Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi: A Potential Agent for Phytonematodes Management in Diverse Agro-climatic Zones

Plants face continuous environmental stress at different stages of their life cycle. These stresses may be biotic or abiotic. Various strategies are to be devised to fulfill the food requirements of the population, which are increasing day by day. The stress tolerance potential of crop plants with regard to environments needs to be improved to maximize crop production and productivity. In this connection, biological means are one of the most promising means to persuade plants of their stress-resistant ability. Among several biological means, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) has enough potential for mitigating plant stress by increasing their vigor. These AMF are the mycorrhizae that form mutual relationships with higher plants by changing their root morphology and physiology. These plant symbionts assist the crop plants in acquiring essential nutritive composition from the soil, such as phosphorus, sulfur, and nitrogen. Generally, higher plants are colonized by plant symbionts and benefit from these microorganisms. AMF are significantly involved in nutrient management and also help plants synthesize appropriate amounts of heterogenous plant hormones. AMF helps plants improve their developmental characters and vigor to sustain even in extreme environmental conditions. It also improves the different aspects of soil, like soil nutrition, soil aggregation, physical, chemical, and biological properties. Eventually, these qualities will help reduce soil erosion caused by wind and water. In this way, the nutrients’ leaching reduces and groundwater contamination due to leachates lessens to a minimum. However, there is a need for much researches to be done in identifying different AMF suitable for different crops.