Mitigating Abiotic Stresses in Crop Plants by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
Abiotic stresses [i.e., salinity, drought, high temperatures, and pollutants such as trace elements (TEs) and/or petroleum, crude oil, and PAHs] have detrimental effects on plant growth, fitness, and yield. They can cause significant production losses at
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Abstract Abiotic stresses [i.e., salinity, drought, high temperatures, and pollutants such as trace elements (TEs) and/or petroleum, crude oil, and PAHs] have detrimental effects on plant growth, fitness, and yield. They can cause significant production losses at a time when food needs are constantly increasing. The development of tolerant/resistant crops and innovative/alternative methods to alleviate abiotic stresses have thus become of major concern in our societies. One promising strategy is the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) that form symbiotic associations with the vast majority of agricultural and horticultural important crops. Here we summarized the impact of abiotic stresses on the AMF life cycle and physiology. If these organisms are usually affected by abiotic stresses, they are also frequently reported to improve growth and tolerance of plants under these conditions. The mechanisms most often described concern (1) improved plant nutrition; (2) accumulation and use of sugars, polyamines, abscisic acid (ABA), and lipids; (3) tolerance to induced oxidative stress; (4) modification in plant physiology; and (5) root and fungal chelation and inactivation of pollutants. The association of crops with AMF thus offers interesting perspectives to increase/maintain crop production under stressed environmental conditions.
1 Introduction Earth is expected to be inhabited by some 9000 million people by 2050, and a recent report by the FAO estimates that farmers will have to produce 70 % more to meet the needs of this population (FAO 2009). Within the same period, the global temperature is projected to increase by 2.5 C with major impacts on plant growing conditions, on the emergence of new pests and diseases and on an increase in water scarcity and desertification. The challenges that agriculture has to face to feed the future population are thus becoming more and more pressing. Their fulfillment will require wide-ranging solutions, including improved crop varieties with higher
K. Plouznikoff • S. Declerck (*) • M. Calonne-Salmon Earth and Life Institute, Applied Microbiology, Mycology, Universite´ Catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud, 2 box L7.05.06, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium e-mail: [email protected] © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 C.M.F. Vos, K. Kazan (eds.), Belowground Defence Strategies in Plants, Signaling and Communication in Plants, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-42319-7_15
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yield; increased N, P, and water use efficiency; ecologically sustainable management practices; the converting of marginal lands into productive areas and restoration of degraded areas (Lal 2000); and optimal use of agricultural inputs without increasing negative environmental impacts associated with agriculture. There is thus a need for new flexible crop varieties that can resist abiotic and biotic stress factors without putting unacceptable pressure on scarce land and water resources. Multiple abiotic stresses defined as outside (non-living) factors which can c
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