Poplar is considered as a model tree species for bioenergy feedstock production. Plants live in close association with symbiotic microorganisms. We showed that specific endophytic bacteria had a beneficial effect on the development and growth of poplar on marginal soils, resulting in up to 50%-80% increase in biomass production.

Short term beneficial effects of plant growth promoting microorganisms result in improved plant establishment on marginal soils. These effects include accelerated root development resulting in better access to nutrients and water, and consequently a faster initial growth, which will allow the plants to out compete weeds for available resources, thus resulting in less need to apply herbicides. Long term beneficial effects of plant growth promoting microorganisms will result in improved plant growth, health and survival, leading to economically sustainable feedstock production. This can be obtained by counteracting stress responses caused by drought and contamination, protection against pathogens via competition for available resources, and by assisting the plant’s defense response against pathogenic invasions.The genomes of four plant growth promoting endophytic bacteria were sequenced and genome annotation and “omics” approaches were used to better understand their synergistic interactions with poplar. This basic knowledge will be further exploited to improve plant establishment and sustainable bioenergy feedstock production on marginal, non-agricultural land.