Insights into plant-beneficial traits of probiotic isolates.

isolates have been studied intensively for their beneficial traits. species function as probiotics in plants and fish, offering plants protection against microbes, nematodes and insects. In this review, we discuss the classification of isolates within four subspecies; the shared traits include the production of coloured antimicrobial phenazines, high sequence identity between housekeeping genes and similar cellular fatty acid composition. The direct antimicrobial, insecticidal and nematocidal effects of isolates are correlated with known metabolites. Other metabolites prime the plants for stress tolerance and participate in microbial cell signalling events and biofilm formation among other things. Formulations of isolates and their metabolites are currently being commercialized for agricultural use.