Root colonization by the rhizobacterium Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6 in Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 plants resulted in induced tolerance to drought and salinity caused by halide salt-generated ionic stress but not by osmotic stress caused by sorbitol. Stomatal apertures decreased following root colonization by P. chlororaphis O6 in both wild-type and ABA-insensitive Arabidopsis mutant plants. These results suggest that an ABAindependent stomatal closure mechanism in the guard cells of P. chlororaphis O6-colonized plants could be a key phenotype for induced systemic tolerance to drought and salt stress.