Foreword -- Plant responses to plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria -- Management of resident plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria with the cropping system: a review of experience in the US Pacific Northwest -- Genomic analysis of antifungal metabolite production by Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf-5 -- The magic and menace of metagenomics: prospects for the study of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria -- Microscopic analysis of plant-bacterium interactions using auto fluorescent proteins -- Dialogues of root-colonizing biocontrol pseudomonads -- Promotion of plant growth by ACC deaminase-producing soil bacteria -- Effects of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria on nodulation of Phaseolus vulgaris L. are dependent on plant P nutrition -- Quorum sensing as a target for developing control strategies for the plant pathogen Pectobacterium.

In the context of increasing international concern for food and environmental quality, use of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) for reducing chemical inputs in agriculture is a potentially important issue. PGPR are root-colonizing bacteria that exert beneficial effects on plant growth and development, but they can be also employed in the control of plant pathogens, for enhancing the efficiency of fertilizers, and for degrading xenobiotic compounds. This book provides an update by renowned international experts on the most recent advances in the ecology of these important bacteria, the application of innovative methodologies for their study, their interaction with the host plant, and their potential application in agriculture. Reprinted from European Journal of Plant Pathology, Volume 119, No. 3, 2007