Endophytic Consortium With Diverse Gene-Regulating Capabilities of Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloids Biosynthetic Pathway Can Enhance Endogenous Morphine Biosynthesis in Papaver somniferum

Discussion Due to limitations related to social acceptability and cost-effectiveness in genetic manipulation approaches such as the development of transgenics by overexpressing single or multiple genes simultaneously, there is a need of an alternate sustainable approach for improvement of crop production and a healthier environment. Microbes associated with plants such as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) and endophytes have been used as promising candidates for sustainable agriculture. They are found to be involved in improving plant growth and protection from environmental stresses. We have demonstrated that PGPRs and endophytes can protect the plant from environmental stresses by modulating the phytohormone status of plants and by modulating the expression of stress-responsive genes (Bharti et al., 2016; Barnawal et al., 2016, 2017). Also, endophytes residing in most of the parts of the plant including root, stem, leaves, seeds, fruits, flower, and found to perform the tissue-specific function may also modulate primary and secondary metabolism of a plant (Pandey et al., 2016a). Endophytes are considered better candidates than PGPR because they function residing inside the plant and therefore, they do not face any competition with the resident soil microorganisms and also escape from the surrounding harsh environmental conditions. Diverse endophytes are available with specific characteristics related to growth promotion ability and stress tolerance such as an ab...
Source: Frontiers in Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research