Chapter 2 - Plant–bacterial interactions in management of plant growth under abiotic stresses

Abstract

Being sessile living beings, plants face enormous challenges from their surrounding environment. These stresses include temperature extremes, water levels change, presence of inorganic and organic pollutants, salinity, and scarcity of nutrients. Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) have been documented to facilitate plants’ health and productivity in presence of a number of abiotic stress stimuli. Some of the key mechanisms by which a PGPB could help host plant under abiotic stresses include resource acquisition and plant hormone modulation. This chapter will primarily focus on the interactions between plants and their microbiome, how they can help each other, and more importantly, how the plant colonization process by endophytic and rhizospheric PGPB facilitates plant growth under abiotic stress conditions.