Rhizobacteria: Tools for the management of plant abiotic stresses

Plants are continuously exposed to a plethora of threats originating from different biotic and abiotic stressors, which have escalated over time due to change in global climate pattern as well as human interferences and the subject of stress is imperative in influencing plant growth and crop production all around the world. Diverse methods like use of plants with natural tolerance or plants with modified tolerance by use of stress-related genes are available for alleviation of such stresses. Nevertheless, the use of rhizospheric microorganisms having plant growth-promoting traits has also been proved to be effective under stressful conditions. Such microbes can symbiotically or non-symbiotically alleviate the effects of stress and enhance plant growth. Therefore, diverse microbial species and strains are isolated, screened, tested, and used as microbial inoculums worldwide. The vast influence of rhizospheric microbes toward the growth and production of crop plants can be environmentally and economically significant. This chapter highlights the management and mitigation of various abiotic stressors and their effects on plants by exploring the opportunities available with the rhizobacterial microbes.