Research progress on endophyte-promoted plant nitrogen assimilation and metabolism

Improvement of nitrogen accumulation and metabolism in rice (Oryza sativa L.) by the endophyte Phomopsis liquidambari

“…Recently, the potential for microbes to increase nutrient availability and to enhance crop growth has garnered the attention of researchers, and increasing reliance on biological processes and plant interactions with microbes through 'ecological intensification' may be one of the most promising strategies to overcome these problems (Tikhonovich and Provorov, 2011;Yang et al, 2013). For example, the formation of arbuscular mycorrhizas (AM) have been found to enhance the capacity of plants to acquire N from both inorganic and organic sources (Hodge et al, 2001;Cavagnaro et al, 2006;Hodge and Fitter, 2010); biological nitrogen fixation (e.g., rhizobia and diazotrophs) also directly contributes to N nutrient availability (Franche et al, 2009).…”