Bacterial Volatiles for Plant Growth
The rhizosphere is defined as the zone of soil surrounding the plant roots. Plant roots secrete a variety of plant exudates rich in nutrients resulting in accumulation of more bacteria in the rhizosphere region, generally 10–100 times higher than in the b
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18
Sreedevi Sarsan
Abstract
The rhizosphere is defined as the zone of soil surrounding the plant roots. Plant roots secrete a variety of plant exudates rich in nutrients resulting in accumulation of more bacteria in the rhizosphere region, generally 10–100 times higher than in the bulk soil. The bacteria colonizing this rhizosphere region are called as rhizobacteria, and those which help in promoting the growth of plants are called as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Currently, many biological approaches have gained importance for improving the crop production. One of the approaches includes using microbes as bioinoculants to promote growth and development of plants. Many rhizobacteria are presently being used as bioinoculants. They possess different mechanisms to enhance the plant growth such as nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, production of siderophores, production of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase (ACC), phytohormone production exhibiting antifungal activity, quorum sensing (QS) signal interference, induction of systemic resistance, interference with pathogen toxin production, and production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The production of VOCs by microorganisms can be considered as a novel characteristic property of PGPR in promoting the plant growth. The chemicals produced by microorganisms like bacteria and fungi as a part of their metabolism are called as microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs). These can modulate the physiology of plants and microorganisms and thus can provide an alternative method to use of chemicals in protecting plants from pathogens and increasing crop yield. MVOCs can be considered as ecofriendly and cost-effective strategy for sustainable agriculture.
S. Sarsan (*) Department of Microbiology, St. Pious X Degree & PG College for Women, Snehapuri Colony, Nacharam, Hyderabad 500076, Telangana, India e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 D.K. Choudhary et al. (eds.), Volatiles and Food Security, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-5553-9_18
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S. Sarsan
Keywords
Rhizosphere • Plant growth promoting Rhiobacteria (PGPR) • Bioinoculants • Volatile organic compounds
18.1 Introduction The soil has the most dynamic biological component with diverse types of living organisms – microorganisms as well as larger soil fauna such as nematodes, earthworms, ants, insects, rodents, etc. A wide range of microorganisms inhabit soil, but the most important ones are bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, algae, protozoa, and viruses. These microbes vary in numbers and types owing to the vast differences in the physical and chemical characteristics of soils and also differences in agricultural practices. Microorganisms in soil are important in affecting soil structure and maintaining soil fertility. Microbes play an important role in cycling of nutrient elements (C, N, P, S, Fe) and are sources of industrial products such as enzymes, antibiotics, organic acids, vitamins, etc. The bacteria are the most dominant of all the soil micr
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