Pragmatic role of microbial plant biostimulants in abiotic stress relief in crop plants

ABSTRACT Abiotic stresses lead to excessive crop yield losses and are a major threat to agriculture. It is essential to equip crops with multi-stress tolerance to mitigate the adverse effects of abiotic stressors and meet the demands of the increasing global population. The association between plants and symbiotic microorganisms is involved in key functions at the ecosystem and plant levels, and the application of microbial plant biostimulants (MPBs) is a sustainable strategy to augment plant growth and productivity, even under abiotic stress conditions. Several different microorganisms can be used as MPBs to enhance plant growth and produce progressive and reproducible effects on crops. In the present review, we assessed the current knowledge on the use of MPBs, discuss the diversity and characteristics of MPBs, and provide a meticulous assessment of the possible applications of MPBs in abiotic stress relief in crops.