Impact of Climate Change
on Plant-Associated Fungi
Anindya Chanda, Heba Maghrawy, Hossam Sayour,
Phani M. Gummadidala and Ola M. Gomaa
Abstract The global climate change can influence agricultural productivity by alter-
ing the plant-microbe interactions. Plant-associated fungi play important roles in
these interactions by regulating nutrient transformation in soils, nutrient availability
for plants and plant health and growth. The abiotic stressors that increase with the
changing climate result in significant alterations in these processes. These alterations
are either as a response to the changing biology of the plant or due to the direct effect
of the stressors on the fungi. In this chapter we retrospect the current knowledge on
the plant-associated fungi and discuss the effects of the changing climate on their
interactions with their hosts. The goal of this review is to emphasize the need for
more research on plant-fungal interactions that can increase the resilience of crops
to climate change.
Keywords Plant-associated fungi · Agriculture · Fungal diversity · Fungal
activity, and climate change · Molecular imprinted polymers · Wireless sensor
networks · Precision farming
1 Introduction
Life as we know it has been transformed due to climate change. The heavy impact
of climate change has taken its toll on everything. The rate and extent of damage are
expected to become worse each year. Climate change impact has been the center of
attention during the past few years. Policymakers have identified it as a problem that
needs to be addressed by scientists. Climate action is the goal number 13 in the 2030
A. Chanda · P. M. Gummadidala
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of
South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
H. Maghrawy · O. M. Gomaa (B )
Radiation Microbiology Department, National Center for Radiation Research and Technology
(NCRRT), Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo, Egypt
H. Sayour
Biomedical Chemistry Unit, Chemistry Department, Animal Health Research Institute Dokki,
Cairo 12618, Egypt
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
E.-S. E. Omran and A. M. Negm (eds.), Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and Food
Security in Egypt, Springer Water, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41629-4_5
83