Introduction to Biofertilizers produced from fungi, physiological and biochemical characteristics. What are Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi?

 PRODUCTION OF MYCHORRHIZAL BIOFERTILIZERS

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), an important functional group of beneficial microorganisms residing in soil, originate from the phylum Glomeromycotina. AMF are known as the obligate biotrophs which means they can’t exist and survive without depending on living hosts for nutrition (Avio, et al., 2018). They can build up a mutual relationship with the roots of 80% of all vascular plants. About 100 AMF morphotypes are reported to establish promiscuous mutual connections with >100,000 plant species (Chen, et al, 2018). Penetrating the cortical cells, AMF symbiotically associate with roots of many plant species to form arbuscules which is beneficial for themselves and for plants as well as hosts relying on plants. AMF can upgrade soil characteristics, thereby encouraging plant growth and metabolic processes even in oxidative biotic and abiotic stresses. AMF establishes a large extensive network of extraradical hyphae with root system of plants, that can amplify the morphological, nutritional and physiological variations, to assist them in resisting against different environmental (biotic and abiotic) stresses (Hashem, et al., 2018). ERM can absorb mineral nutrients from soil and distribute them to the plant shoot system, thus ameliorating the growth and biomass production in plants (Lehmann and Rillig, 2015). There is a phenomenon known to be anastomoses, a distinctive reproduction process, in which mycorrhizal fungi experience fusion of hyphae and interchange their genetic material resulting in genetic variations without undergoing gamete formation followed by fusion being observed in other organisms (Chen, et al., 2018). Cadmium, a heavy metal, gives rise to cataclysmic changes in plants physiological and biochemical characteristics (Cassia Italica Mill, highly effective medicinal plant) and may also interfere with growth and metabolism by inducing the accumulation of ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) which can be managed by infecting it with AMF. Scientists have been reporting the ascent in the proportions of chlorophyll, protein content, and proline & phenol production. AMF imparts some useful features such as reduction in lipid peroxidation and elevation in anti-oxidant activity (Hashem, et al., 2015).  

Cucumber, belonging to ancestors from the Cucurbitaceae family, can be inoculated with AMF for additional water and nutrient uptake. Soil salinity presents major challenges in the cultivation of cucumber. AMF association ameliorates the deleterious effects induced by high salt concentration in the surrounding environment (Hashem, et al., 2018). Trichoderma erinaceum is a fungal strain that has a potential to fight against different pathogens of plants inhabiting soil, which may also serve as biofertilizers to fulfil the highest yield requirements of rice. Possessing the potential to combat against the pathogenic microorganisms, the biocontrol activity of Trichoderma spp. is exploited to make rice plant secured from fungal diseases. Agro-waste degrading enzymes may also be isolated and purified from these strains, efficiently (Swain, et al., 2018). The amalgamation of Mentha species (Mentha arvensis) and AMF significantly leads to an increase in oil content, secondary metabolite concentration and may alter the physiological as well as morpho-phenological features (Heydarizadeh, et al., 2013). 

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