Plants are continuously exposed to a wide array of environmental stresses. Abiotic stress is one of the foremost limiting factors that are responsible for low agricultural productivity. The incidence of extreme events like prolonged drought, salinity, intense rain and flooding, heat wave and frost damage, metal toxicities in problematic soils are increasing day by day under the scenario of changing climate. Crop plants need to acclimatize against adverse external pressure created by environmental and edaphic conditions with their intrinsic biological mechanisms. Here, microorganisms can come to rescue in an economical and ecofriendly manner in order to help plants for better fitness against abiotic stressors. Various kinds of local and systemic responses that improve metabolic capability of the plants to fight against abiotic stresses are evoked by their interactions with compatible microbes. A number of complex mechanisms for plant-microbe interaction take place within the plant cellular system. Plant-associated microorganisms, such as mycorrhizal fungi, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), are well recognized for their roles in enhancing crop productivity and providing stress tolerance. Response to abiotic stresses in higher plants is influenced by microorganisms through different mechanisms like induction of osmoprotectants and heat shock proteins, etc. in plant cells; besides, influencing the physico-chemical properties of rhizospheric soil through production of exopolysaccharides and formation of biofilm. Majority of studies dealing with bacterially mediated tolerance to abiotic stresses focused on merely evaluating the plant growth-promoting effects; however, the modes of action largely remain elusive. So, it is high time to understand the roles and mechanisms of plant-microbe interactions vis-à-vis abiotic stress tolerance in host plants at the cellular level through future study. 

 Key Words: Abiotic stress, Exopolysaccharides, Plant-microbe interaction, PGPR, Tolerance