Biosynthesized secondary metabolites for plant growth promotion

Abstract

By 2050, the global population is predicted to expand to 9.8 billion people, requiring 70% more food than we are consuming today. At the same time, crop losses are increasing due to resistance to pesticides and restrictions on the use of these products because they are harmful to humans and the environment. The need for alternative and sustainable crop management strategies has prompted interest in plant growth-promoting pseudomonads and the secondary metabolites they produce. These strains, however, have not been widely embraced by the farming community because they have failed to yield consistent results in the field. To take advantage of the plant growth-promoting abilities of pseudomonads, there has been increased interest in the direct application of the biosynthesized secondary metabolites. This review describes the benefits and difficulties associated with pseudomonad-based bioinoculants and recent advances toward commercial application of biosynthetic secondary metabolites from these organisms.