sustainability Review Potentials, Utilization, and Bioengineering of Plant Growth-Promoting Methylobacterium for Sustainable Agriculture Cong Zhang 1,†, Meng-Ying Wang 1,†, Naeem Khan 2 , Ling-Ling Tan 1,* and Song Yang 1,3,* 1 School of Life Sciences, Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Applied Mycology, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266000, China;
[email protected] (C.Z.);
[email protected] (M.-Y.W.) 2 Department of Agronomy, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; naeemkhan@ufl.edu 3 Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300000, China * Correspondence:
[email protected] (L.-L.T.);
[email protected] (S.Y.) † These authors equally contributed to this work. Abstract: Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) have great potential to provide economical and sustainable solutions to current agricultural challenges. The Methylobacteria which are frequently present in the phyllosphere can promote plant growth and development. The Methylobacterium genus is composed mostly of pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophic bacteria, utilizing organic one-carbon compounds as the sole carbon and energy source for growth. Methylobacterium spp. have been isolated from diverse environments, especially from the surface of plants, because they can oxidize and assimilate methanol released by plant leaves as a byproduct of pectin formation during cell wall synthesis. Members of the Methylobacterium genus are good candidates as PGPB Citation: Zhang, C.; Wang, M.-Y.; due to their positive impact on plant health and growth; they provide nutrients to plants, modulate Khan, N.; Tan, L.-L.; Yang, S. phytohormone levels, and protect plants against pathogens. In this paper, interactions between Potentials, Utilization, and Methylobacterium spp.