Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis: plant growth improvement and induction of resistance under stressful conditions

Abstract

The impact of stress on crop productivity and the ecosystem have been magnified by climate changes and mispractices in the agriculture field. Soil microbiome is a diverse system consisting of various microorganisms. Environmental control techniques like the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are necessary to enhance crop productivity. AMF is known as stress regulating organisms that help plants within the nutrient uptake, biotic and abiotic stress management, plant protection, and consequently enhancement on crop yields. Also, host plants can tolerate many difficult situations such as water problems, salt stress, heavy metals, and temperature changes through AMF inoculation. Arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) enhance plant growth under stress by mediating a series of complex contact events between the two symbiotic partners resulting in a good photosynthetic and gas exchange amelioration. Plants have several tolerance mechanisms to deal with the constraints of environmental changes. The antioxidant ability is the principal tolerance mechanism; it is assisted by osmolytes accumulation and exacting absorption of ions. In this review, we will discuss the effect of AMF colonization on the host plants at different stages of growth, with comprehensively updated knowledge, their roles, and applications for plant growth enhancement and mycorrhizae role on plant resistance induction and stress management.