Abstract
Endophytic microorganisms present inside the host plant play an essential role in host fitness, nutrient supply and stress tolerance. Endophytes are often used in sustainable agriculture as biofertilizers, biopesticides and as inoculants to mitigate abiotic stresses including salinity, drought, cold and pH variation in the soil. In changing climatic conditions, abiotic stresses create global challenges to achieve optimum crop yields in agricultural production. Plants experience stress conditions that involve endogenous boosting of their immune system or the overexpression of their defensive redox regulatory systems with increased reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, rising stress factors overwhelm the natural redox protection systems of plants, which leads to massive internal oxidative damage and death. Endophytes are an integral internal partner of hosts and have been shown to mitigate abiotic stresses via modulating local or systemic mechanisms and producing antioxidants to counteract ROS in plants. Advancements in omics and other technologies have been made, but potential application of endophytes remains largely unrealized. In this review article, we will discuss the diversity, population and interaction of endophytes with crop plants as well as potential applications in abiotic stress management.
Highlights
Global agricultural productivity is largely influenced by various abiotic factors including drought, salinity, cold, heat and variations in soil pH that hamper optimum agricultural yields
We summarize research regarding endophytic microbial strains that are an integral part of a beneficial and sustainable approach in control of abiotic stresses including drought and salinity stresses
Shotgun metagenome analysis of uncultured microbe communities of endophytic bacteria revealed the population of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria which can play a role in plant-growth promotion and abiotic stress tolerance [122]
Summary
Global agricultural productivity is largely influenced by various abiotic factors including drought, salinity, cold, heat and variations in soil pH that hamper optimum agricultural yields. Plants systems increase water use efficiency by reducing stomatal aperture and transpiration rate [10], while long term exposure of drought disrupts chloroplasts and starch granules, which directly affect photochemical activities and decrease transpiration rate of the plant [11,12]. Salinity is another challenging abiotic stress factor that severely affects physiological and metabolic processes of plants through reduce seedling growth, decreased photosynthetic activity, water stress, ion toxicity and decreased rates of protein synthesis and lipid metabolism [13,14]. We summarize research regarding endophytic microbial strains that are an integral part of a beneficial and sustainable approach in control of abiotic stresses including drought and salinity stresses
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