Biocontrol of plant pathogens by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for sustainable agriculture

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi enhance plant growth, especially in soils of low nutrient status. Some lines of evidence have shown that inoculation of host plants with AM fungi could reduce incidence and severity of root diseases in large number of crop plants and the mechanism has been termed as induced systemic resistance. However, the exact mechanism by which AM fungi contribute to restrict pathogen colonization in root tissues are not fully understood. The present paper reviews the information available on the mechanisms of induced systemic resistance broughtout by AM fungi.