Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Alleviation of Cold Stress in Plants

Abstract

Cold stress is an important abiotic factor that adversely affects the growth and productivity of different agricultural crops globally. It leads to slower plant metabolism, cell membrane rigidification and loss of function, solute leakage, protein disintegration, depletion in sugar metabolism, and reproductive loss. The ever-increasing population and yet decrease in agricultural productivity is a global concern. So, there is a need for developing strategies that can help plants tolerate the harsh environmental condition and still not affect their productivity. In this context, utilization of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) for alleviation of cold stress in plants has gained much attention. Formation of AMF is reported to improve the performance of plants under both normal and stressful conditions. Although at low temperature (<15 °C) colonization of roots by AMF is often restrained, studies have reported improved tolerance in mycorrhizal plants to cold stress. Symbiotic association of plant roots with AMF improves cold tolerance through reduction of lipid peroxidation and maintenance of membrane integrity, enhancement of antioxidative potential, optimization of osmolytes accumulation and regulation of root hydraulic conductance, improvement of photosynthetic activity and respiration rate, and integrated transcriptional regulation of cold-responsive genes. This chapter discusses various mechanisms that AMF-colonized plants employ to mitigate the detrimental effects caused by low temperature.