Table 1.
Plant growth promoting microorganisms enhancing abiotic stress tolerance through various mechanisms.
| Plant specie | PGPMs | Plant-microbe interaction mechanism | Improved plant traits | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temperature stress | ||||
| Soybean | Bacillus cereus | Enhanced production of phytohormones (GA, IAA) and organic acids | Biomass, and chlorophyll content | (Khan et al., 2020a) |
| Soybean | Paecilomyces formosus LHL10, Penicillium funiculosum LHL06 | Improved nutrient uptake, upregulation of antioxidant enzymes to reduce lipid peroxidation | Plant growth attributes and photosynthetic activity | (Bilal et al., 2020) |
| Tomato | Paraburkholderia phytofirmans | Enhanced accumulation of sugars, total amino acids, proline, and malate | Chlorophyll content, and gaseous exchange | (Issa et al., 2018) |
| Wheat | Enterobacter sp. SA187 | Modifying the trimethylation of lysine 4 on histone H3 (H3K4me3) | Agronomic traits, biomass, and grain yield | (Shekhawat et al., 2021) |
| Rice | Brevibacterium linens RS16 | Regulation of antioxidant enzymes, heat shock proteins, and ethylene emission | Plant growth, and thermotolerance | (Choi et al., 2022) |
| Rice | Rhizobium sp. IIRR N1, Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus | Enhanced antioxidant enzymes (viz. SOD, CAT, APX) | Chlorophyll content, root and shoot biomass | (Chaganti et al., 2023) |
| Drought | ||||
| Peanut | Bradyrhizobium sp. SEMIA6144 | Increased soluble sugar and ABA contents | Plant growth and chlorophyll content | (Furlan et al., 2012) |
| Maize, Peanut | Enterobacter sp. J49 | Improved nitrogen fixation and IAA production | Pod and grain yield | (Anzuay et al., 2023) |
| Pea | Bacillus thuringiensis MH161336 | Regulation of antioxidant enzymes to decrease lipid peroxidation and ROS | Plant height, seed weight, number of leaves, and pods | (Arafa et al., 2021) |
| Broccoli | Variovorax sp. YNA59 | Increased SA level and antioxidant enzymes activities | Plant growth attributes, chlorophyll content, and moisture content | (Kim et al., 2020) |
| Wheat | Burkholderia phytofirmans PsJN | Improved ionic balance and antioxidant levels | Grain yield, photosynthetic rate, water use efficiency and chlorophyll content | (Naveed et al., 2014) |
| Salinity | ||||
| Rice | Bacillus pumilus JPVS11 | Increased IAA, ACC deaminase activity and EPS production | Plant growth, and chlorophyll content, | (Kumar et al., 2021) |
| Rice | Halobacillus dabanensis strains SB-26, GSP 34 | Nitrogen fixation and IAA production | Root length, shoot height, total weight, and chlorophyll content | (Rima et al., 2018) |
| Maize | Bacillus sp. PM31 | Improved radical scavenging capacity, antioxidants and upregulation of stress-related genes (APX and SOD) | Agro-morphological traits | (Ali et al., 2023) |
| Pea | Bacillus subtilis RhSt-71, Bacillus safensis RhStr-223, and Bacillus cereus RhStr-JH5 | Increased antioxidant enzymes, IAA synthesis, Phosphate solubilization, siderophore, and ammonia production | Chlorophyll content and plant growth | (Gupta et al., 2021) |
| Wheat | Bacillus megaterium strain PN89 | Higher Phosphate solubilization, and IAA, siderophore, and protease production | Germination percentage, root and shoot length, and other growth attributes | (Lee et al., 2021) |
GA, gibberellin; IAA, indole-3-acetic acid; SOD, superoxide dismutase; CAT, catalase; APX, ascorbate peroxidase; ABA, abscisic acid; ROS, reactive oxygen species; SA, salicylic acid; ACC, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate; EPS, extracellular polymeric substance.