Sustainability and a more environment-friendly approach is an emerging issue relevant to crop production. Abiotic stresses like drought, salinity, heat, cold or heavy metal pollution can severely compromise yields, and in this respect, plant protection practices should be highly efficient as well as safe for the environment and people. Among the many ways to achieve high productivity of healthy, safe and tasty food, the use of beneficial micro-organisms as biostimulants is the most promising one. Two types of soil fungi can be considered efficient natural plants stimulants: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and Trichoderma spp. (TR). Generally, most investigations indicated AMF and TR were effective, as well as safe, for use as natural biopreparations dedicated to horticultural crops, although some reports pointed to their negative impact on plants. This review focuses on the mutual interaction of AMF and TR, as well as complex relationships with plants analysed on a multidimensional level: biochemical, morphological, ecological and agrotechnical. AMF and TR were found to be effective elicitors of root system development, nutrient uptake, plant stress response and production of secondary metabolites. As natural plant stimulants, beneficial fungi are compatible with modern trends of crop management, environmental conservation and functional food production. Herein, we demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of AMF and TR use in horticulture and their prospects, as well as the points that need further exploring.
Keywords: abiotic stresses; arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis; biostimulants; plant-microbial interactions; sustainability.
© 2019 The Society for Applied Microbiology.