Chapter 16
Mycorrhiza: Plant Growth-Promoting
and Biocontrol Agent Ability Under
the Abiotic Stress Conditions
Tayyaba Hussain, Muhammad Usmaan, Muhammad Numan,
Aamir Abdullah Khan, Faiza Abbas, and Alvina Gul
Abstract Agriculture is the fundamental element among humans which leads to
crop productivity and stability of the environment. Cutting edge techniques open
doors to new dimensions of the research into soil microbiomes to find new ways to
explore worthy resources. Microbiome explicitly has an uplifting role in host inter-
action. Mycorrhizal associations in particular have a remarkable innovation toward
agricultural sustainability. Among them, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are surged
above all other associations of host–microbiome interaction. Although it primarily
depends upon gene manipulation and its expression of both host and associated
microbe, AMF has an imperative role in controlling the pathogenic stress and plant
growth advancement, viz., synthesis of essential secondary metabolites along with
vital antioxidants that have a splendid impact on promoting plant growth and making
a nutrient-rich rhizosphere. AMF symbiosis ameliorates myriad biotic and abiotic
stresses ranging from salinity, drought (which leads to ROS stress), nutrient scarcity
and heavy metal toxification which are highly lethal to plant’s health and produc-
tivity. However, there is a need to unravel the function of arbuscular mycorrhizal
fungi and peculiarities to overcome combine stresses. An eco-friendly approach is
the need of time, such as the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, for better yield and
T. Hussain
Department of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
M. Usmaan
Central Cotton Research Institute CCRI Multan, Multan, Pakistan
M. Numan
Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,
USA
A. A. Khan
Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, Nankai University Tianjin, Tianjin, China
F. Abbas
Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
A. Gul (B )
Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Sciences and Technology,
Islamabad, Pakistan
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. N. Yadav (ed.), Soil Microbiomes for Sustainable Agriculture,
Sustainable Development and Biodiversity 27,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73507-4_16
503