An Overall Insight Into the Attributes, Interactions, and Future Applications of “Microbial Consortium” for Plant Growth Promotion with Contemporary Approaches

Abstract

Plant-associated microorganisms in the form of microbial consortiamicrobial consortia play an important role in agricultural production. The use of single strain or individual microorganism-based bioformulationbioformulation has limitations. Thus, having a microbial consortiumconsortium, where two or more interacting microorganisms have additive, synergistic, or mutual complementarity in nature, results in the desired effects on plants and soilsoil. In this review, we have discussed the insights of interactions and mechanisms through which an effective microbial consortium promotes plant growth, improves nutrient utilization efficiency, enhances yield, induces tolerance to abiotic stresses, may contribute toward pest and phytopathogenphytopathogen management., etc. within the rhizosphererhizosphere under their efficient root colonizationcolonization and biofilm formation. In addition, the activity of microbial consortia has also been highlighted, mainly as a species of plant growth- and health-promoting bacteria. Furthermore, there is a huge impact of microbial consortia on the rhizosphere, which is enhanced by the concept of microbiomemicrobiome engineering and strain improvement. Augmentation of soil with synthetic microbial communitiesmicrobial communities (SynComs), which are extended versions of traditional consortia, is recently being realized as a tool to modulate the complete rhizosphere microbiome for beneficial effects. This article is aimed to explain the wide horizon of the use of microbial consortia that facilitates the sustainable developmentsustainable development of agriculture and its applications for human welfare.