Responses of agronomically important crops to inoculation with Azospirillum

Azospirilla are free-living rhizobacteria that are able to promote plant gr owth and increase yields in many crops of agronomic importance. It is assum ed that the bacteria affect plant growth mainly by the production of plant growth promoting substances, which leads to an improvement in root developm ent and an increase in the rate of water and mineral uptake. In the present review, we discuss the physiological responses of the plant roots to inocu lation with Azospirillum, and report on field and greenhouse experiments ca rried out with these bacteria during 1994-2001 in Belgium, Uruguay, Mexico and Israel.