Role of am fungi in alleviating drought stress in plants

Abstract

Abiotic stress is increasing at an alarming rate throughout the globe. Drought stress is one of the major abiotic stresses responsible for hampering plant growth and development in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Drought stress disturbs the plant#’s osmotic and ionic balance and hampers uptake of essential nutrients. Drought stress affects many physiological processes like gas exchange and water relations, pigments, organic solutes, lipid peroxidation, and electrolyte leakage, etc. Severe drought is also responsible for the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are deleterious to the normal functioning of the cell. However, plants are armed with certain antioxidants to defend themselves against these ROSs. Plants interact with certain microorganisms such as fungi that improve their performance during stress. Mycorrhizae is a close association between fungi and plant roots. Mycorrhizal association has shown to enhance crop growth, biomass, and mineral uptake under normal and drought conditions. This chapter throws light on the deleterious effects of drought stress and the beneficial effects of mycorrhizae in delaying or coping with toxic effects of drought stress and maintaining overall physiological balance.