Unravelling the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in mitigating the oxidative burst of plants under drought stress

With continued climate changes, soil drought stress has become the main limiting factor for crop growth in arid and semi-arid regions. A typical characteristic of drought stress is the burst of reactive oxygen species (ROS), causing oxidative damage. Plant-associated microbes, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), can regulate physiological and molecular responses to tolerate drought stress, and they have a strong ability to cope with drought-induced oxidative damageviaenhanced antioxidant defence systems. AMF produce a limited oxidative burst in the arbuscule-containing root cortical cells. Similar to plants, AMF modulate a fungal network in enzymatic (e.g. GmarCuZnSODandGintSOD1) and non-enzymatic (e.g. GintMT1,GinPDX1andGintGRX1) antioxidant defence systems to scavenge ROS. Plants also respond to mycorrhization to enhance stress toleranceviametabolites and the induction of genes. The present review provides an overview of the network of plant - arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus dialogue in mitigating oxidative stress. Future studies should involve identifying genes and transcription factors from both AMF and host plants in response to drought stress, and utilize transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics to clarify a clear dialogue mechanism between plants and AMF in mitigating oxidative burst.

Automated summary

Continuous climate changes have made soil drought stress the main limiting factor for crop growth in arid and semi-arid regions. Plant-associated microbes like arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can regulate physiological and molecular responses to tolerate drought stress by enhancing antioxidant defence systems, which helps in coping with drought-induced oxidative damage.