Utility of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi for Improved Production and Disease Mitigation in Organic and Hydroponic Greenhouse Crops

Abstract

This article discusses the utility of AM fungi in vegetable crop organic and hydroponic greenhouse production systems. A significant amount of work on field and organic crops utilizing AM fungi have proven their effectiveness in vegetable crops. The current article also addresses the major benefits of AM fungal application in nonhydroponic greenhouses, such as disease mitigation and improved production, and envisages the idea of utilizing some of these benefits for hydroponic greenhouse crops by designing appropriate experimental trials and performing a cost-benefit analysis while conducting such trials. AbstractArbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are considered to be enormously important in contemporary agriculture and horticulture for their ability to improve crop disease and fertility management in commercial field and greenhouse crop production. Recently, commercial greenhouse producers have begun using AM inoculum to increase yields and provide sustainable growing conditions in organic and hydroponic production systems. However, strong evidence in support of their effectiveness in hydroponic production is still lacking. Future research is expected to address benefits of the use of AM fungi in hydroponic greenhouse crops, such as defense against pathogen, herbivore attack and the effective management of photo-assimilates by plants, which are essential for fruit production. In order to increase our understanding of the usefulness of AM fungi in hydroponic greenhouses, large-scale trial and a cost-benefit evaluation of the process are needed. This article discusses the use of AM fungi for improving organic and hydroponic greenhouse crop production and disease control, considering that AM fungi inoculations in soil-based greenhouses and fields have proven to be very effective.

Role of Cytokinins for Interactions of Plants With Microbial Pathogens and Pest Insects

“…In recent years, fungal disease owing to growth abnormalities, physiological and morphological alterations, and varying distribution of carbon source is one of the major environmental biotic factors negatively affecting plant health (Mishra et al, 2018). Biotrophic fungal plant pathogens derive their nutrition from living host cells, a feature which distinguishes them from the necrotrophic fungi that obtain their nutrients from host tissues which they have killed.…”

“…Plant infected with P. teres and D. maydis results in maximum 6-Y,Y-dimethylall ylaminopurine in susceptible barley and maize, however, in infected resistant hosts zeatin/zeatin riboside were maximum among the different class of CKs (Angra-Sharma and Sharma, 2000). CK producing bacteria could be cultivated and explored as a biofertilizer against fungal pathogen (Mishra et al, 2018). The CKs detected in Magnaporthe oryzae infected rice leaves act as a defence signal to mobilize nutrients, to increase levels of photosynthesis in host leaves or to activate SA-mediated defence responses (Jiang et al, 2013).…”

Organic Hydroponics Production

“…Recently, hydroponic system have begun using Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi inoculum for increasing yields and provide sustainable growing conditions in organic production [28] . Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi have been shown to be able of making nutrients ready to crop plants and providing best transplant achievement by offering higher root and shoot fresh weight, biomass, growth rate as well as protect plant from diseases caused by root pathogens in hydroponic production systems [28] . However, Growth promoting root bacteria PGPM-treated plants were shown to be the most effective and more stable over time of most research on hydroponic systems [8] .…”

“…Diseases and insect are a main challenge in hydroponic production systems [28] . Integrated Pest Management (IPM) play an important role in the management of these diseases and insect and organic food production pesticides [29] .…”

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi – Their Life and Function in Ecosystem

“…Conversely, the plant provides carbon in the form of saccharides produced by photosynthesis (Pfeffer et al 1999) transferred to the fungi via active or passive mechanisms (Doidy et al 2012) by intra-radical fungal structures. Once AM fungi colonize the plants, they persist with the root systems and can be moved into other soil (Mishra et al 2018).…”