The potential of plants to absorb, translocate and accumulate heavy metals and their biology characteristics makes them one of perfect choices for heavy metal remediation. However, it is important to discover some strengthening measures for phytoremediation, considering its limits of tolerance to heavy metals for practical applications. With the development in natural resources and the technologies, microbial regulation makes phytoremediation more viable and more valuable. Reviewing emerging microbial technology in recent years, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been applied as environmentally friendly alternatives and play a significant role in phytoremediation process, due to their abilities to alleviate heavy metal phytotoxicity, to promote plant growth and to influence the migration capacity of metals. Currently, great researches have been done on the screening, identification and application of PGPR. This article aims to review the interactions between plants and PGPR, and their potential mechanisms used to accelerate phytoremediation of heavy metal polluted soils.