further exploration of PGPR related to RSA improvement for achieving sustainable yield of agriculturally important crops.
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Acknowledgements
The financial support from Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi, India, through Centre of Excellence in Frontier Areas of Science and Technology on Microbes to Feed the World: Plant-microbe interaction to boost the agricultural production (F. No. 5-5/2014 – TS VII) to conduct this investigation is acknowledged.
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Ambreetha, S., Balachandar, D. (2019). Rhizobacteria-Mediated Root Architectural Improvement: A Hidden Potential for Agricultural Sustainability. In: Kumar, A., Meena, V. (eds) Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria for Agricultural Sustainability . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7553-8_6
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