Microorganisms that symbiosis with plant roots are essential to optimize the use of agroecosystems, increasing their production, yield and productivity in an ecologically sound, socially just and economically profitable manner.
▶When referring to the richness or variety of living beings that exist on Earth, this includes genetic variety and ecosystems; in fact, high diversity is usually associated with a great variety of forms, each of which is adapted to particular conditions and performs specific functions. It is therefore easy to assume that the functioning of ecosystems is a function of the diversity of species, including their interspecific and intraspecific genetic variability.
Scientific evidence has made it clear that there is an interdependent interaction between species and between species and their environment. Biodiversity is therefore responsible for ensuring the stability and self-regulation of ecosystems and thus the functioning of the world's ecosystems.
▶ There is strong evidence that AMF fungi can be a very useful tool for the development of sustainable agriculture, since, in symbiosis with most plants of ecological, agricultural, forestry and medicinal interest, they significantly improve nutrient uptake, especially phosphorus, and host plant growth and production.
In addition, AM also improve the water relations of plants and increase their tolerance or resistance to various biotic and abiotic stress conditions, such as salinity and pathogen attack, high concentrations of heavy metals in soils, and others.
▶ The beneficial effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis on different cultivars have also been well documented. The efficacy of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, in terms of promoting phosphorus uptake, growth and yield of the host plant, among other variables, varies greatly depending on the plant species and the AMF involved in the symbiosis.
The response of the symbiosis can vary from mutualism to parasitism, this high variability, called functional diversity of the symbiosis, hinders the predictability of the response and, consequently, the wide use of this important biotechnological tool, since there is not only a high intraspecific functional diversity, but also a high degree of diversity in the symbiosis.
▶ It should be noted that efficacy is not only highly dependent on the AMF species and the associated plant. It may also vary between different plant varieties and different ecotypes or isolates of the same AMF species.
Despite the clear importance of biodiversity, different studies in various fields of research show the risk of loss of biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides on a global scale due to the alteration of the natural environment by human activities.
A better understanding of the functional diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis involving socioeconomically important crops and different arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculants is essential to optimize the use of this biotechnological tool, minimizing its risks and maximizing its benefits in favor of plant growth and production, soil health and the balance of soil biodiversity and agroecosystem sustainability.