Manipulation of root-associated bacterial endophytes for sustainable crop production system: A review

Manipulating endophytic communities offers a promising strategy for enhancing plant growth, stress tolerance, and disease resistance, significantly contributing to sustainable agriculture. Endophytes improve nutrient acquisition, produce growth-promoting hormones, and enhance plant defenses against various stresses and pathogens. Techniques such as specific endophyte inoculation, bio stimulant application, and genetic engineering with CRISPR/Cas9 can optimize these benefits. However, challenges exist, including maintaining specific endophytic communities, understanding their long-term impacts, and ensuring regulatory and safety compliance. High-throughput technologies, such as genomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics, are crucial for advancing our understanding of endophyte-plant interactions. Integrated approaches that combine these advanced technologies with sustainable agricultural practices, like crop rotation and intercropping, can optimize the benefits of endophytes while mitigating potential risks. Long-term studies and robust regulatory frameworks are necessary to ensure environmental and consumer safety. By addressing these challenges and leveraging advanced scientific tools, the full potential of endophytes in creating resilient and productive agricultural systems can be realized, fostering a more sustainable and efficient approach to farming.