A new strategy for the selection of epiphytic and endophytic bacteria for enhanced plant performance

Abstract

The crescent knowledge in the microbiology field guided by microbiome studies has renewed interest in microbes that interact with the plant host in a beneficial manner, especially those that live in the rhizosphere or inside plant tissues and promote plant growth by various mechanisms. Here a comprehensive method for efficient isolation of beneficial endophytes from sterile and open systems, and selection of effective graminaceous plant root colonizers by competitive interactions with plants is described. Parameters for plant cultivation and bacterial inoculation to assess plant growth promotion using the plant model S. viridis are described as components of this method.