Guest Editors
Prof. Qiang-Sheng Wu, Yangtze University, China; wuqiangsh@163.com
Assoc. Prof. Ying-Ning Zou, Yangtze University, China; zouyingning@163.com
Assist. Prof. Bhoopander Giri, University of Delhi, India; bhoopg@yahoo.com
Prof. Xiancan Zhu, Anhui Normal University, China; zhuxiancan@ahnu.edu.cn
Dr. Yanbo Hu, Northeast Forestry University, China; huybnefu@yahoo.com
Prof. Nong Zhou, Chongqing Three Gorges University, China; erhaizn@126.com
Summary
During plant growth, plants often experience various biotic and abiotic stresses that strongly limit plant growth, disrupt the normal physiological and biochemical metabolism in cells of host plants, which in turn lead to massive burst of reactive oxygen species, plasma membrane disruption, and RNA degradation. Thus, biotic and abiotic stresses have been made an important limiting factor in plant growth.
At the same time, there are many beneficial microorganisms in the plant rhizosphere, including arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. This AM fungus can establish a reciprocal symbiosis with roots of about 72% of terrestrial plants, viz., arbuscular mycorrhizas. Mycorrhizal fungi help the host plant to absorb water and mineral nutrients from the soil and in turn receive carbohydrates and/or fatty acids from the host plant for its growth.
Results from numerous field and potted experiments have shown that AM fungi possess multiple pathways to respond to and enhance host resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. For example, AM fungi themselves absorb water directly from the soil and transfer it rapidly to cortical cells containing arbuscules through mycelial channels without septa and then unload it in the host. In addition, in host plants, many cellular metabolites such as fatty acids, polyamines, and sugars are directed toward resistance to host resistance. Moreover, some stress-responsive genes such as aquaporin proteins of both AM fungi and host plants work synergistically to promote water uptake or loss in the host. The various intracellular responses may form a complex regulatory network. More studies are needed to develop the regulatory network.
This special issue works on the above mentioned topic, along with the latest advances. The manuscripts are welcome to focus on the following topics, but are not limited to them:
1) Strategies of mycorrhizal fungi themselves in response to stress.
2) Cellular responces of mycorrhizal plants to stress.
3) AM fungi respond to plant stress resistance in physiological levels.
4) Molecular mechanisms regarding AM fungal roles in plant stress resistance, especially based on omics analysis.
5) Combination of AM fungi and other microorganisms mitigates stress resistance of host plants.
6) Expectation of the effect of inoculation of AM fungi in the field on plant resistance or growth.
Keywords
Drought, Mycorrhiza, Plant Disease, Salinity, Stress-Responsive Gene
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