Response of PGPR and AM Fungi Toward Growth and Secondary Metabolite Production in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

Abstract

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) are a group of naturally occurring benefi cial soil bacteria that colonize with the plant root system and promote growth by triggering the production of growth-regulating substances and facilitate the plants in the uptake of essential nutrients from the surrounding environments. Similarly, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi also enhanced the growth, water and nutrient uptake, and especially available phosphate through their specialized hyphae. In addition, PGPR and AM fungi are known to stimulate the accumulation of secondary metabolites in plants. For several years, they are commonly employed to increase the plant yield and productivity especially in agricultural practices. The medicinal and aromatic plants are gaining popularity worldwide due to high therapeutic properties with negligible toxic side effects. To fulfi ll the global demand and supply gap for medicinal and aromatic plants and their products, farmers are encouraged to cultivate these plants on a large scale. However, there is a need to understand and implement a better cultivation practices in order to improve the quality of medicinal and aromatic plants. In this regard, the utilization of PGPRs and AM fungi as biofertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers could be a promising approach to the development of medicinal and aromatic plants under the sustainable production system. The aim of this chapter is to describe the potentiality of PGPRs and AM fungi to improve growth and development of medicinal and aromatic plants and accumulation of secondary metabolites having high therapeutic worth and also pave a way in the development of new biotechnological products as biofertilizers.

Co-Inoculation of Bacillus spp. for Growth Promotion and Iron Fortification in Sorghum

“…In the present study, all the isolates showed positive for the production of ammonia. The accumulation of ammonia alters the soil's pH to alkaline and, thereby, inhibits the germination of fungal spores and the suppression of phytopathogenic fungi [44]. Our study confirmed the variations in the production of ACC deaminase and the hydrolytic enzymes, such as protease, cellulase, and amylase, among the isolates used in the study (Tables 1 and 2).…”

ACC Deaminase Producing Bacteria With Multifarious Plant Growth Promoting Traits Alleviates Salinity Stress in French Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) Plants

“…It suppresses the growth of certain fungi and nitrobacteria as it has potent inhibition effect. It also disturbs the equilibrium of the microbial community and inhibits germination of spores of many fungi (Swamy et al, 2016).…”

Humic Substances and Efficient Microorganisms: Elicitation of Medicinal Plants—A Review

“…Besides, microorganisms can act as elicitors and increase the production of secondary metabolites involved in the biological and pharmaceutical activity of medicinal plants (Mohammadi et al, 2017), such as flavonoids and terpenes content, phenolic compounds, microbial activity, chlorophyll content, nutrient uptake, plant growth and development (Banchio et al, 2008;Cappellari et al, 2013;Zhao et al, 2016;Damam et al, 2016;Swamy et al, 2016).…”

“…In addition to the rhizobacterium applied as elicitors, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM) can help to improve the physical, chemical and structural properties of the soil. By increasing the availability of phosphorus through its specialized hyphae, the organic matter content and reduction of the apparent soil density (Yousefi et al, 2011;Akhazari et al, 2015), water retention by stimulating the plant's root system to exploit greater soil volume and to assist in the accumulation of secondary metabolites (Swamy et al, 2016).…”