Soil Bacteria-Medicinal Plants Interaction

Regulation of biogeochemical cycles depends on soil micro biota in which
numerous and distinct types of bacteria are involved. These bacteria share a common
environment in the soil and interact with the plants at three different levels i.e.
endosphere, phyllosphere, and rhizosphere, resulting in improved soil fertility and plant
health. The study of medicinal plants is ignored in Pakistan, though there exists a large
number of different avenues for research in this field. Studying the medicinal plantbacteria
relationships in the era of new-generation sequencing paves new ways for
understanding their association and facilitates improvement in sustainable production.
Answers to new queries like “How bacteria respond to climatic changes” and “How do
they interact with one another and with medicinal plants for growth and development”
along with the exploration of rhizospheric bacteria in the future for enhancement in the
production of secondary metabolites in medicinal plants might be a new vista unlocked
for the sustainable agricultural practices. In this chapter, we focused on the role of soil
bacteria-medicinal plants interaction in growth, nutrient acquisition, environmental
stress alleviation, and quantity and quality of medicinal compounds present in these
plants.