An Overview of Mycorrhizae: Nature's Own Biofertilizers

Mycorrhizae are mutualistic associations between plant roots and fungi, conferring several advantages to plants, improving their survival and growth even under harsh soil conditions such as drought, acidic pH, the presence of toxic compounds, low nutrient availability, the presence of soil pathogens, etc., and hence act as nature’s own biofertilizers. The importance of mycorrhizal associations is signified by the fact that almost all the plant species on our planet carry these associations at least for some part and typically for most of their life cycle. In this chapter, our focus is to provide undergraduate and graduate students with an overview of three different types of mycorrhizae, namely endo-mycorrhizae, ectomycorrhizae, and ectendomycorrizae, based primarily on their macro- and microscopic structures. Further classification of endomycorrhizae into vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae (VAM), arbuscular mycorrhizae, orchid, and ericoid mycorrhizae and classification of ectendomycorrhizae into monotropoid and arbutoid mycorrhizae are based on further details of microscopic features and the fungal and plant species involved. This chapter also aims at providing the reader with an insight into the advantages conferred by the fungal partner to the plants and the accelerated use of these fungi as inoculants for various applications such as agriculture, afforestation, and reclamation of waste lands.

Keywords: Arbuscular mycorrhiza, Biofertilizer, Ectomycorrhiza, Ectendomycorrhiza, VAM.