Cadmium- and Lead-Tolerant PGPRs as Proficient Toxicity Alleviators for Agricultural Crops

Agricultural lands are being polluted with different contaminants due to various anthropogenic activities like toxic discharge from Ni-Cd battery industry, tannery industry, alloying of metals like steel, application of agrochemicals, etc. Cadmium and lead contamination in agricultural land are directed towards global food insecurity. Bioremediation, stress alleviation, and phytostimulation by Cd and Pb tolerant PGPR is a promising eco-friendly method to develop sustainable agricultural system. At present, cadmium and lead-tolerant plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can be a sustainable option for heavy metal-contaminated agricultural lands. PGPRs such as Bacillus, Bradyrhizobium, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Micrococcus, Pseudomonas, Ralstonia, etc. can survive the metal stress and stimulate the plant growth under Cd and Pb contaminated condition by direct or indirect plant growth promoting ability. So, these PGPRs could be exploited as biofertilizers and bioremediators under Cd or Pb stressed conditions for futuristic agricultural development.