Enhancing Agricultural Sustainability through Microbial-Mediated Abiotic Stress Tolerance

Abstract

Global environmental problems lead to plants life extremely stressful. Plants are exposed to more prevalent incidences of abiotic stresses like salinity, drought, high temperature, etc. The most significant factors that reduce agricultural productivity are abiotic stresses. Plants are part of ecosystem entities, and the future of sustainable agriculture will be based on the exploitation of the potential of plant-associated microbial communities. Microorganisms produce significant amounts of metabolites that help plants to cope with these stresses. Plants interactions with microorganisms create a diverse ecosystem in which both partners occasionally share a cooperative relationship. This review emphasizes the plant-microbe interactions and provides a roadmap that how microorganisms such as Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi, Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria and endophytes are used to mitigate the negative effects of various stresses to improve crop productivity. This review also elaborates molecular and biochemical mechanisms in plants and microbes to tolerate abiotic stress. Furthermore, the most recent developments in the study of plant-microbe intermodulation with a novel approach will allow us to use a multifaceted tool “biostimulants” against abiotic stress. The important challenges of commercializing biostimulants for improving crop yield under several plant growth environmental constraints are also included in this review. As a result, the purpose of this review is to illustrate the effects of different abiotic stressors on plants, as well as the role of beneficial plant microbes in helping to overcome the negative impact of abiotic stresses.

Microbial Engineering for a Greener Ecosystem and Agriculture: Recent Advances and Challenges

“…5 The engineering of wild microbes to produce a potent microbial inoculant offers improved crop productivity, biological control, plant growth, tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses, nutrient uptake and increased soil fertility. [6][7][8] Sustainable agriculture includes different dimensions like development of agroforestry, biofertilizers to avoid chemical pesticides, production of green manure, conservation tillage, intercropping and crop rotation (Figure 1). 9,10 Engineered microbes are reducing the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers and can act as biopesticides and biofertilizers.…”