Julien Verzeaux, Bertrand Hirel, Frédéric Dubois, Peter J Lea, Thierry Tétu
Nitrogen cycling in agroecosystems is heavily dependent upon arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) present in the soil microbiome. These fungi develop obligate symbioses with various host plant species, thus increasing their ability to acquire nutrients. However, AMF are particularly sensitive to physical, chemical and biological disturbances caused by human actions that limit their establishment. For a more sustainable agriculture, it will be necessary to further investigate which agricultural practices could be favorable to maximize the benefits of AMF to improve crop nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), thus reducing nitrogen (N) fertilizer usage...
November 2017: Plant Science: An International Journal of Experimental Plant Biology