Agricultural and Other Biotechnological Applications Resulting from Trophic Plant-Endophyte Interactions

Kuźniar Kuźniar,Wolińska Wolińska,Włodarczyk Włodarczyk

doi:10.3390/agronomy9120779

Kuźniar Kuźniar, Wolińska Wolińska + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9120779

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Abstract

Endophytic microbiota plays a role not only in supplying plants with the basic nutrients indispensable for their growth, but also helps them in the mechanisms of adaptation to various environmental stresses (i.e., salinity, drought), which is important in the aspect of crop yields. From the agricultural and biotechnological points of view, the knowledge of endophytes and their roles in increasing crop yields, plant resistance to diseases, and helping to survive environmental stress is extremely desirable. This paper reviews some of the beneficial plant–microbe interactions that might be potentially used in both agriculture (plant growth stimulation effect, adaptation of host organisms in salinity and drought conditions, and support of defense mechanisms in plants), and in biotechnology (bioactive metabolites, application of endophytes for bioremediation and biotransformation processes, and production of biofertilizers and biopreparations). Importantly, relatively recent reports on endophytes from the last 10 years are summarized in this paper.

Highlights

Interactions between living organisms usually result in increased biodiversity [1,2]
It was demonstrated that plant growth promoting (PGP) abilities and biological nitrogen fixation, followed by the production of secondary metabolites and bioactive compounds, synthesis of fungicides and bactericides, and protection against environmental stresses are the most important benefits that are provided to plants by endophytes (Table 1)
We assumed that the endophythic microbiota have many important and beneficial functions, i.e., they can produce many valuable metabolites, stimulate plant growth, and support plants in overcoming different environmental stresses, based on the newest literature findings

Summary

Introduction

Interactions between living organisms usually result in increased biodiversity [1,2]. It is applied as an effective tool for the identification and characterization of endophytic bacteria, providing an understanding of their interactions with host plants [12,15,17,23]. It was demonstrated that plant growth promoting (PGP) abilities and biological nitrogen fixation, followed by the production of secondary metabolites and bioactive compounds, synthesis of fungicides and bactericides, and protection against environmental stresses are the most important benefits that are provided to plants by endophytes (Table 1). Annapurna et al [33] analyzed the genome of the KMS80 strain Bacillus paralicheniformis while using the NGS technique, which made it possible to understand the process of endophytic nitrogen fixation and the positive effect on plant growth and crop yields. It was assumed that the ability to identify fungi that cannot be grown in vitro is a great advantage of NGS [30]

Biosynthesis of Factors Stimulating Plant Growth

The Role of Endophytes in Support of Defense Mechanisms in Plants

Conclusions