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In Vitro Mycorrhization for Plant Propagation and Enhanced Resilience to Environmental Stress: A Review

Summary

This review explains how scientists are using special laboratory techniques to grow fungal partnerships with plants that boost plant health and stress tolerance. By combining plant propagation with beneficial fungi in controlled conditions, researchers can produce stronger plants that survive droughts, diseases, and other environmental challenges. These techniques offer promise for sustainable farming and addressing food security concerns as climate change impacts agriculture.

Background

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play a crucial role in sustainable agriculture by enhancing plant stress tolerance, nutrient uptake, and overall health through biofertilization, bioprotection, and biostimulation. In vitro mycorrhization has emerged as a promising controlled approach for investigating AMF interactions and their impact on plant development.

Objective

This review examines the potential of in vitro mycorrhization as a controlled system for studying AMF-plant interactions and producing mycorrhizal plants with enhanced resilience to environmental stress. The review explores various in vitro mycorrhization systems, their applications in mass production, and their role in enhancing acclimatization of micropropagated plants.

Results

Multiple in vitro mycorrhization systems have been developed and successfully applied to economically important plant species including banana, potato, pear, date palm, argan, and bamboo. Studies demonstrate that AMF enhance plant tolerance to abiotic stresses (drought, salinity, temperature extremes, heavy metals) and biotic stresses through various mechanisms including antioxidant upregulation and hormone modulation.

Conclusion

In vitro mycorrhization represents a promising integrated approach combining plant propagation with enhanced stress resilience, offering significant potential for sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation. Further research diversifying AMF species and host-fungal combinations is needed to optimize large-scale production of mycorrhizal plants.
  • Published in:Plants (Basel),
  • Study Type:Review,
  • Source: 10.3390/plants14142097, PMID: 40733334
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