Arbuscular Mycorrhiza: A Biological Budding for Sustainable Agriculture

Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) is possibly the most prevalent constituent of global symbiosis and is created by 70–90% of land plant species with fungi that belong to a monophyletic phylum, the Glomeromycota. The initiation of the AM fungal root colonisation begins with hyphae growing towards the plant root and extensively around it, where they subsequently attach to the root surface. This relationship results in an improved acquisition of nutrients (e.g., phosphate and nitrates) from the soil by the plant partners and, in exchange, allows the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) to obtain the photosynthetically fixed carbon sources (e.g., sugars) necessary for their survival and propagation. AM symbiosis is very common as the fungi involved can colonise a vast taxonomic range of both herbaceous and woody plants, which are geographically cosmopolitan and ubiquitous, occurring over a broad ecological range in plants growing in the arctic, temperate and tropical regions. In this review, the development, host range, functioning of AM and its benefits for sustainable farming will be discussed.