Bacteria in Agrobiology: Plant Probiotics, 2012

The future of agriculture strongly depends on our ability to enhance productivity without sacrificing long-term production potential. An ecologically and economically sustainable strategy is the application of microorganisms, such as the diverse bacterial species of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB). The use of these bio-resources for the enhancement of crop productivity is gaining worldwide importance.

 "Bacteria in Agrobiology: Plant Probiotics" discusses the current trends and future prospects of beneficial microorganisms acting as Probiotics. Topics include the application for the aboveground fitness of plants, in mountain ecosystems, in tropical and Mediterranean forests, and in muga sericulture. Further aspects are Arabidopsis as a model system for the diversity and complexity of plant responses, plant parasitic nematodes, nitrogen fixation and phosphorus nutrition.

Probiotics for Plants: Importance of Rhizobacteria on Aboveground Fitness in Plants.- Bacterial Inoculants for Field Applications under Mountain Ecosystem: Present Initiatives and Future Prospects.- Potential Use of Soil Microbial Community in Agriculture.- Impact of Application of Biofertilizers on Soil Structure and Resident Microbial Community Structure and Function.- The Impact of Mycorrhizosphere Bacterial Communities on Soil Biofunctioning in Tropical and Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems.- Ecology of Bacterial Endophytes in Sustainable Agriculture.- Strategies for the Exploration and Development of Biofertilizer.- Endophytic Bacteria and their Role in Legumes Growth Promotion.- Role of PGPR under Different Agroclimatic Conditions.- Consortium of Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria: Future Perspective in Agriculture.- Signals in the Rhizosphere and their Effects on the Interactions between Microorganisms and Plants.- Role of plant - Microbe Interactions in the Sustainable Development of Muga Sericulture.- Arabidopsis as a Model System to Decipher the Diversity and Complexity of Plant Responses to Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria.- Interactions of plant parasitic nematodes and plant pathogenic bacteria.- PGPR Mediated Systemic Resistance for Sustainable Agriculture.- Potential of PGPR for Sustainable Agriculture.- Contribution of N₂ fixation for the World Agriculture.- Plant Probiotics in Phosphorus Nutrition in Crops, with Special Reference to Rice.