Harnessing endophytic microbial diversity for stress alleviation: Current perspectives for crop improvement

Plants are no longer considered to be just living organisms but a network harboring diverse and complex connections between microbes residing over outer and in inner tissues and with the environment. It is observed that plants growing in nearly all zones are associated with complex microbiomes that can promote plant growth, nutrient enrichment, tolerance to abiotic stresses, and antagonize the effect of phytopathogens. Microbial endophytes are an essential and diverse group of symbionts colonizing with the internal plant tissues and developing an asymptomatic association with their host without provoking any disease symptoms in the plants. Because stress factors are major limitations to crop production, global agricultural production needs to be intensified in a more sustained manner to approach the solutions for mitigating abiotic and biotic stresses in crop plants. Undoubtedly, the plant-microbe interaction is beneficial to prevent the direct or indirect crop losses caused due to stress and represents a promising solution for improved agricultural production. This chapter intends to present recent research activities concerning the biotechnological applications of beneficial plant growth-promoting microbes in promoting plant growth and management of soil health under the impact of various stress factors.