Seedborne microbiota from tolerant rice genotype: a new approach to enhance salt-tolerance in sensitive varieties

Rapid population growth and rising food demand present severe challenges to agroecosystems. One significant constraint to crop productivity worldwide is soil salinity. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an essential crop worldwide feeding half of the world population, but it is highly susceptible to abiotic stress conditions, including soil salinity. Seedborne PGPB (plant growth promoting bacteria) have been gaining attention since it constitutes a primary inoculum for the plant. Identifying salt-tolerant PGPB (ST-PGPB) can lead to novel mechanisms for coping with salt stress and providing sustainable solutions for agriculture. Inoculation of salt-sensitive rice plants with P. pabuli, B. subtilis, B. altitudinis show promising improvement in salt-tolerance. The genes OsHKT2;1 and OsCATA, seem to have the potential to be influenced by PGPB.