The increasing human population expected in the next decades, the growing demand of livestock products-which production requires higher amounts of feed products fabrication, the collective concern about food quality in industrialized countries together with the need to protect the fertility of soils, in particular, and the environment, in general, constitute as a whole big challenge that worldwide agriculture has to face nowadays. Some soil bacteria harbor mechanisms to promote plant growth, which include phytostimulation, nutrient mobilization, biocontrol of plant pathogens and abiotic stresses protection. These bacteria have also been proved as promoters of vegetable food quality. Therefore, these microbes, also so-called Plant Probiotic Bacteria, applied as biofertilizers in crop production, constitute an environmental friendly manner to contribute to produce the food and feed needed to sustain world population. In this review, we summarize some of the best-known mechanisms of plant probiotic bacteria to improve plant growth and develop a more sustainable agriculture.

Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas Universidade de Évora Évora Portugal

Laboratory of Fungal Genetics and Metabolism Institute of Microbiology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague Czech Republic

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Global Map of Specialized Metabolites Encoded in Prokaryotic Plasmids

Comprehensive proteomic analysis of exoproteins expressed by ERIC I, II, III and IV Paenibacillus larvae genotypes reveals a wide range of virulence factors