Association of Rhizospheric/Endophytic Bacteria with Plants: A Potential Gateway to Sustainable Agriculture

Application of associative bacteria for sustainable agriculture holds immense potential. These bacteria are known to enhance growth and yield of plants by fixing atmospheric nitrogen, solubilization of phosphate, production of phytohormones and siderophores, possession of antagonistic activity as well as reducing the level of stress ethylene in host plants. Colonization of these bacteria can be tracked by tagging them with certain molecular markers such as β-glucuronidase (gus) or green fluorescent protein (gfp) followed by electron microscopy or laser scanning confocal microscopy. Associative bacteria and endophytes may express genes differentially to colonize and establish the plant interior. They may also use ‘quorum sensing’ molecules for colonization process. Present review aims to highlight various plant growth promoting properties, ecology and updates of molecular mechanisms involved in interaction between associative bacteria and plants as well as immune responses triggered by these bacteria in plants.