REVIEW

Rhizosphere Microbiome Signalling and Biotic Stress Tolerance in Plants

In the age of ever-increasing population density, the escalating demand for food has to be met. Irrespective of whether individuals prefer animal-derived food or not, the pressure on agricultural systems continues to intensify as it provides the most sustainable means to feed the masses. The climatic variability of crops or dietary preferences is only a part of the problem. The major issue lies in the viability of plants and their resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Being a huge threat to agriculture, numerous efforts have been made to study and subdue the effects of biotic stress on plants. One such sustainable approach could be the utilisation of microbes inhabiting the rhizosphere. In this review, we thus shed some light on the practical data to discuss the rhizosphere microbiome and how it affects the plant, particularly in conferring resistance to biotic stresses via priming the host plant and promoting the induced systemic resistance (ISR), antagonistic or competitive interactions with pathogens, strengthening insect pest resistance and control and disease suppression. The prospects that this field holds when combined with superior techniques like genetic engineering are immense for the development of a viable and fully-fledged plan for attaining sustainable agriculture.