Modern molecular and omics tools for understanding the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria

Abstract

Current agricultural practices have become threats to the environment and to human health because of extensive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides to improve crop yields. The plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is a root-associated bacteria that produces that improve crop yield. While it is known that a PGPR is needed, due to the large number and types of PGPRs and soil types, it is difficult to determine the best PGPR for specific applications. Conventional techniques like morphological, staining, and biochemical are not precise enough, as many bacteria may be similar in morphology and produce the same biochemical reaction, but differ in genetic content. Even small genetic variations make a big difference in the performance of PGPRs and thus it is important to study PGPR with molecular techniques with the capability to discriminate very closely-related microbial samples within a community. © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.