The potential of PGPB consortia as a sustainable solution for boosting crop productivity under stress is discussed and the key limitations, challenges, and research gaps associated with PGPB consortia are highlighted.
Abstract
Abiotic and biotic stresses significantly threaten global food security and agricultural sustainability. Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land), requires sustainable agricultural approaches. Recently, plant growth-promoting bacterial (PGPB) consortia have emerged as an effective strategy for enhancing crop productivity under stress conditions. These microbial communities improve plant growth through mechanisms such as nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, phytohormone production, siderophore secretion, ACC deaminase activity, induction of systemic resistance, while enhancing nutrient uptake, antioxidant activity, osmotic regulation, and stress-responsive signalling pathways, thus improving plant health and productivity. Compared with single-strain inoculants, consortia provide synergistic effects that enhance rhizosphere colonization, microbial survival, and plant-microbe interactions, thus contributing to the achievement of the SDGs. Recent advances in modern tools such as metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metabolomics, and machine learning for predictive microbiome modelling, as well as field-level engineering approaches such as encapsulation technologies, biochar-based carriers, seed coating, and root microbiome editing, have accelerated the development of efficient microbial formulations for sustainable agriculture. This review discusses the potential of PGPB consortia as a sustainable solution for boosting crop productivity under stress. The integration of consortia into modern agricultural practices can play a crucial role in supporting resilient farming systems and advancing the global SDG agenda. This review highlights the key limitations, challenges, and research gaps associated with PGPB consortia, as well as future prospects for enhancing crop productivity.
Microbial biostimulants (MBs) are gaining recognition as an essential component of sustainable agriculture due to their ability to enhance crop productivity, improve resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses, and reduce dependence on synthetic agricultural inputs. As global agricultural systems face increasing challenges from climate change and environmental degradation, MBs offer an environmentally sustainable strategy to improve plant performance and maintain long-term soil health. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in the development and application of MBs, with particular emphasis on plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Their mechanisms of action are comprehensively reviewed, including their roles in enhancing nutrient acquisition, stimulating plant growth, and improving tolerance to environmental stresses. The synergistic effects of PGPR–AMF consortia in improving crop productivity and quality under adverse environmental conditions are also discussed. In addition, the review evaluates the direct and indirect mechanisms through which MBs mitigate drought, salinity, nutrient deficiency, and pathogen pressure. Current challenges, including limited mechanistic understanding, inconsistent field performance, and formulation standardization, are critically discussed. To maximize the potential of MBs, future research should focus on elucidating plant–microbe interactions using advanced multi-omics approaches, optimizing microbial consortia and formulations, and validating their efficacy through long-term, multi-location field trials. These advances will facilitate the wider adoption of MBs for improving soil health, enhancing food security, and supporting climate-resilient and resource-efficient agricultural systems.
The role of PGPF in climate-resilient cropping systems and circular bioeconomy frameworks, including waste valorization and biofertilizer development is highlighted and key limitations such as host specificity, environmental variability, and scalability challenges are identified.
Kallol Das, A. Sarker, D. Deepo et al.· Phyton· 0 citations
This review uniquely integrates the biochemical, physiological, and molecular mechanisms of PGPR in plant nutrition and stress mitigation while critically analyzing contradictory field results and highlighting newly characterized strains and sustainable tools for climate-resilient agriculture.
Pan Qi, Haoyue Liang, Liquan Zhao et al.· Frontiers in Microbiology· 0 citations
Current evidence remains insufficient to support widespread field application without long-term ecological monitoring, standardized assessment protocols, and evaluation of economic feasibility for smallholder farming systems.
O. Oyewole, S. A. Oyegbade, Abdullah S Albaqami· Integrated Environmental Ass...· 0 citations
Abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures (cold, hot), heavy metal toxicity, flooding, pollutants, and nutrient imbalances are emerging as major threats to global agri-food and nutritional security, significantly constraining crop productivity and resilience. Nowadays, the situation has deteriorated owing to the accelerated and profound alterations in global climatic patterns. It is utmost need to understand and find out the various adaptive and alleviative practices to reduce the impact, in which plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have the ability to assuage the negative impact of the various stresses and enhanced seed spices productivity and profitability. The interface between PGPR and crops under various stresses are positive worldwide. PGPR play a significant role in enhancing nutrient availability in the soil–plant–microbe system. Additionally, PGPR help lower ethylene levels, increase the concentration of osmolytes, and defend crops from oxidative injure under a diversity of environmental multiple stresses. The application of PGPR to seed spice crops represents a promising strategy to enhance productivity and improve plant resilience under various stress conditions. This review highlights the role of PGPR in mitigating abiotic stresses in seed spice crops and underscores the need for future research to develop effective, long-lasting microbial formulations that support sustainable cultivation under multiple stress conditions.
H. Parewa, V. Meena, Ramniwas Choudhary et al.· Discover Soil· 0 citations
This review critically examines the current knowledge on the functional roles of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria in pistachio production and identified the key knowledge gaps and research priorities required to improve the consistency, scalability, and field validation of microbiome-based approaches for sustainable pistachio production under increasingly challenging environmental conditions.
L. Vera, J. Retamal-Salgado, G. Tortella et al.· Plants· 0 citations
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