Bacteria, Fungi and Archaea Domains in Rhizospheric Soil and Their Effects in Enhancing Agricultural Productivity

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Oct 12;16(20):3873. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16203873.

Abstract

The persistent and undiscriminating application of chemicals as means to improve crop growth, development and yields for several years has become problematic to agricultural sustainability because of the adverse effects these chemicals have on the produce, consumers and beneficial microbes in the ecosystem. Therefore, for agricultural productivity to be sustained there are needs for better and suitable preferences which would be friendly to the ecosystem. The use of microbial metabolites has become an attractive and more feasible preference because they are versatile, degradable and ecofriendly, unlike chemicals. In order to achieve this aim, it is then imperative to explore microbes that are very close to the root of a plant, especially where they are more concentrated and have efficient activities called the rhizosphere. Extensive varieties of bacteria, archaea, fungi and other microbes are found inhabiting the rhizosphere with various interactions with the plant host. Therefore, this review explores various beneficial microbes such as bacteria, fungi and archaea and their roles in the environment in terms of acquisition of nutrients for plants for the purposes of plant growth and health. It also discusses the effect of root exudate on the rhizosphere microbiome and compares the three domains at molecular levels.

Keywords: enhance plant growth; host plant growth; improve crop productions and suitable eco-friendly options; rhizosphere microbiome.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture / statistics & numerical data*
  • Archaea / metabolism*
  • Bacteria / metabolism*
  • Fungi / metabolism*
  • Microbiota*
  • Plant Roots / metabolism*
  • Rhizosphere*
  • Soil Microbiology