Non-coding RNAs associated with abiotic stress and their role in plant-bacterial interactions using the plant-associated bacterium, Azospirillum brasilense and Sorghum as a model

Major issues of current plant growth promoting (PGP) formulations involving bacteria include maintained consistency of field results as field conditions are more variable and there are differences in bacterial community dynamics in the field. Hence the importance of new information regarding the molecular mechanism of plant-microbe interactions and the control of targeted microbial interactions in field conditions especially under environmental stress. A large group of bacterial small regulatory molecules, small RNAs interact with RNA-binding proteins and their mRNA targets. They are also involved in stress resistance and pathogenicity. To enable their use in PGP formulations that allows better response of the PGP strains in environmental stress conditions, the identity, expression, stability and effect of such sRNAs will be explored with the aim to identify novel small RNAs.