Plant Growth Promoting Actinobacteria : A New Avenue for Enhancing the Productivity and Soil Fertility of Grain Legumes

Annotation Global yields of legumes have been relatively stagnant for the last five decades, despite the adoption of conventional and molecular breeding approaches. The use of plant growth-promoting (PGP) bacteria for improving agricultural production, soil and plant health has become one of the most attractive strategies for developing sustainable agriculture. Actinomycetes are bacteria that play an important role in PGP and plant protection, produce secondary metabolites of commercial interest, and their use is well documented in wheat, rice, beans, chickpeas and peas. In order to promote legumes, the general assembly of the UN recently declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses. In view of this development, this book illustrates how PGP actinomycetes can improve grain yield and soil fertility, improve control of insect pests and phytopathogens, and enhance host-plant resistance. It also addresses special topics of current interest, e.g. the role of PGP actinomycetes in the biofortification of legume seeds and bioremediation of heavy metals." Front Matter....Pages i-xviii Direct Plant Growth-Promoting Ability of Actinobacteria in Grain Legumes....Pages 1-16 Indirect Plant Growth Promotion in Grain Legumes: Role of Actinobacteria ....Pages 17-32 Enhancing Soil Health and Plant Growth Promotion by Actinomycetes....Pages 33-45 Recent Advancement in the Development of Biopesticides by Actinomycetes for the Control of Insect Pests....Pages 47-62 Actinomycetes Bio-inoculants: A Modern Prospectus for Plant Disease Management....Pages 63-81 Managing Pests and Diseases of Grain Legumes with Secondary Metabolites from Actinomycetes....Pages 83-98 Role of Secondary Metabolites of Actinomycetes in Crop Protection....Pages 99-121 Endophytic Actinobacteria: Nitrogen Fixation, Phytohormone Production, and Antibiosis....Pages 123-145 Role of Endophytic Actinomycetes in Crop Protection: Plant Growth Promotion and Biological Control....Pages 147-160 Synergy of Actinomycete Co-inoculation....Pages 161-177 Role of ACC Deaminase in Stress Control of Leguminous Plants....Pages 179-192 Induction of Systemic Resistance in Crop Plants Against Plant Pathogens by Plant Growth-Promoting Actinomycetes....Pages 193-202 Actinomycetes as Mitigators of Climate Change and Abiotic Stress....Pages 203-212 Perspectives of Plant Growth-Promoting Actinomycetes in Heavy Metal Phytoremediation....Pages 213-231 Role of Actinomycete-Mediated Nanosystem in Agriculture....Pages 233-247 Use of Genomic Approaches in Understanding the Role of Actinomycetes as PGP in Grain Legumes....Pages 249-262 Exploration of Plant Growth-Promoting Actinomycetes for Biofortification of Mineral Nutrients....Pages 263-274 Evaluation of Plant Growth-Promoting Actinomycetes on Vigna ....Pages 275-286 Plant Growth-Promoting Actinomycetes: Mass Production, Delivery Systems, and Commercialization....Pages 287-298 Global yields of legumes have been relatively stagnant for the last five decades, despite the adoption of conventional and molecular breeding approaches. The use of plant growth-promoting (PGP) bacteria for improving agricultural production, soil and plant health has become one of the most attractive strategies for developing sustainable agriculture. Actinomycetes are bacteria that play an important role in PGP and plant protection, produce secondary metabolites of commercial interest, and their use is well documented in wheat, rice, beans, chickpeas and peas. In order to promote legumes, the general assembly of the UN recently declared 2016 the 2International Year of Pulses.3 In view of this development, this book illustrates how PGP actinomycetes can improve grain yield and soil fertility, improve control of insect pests and phytopathogens, and enhance host-plant resistance. It also addresses special topics of current interest, e.g. the role of PGP actinomycetes in the biofortification of legume seeds and bioremediation of heavy metals