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By developing a symbiotic relationship with fungi, plants not only become more tolerant to diseases but can also help contribute to more sustainable agricultural practices. This is the conclusion of a new study from the University of Gothenburg.



Most crops can form symbiosis with fungi to gain key nutrients. The fungi in turn gain carbohydrates generated through the plant’s photosynthesis.



This type of symbiosis is called arbuscular mycorrhizas and is of key importance to sustainable agriculture since it helps crops utilise better the phosphate in fertilisers.



‘This symbiosis is very important since the leakage of phosphate from farm fields contributes to harmful eutrophication of rivers, lakes and seas,’ says Cornelia Spetea Wiklund, professor at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg.





The Symbiosis Protects against Drought and Diseases

The Symbiosis Has Hormonal Effects in Plants



This article has been republished from materials provided by University of Gothenburg. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.



Reference

Lisa Adolfsson, Hugues Nziengui, Ilka N Abreu, Jan Šimura, Azeez Beebo, Andrei Herdean, Jila Aboalizadeh, Jitka Široká, Thomas Moritz, Ondřej Novák, Karin Ljung, Benoît Schoefs, Cornelia Spetea. Enhanced Secondary- and Hormone Metabolism in Leaves of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Medicago truncatula. Plant Physiology, 2017; 175 (1): 392 DOI: 10.1104/pp.16.01509.



