Recent advancements in harnessing plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) for enhanced growth and disease suppression in solanaceous crops

Solanaceous crops such as tomato, potato, eggplant and pepper are globally valued but are highly susceptible to biotic and abiotic stresses. Mere incidence of pests and disease outbreaks could cause annual yield losses of 20–40 %. Plant growth-promoting bacteria have emerged as a sustainable, eco-friendly alternative to traditional and chemical interventions to eradicate such losses, offering significant potential to increase growth, yield and resilience. This review summarizes recent advances in understanding the interactions between plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) and solanaceous crops in terms of their ability to promote plant growth either directly or indirectly. This is achieved through increased nutrient uptake, phytohormone production, the release of siderophores, the activation of plant defense responses, i.e., induced systemic resistance (ISR), and systemic acquired resistance (SAR), such as microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPS), pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAPMS) and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPS). PGPB influences gene silencing pathways, which further strengthens plant defenses against diverse pathogens. Efficient PGPB strains such as Bacillus subtilis, B. megaterium and B. cereus have been demonstrated to reduce disease severity by up to 60 % in solanaceous crops. Therefore, PGPB could be integrated into environmentally sustainable and economically viable agricultural practices for improved crop yields.