Mycorrhizal symbiosis and nutrients uptake in plants

The roots of terrestrial plants establish arbuscular mycorrhizal associations with root residing fungal species. These associations increased nutrients accumulation in plants and played a vital role in their metabolism and growth. These fungal associations enhanced the plants nutrients accumulation efficiency by increasing the nutrient absorption area of plant roots. In return, these symbiotic fungi take carbohydrates as a source of food and shelter from plant roots. These fungal symbioses are not associated with plant diseases; however, these often contribute to overcome abiotic and biotic stresses through enhancing nutrient supply. These symbiotic fungi can endorse the nutrients uptake from water and soil by host plants. The chief mechanisms behind the mycorrhizal decomposition of soil organic matter generally comprise enzymatic degradation, priming effects, and nonenzymatic mechanism like Fenton chemistry, which in response encourage N and C cycling. Moreover, these symbiotic relationships between plant roots and fungi are capable of releasing phosphatases and organic acids to enhance the solubility of phosphorous (P) in soil and mycelium growth, which enable plants to acquire more P. However, the growth of fungal community is regulated by numerous environmental factors including host distribution, soil conditions, and climatic changes. Due to enhanced nutrients accumulation capacity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, these are known as biofertilizers. So the current chapter focuses on various mechanisms adopted by mycorrhizal fungi for enhancing plant nutrition, their applications, and advantages.