RESEARCH ARTICLE


Plant-microbe Cross-talk in the Rhizosphere: Insight and Biotechnological Potential



Shyamalina Haldar , Sanghamitra Sengupta*
Department of Biochemistry, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata-700019, India


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Creative Commons License
© Haldar and Sengupta; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata-700019, India; Tel: 91-33-24614712; Fax: 91-33-24614849; E-mail: sanghamitrasg@yahoo.com


Abstract

Rhizosphere, the interface between soil and plant roots, is a chemically complex environment which supports the development and growth of diverse microbial communities. The composition of the rhizosphere microbiome is dynamic and controlled by multiple biotic and abiotic factors that include environmental parameters, physiochemical properties of the soil, biological activities of the plants and chemical signals from the plants and bacteria which inhabit the soil adherent to root-system. Recent advancement in molecular and microbiological techniques has unravelled the interactions among rhizosphere residents at different levels. In this review, we elaborate on various factors that determine plant-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere, with an emphasis on the impact of host genotype and developmental stages which together play pivotal role in shaping the nature and diversity of root exudations. We also discuss about the coherent functional groups of microorganisms that colonize rhizosphere and enhance plant growth and development by several direct and indirect mechanisms. Insights into the underlying structural principles of indigenous microbial population and the key determinants governing rhizosphere ecology will provide directions for developing techniques for profitable applicability of beneficial microorganisms in sustainable agriculture and nature restoration.

Keywords: Agriculture, ecology, microbe-microbe interaction, plant-microbe interaction, rhizosphere, root exudates.