Chapter 18 - Role of arbuscular mycorrhizas in regulating physiological and molecular aspects of plants under abiotic stress

Abstract

Abiotic stresses impede normal plant growth, development, and productivity. Global climate change and wrong agricultural practices such as excessive input of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have aggravated the instances of abiotic stresses, affecting crop productivity and damaging the ecosystem. Employing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) will be an environment-friendly technique for improving crop growth and yield. AMF are natural root symbionts also known as efficient biofertilizers. Additionally, the inoculation of AMF is believed to provide tolerance to host plants against various stressful conditions such as salinity, drought, extreme temperatures, and metals. The literature strongly suggested AMF plays a crucial role in assisting both the upregulation of tolerance mechanisms in the host alongside preventing the downregulation of key metabolic pathways. Host plant growth and yield are restored under unstressed and stressed regimes by the AMF association as it provides essential inorganic nutrients to the host. AMF as a biofertilizer strengthen host plants adaptability toward challenging environment. Hence, future research needs to focus on deciphering the different benefits offered by AMF and the mechanism behind the improvement of crop quality and productivity under abiotic stress conditions. This chapter aims to provide comprehensive knowledge on several benefits offered by the AMF association to host plants under stressful environments and the related supporting mechanisms.