Summary
This review examines the use of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) as sustainable biofertilizers capable of mobilising multiple essential nutrients (N, P, K, S, Zn, Fe) for crop production. It discusses emerging approaches including synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) and host-mediated microbiome engineering (HMME), which leverage advanced omics techniques to enhance plant-microbe interactions and nutrient acquisition efficiency. The authors highlight a critical gap between promising laboratory results and inconsistent field performance, identifying this as a key area for future research in precision crop fertilisation.
UK applicability
The findings are relevant to UK arable and horticulture sectors seeking to reduce synthetic fertiliser dependence and improve nutrient-use efficiency. However, the review's emphasis on the gap between controlled and field efficacy suggests careful validation in UK soil and climate conditions would be required before widespread adoption of PGPR-based biofertilizers.
Key measures
Mechanisms of PGPR-mediated nutrient acquisition; efficacy of PGPR biofertilizers in controlled versus field conditions; potential of synthetic microbial communities and HMME for precision fertilisation
Outcomes reported
The review synthesises current knowledge on plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) as biofertilizers for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, zinc and iron acquisition, and evaluates emerging microbiome engineering approaches including synthetic microbial communities and host-mediated microbiome engineering (HMME) as tools to enhance nutrient bioavailability.
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