Heriberto Fortino Ramírez-Cariño, Isidro Morales, Paula Cecilia Guadarrama-Mendoza,

Alba Arely Tlilayatzi-Bello, Rogelio Valadez-Blanco,

Chapter 17 - Beneficial traits of crop-associated rhizobacteria toward plant growth
promotion, biofertilization, and nutrient enhancement of harvested agro-products,
Editor(s): Kamel A. Abd-Elsalam, Heba I. Mohamed,
In Nanobiotechnology for Plant Protection,
Bacterial Secondary Metabolites,
Elsevier,
2024,
Pages 299-334,
ISBN 9780323952514,
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-95251-4.00005-3.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323952514000053)
Abstract: Considering the global demand for food crops and the adverse effects of
the indiscriminate use of agrochemicals in current agriculture, the use of
rhizospheric bacterial strains as biofertilizers emerges as a promising strategy to
produce food crops in a sustainable manner. A variety of rhizobacterial
microorganisms have desirable characteristics that can foster plant growth and
nutrient enhancement in the harvested agro-products. Different biofertilization
mechanisms are used by microorganisms in their interaction with the plant, such as
mineral solubilization, the production of phytohormones and siderophores, and other
secondary metabolites and enzymes. On the other hand, through the synthesis of
organic compounds, beneficial rhizobacteria can not only favor the growth of the
plant but also exert a protective activity against pathogens (biocontrol) and
induce the plant’s resistance toward abiotic factors that affect its development.
Furthermore, there is a growing interest in researching the impact of
biofertilization on crop growth and yield, as well as nutritional quality and the
production of bioactive compounds in harvested products. This review emphasizes the
relevance of rhizobacteria used as biofertilizers in crop development and
productivity, considering the effect of the bacterial inoculants on the alteration
of the rhizosphere microbiome’s composition and diversity, the biofertilization
mechanisms, and the induction of the plant’s resistance to biotic and abiotic
stresses. The emphasis of this review was directed toward in vivo studies focusing
on seedlings, plants, and final crop products that attest to the applicability of
crop biofertilization as a sustainable alternative to face the current global
agricultural challenges.
Keywords: Beneficial rhizobacteria; quality of agro-products; abiotic stress;
rhizospheric microbiome; plant nutrition; biological control