“…Abiotic stresses are widespread in terrestrial ecosystems and are becoming increasingly severe because of dramatic changes in the global climate, environmental pollution, and excessive human activities during the past several decades. In agricultural ecosystems, numerous studies have highlighted that AM fungi are capable of improving the tolerance of their host plants to drought ( Grümberg et al, 2015 ; Li et al, 2019b ), salinity ( Augé et al, 2014 ; Chandrasekaran et al, 2019 ), heavy metals ( Wu et al, 2018 ; Zhang et al, 2018 , 2019 ; Rask et al, 2019 ), low nutrient availability ( Tanaka and Yano, 2005 ; Garcia and Zimmermann, 2014 ; Koegel et al, 2015 ; Chu et al, 2020 ), extreme temperature (heat and cold; Zhu et al, 2011 ; Chen et al, 2013 ; Cabral et al, 2016 ; Mathur et al, 2018 ), acidic soils (low pH; Huang et al, 2017a ; Wang et al, 2017 ; Feng et al, 2020 ), aluminum (Al) toxicity ( Seguela et al, 2016 ; Aguilera et al, 2018 ), and pollutants (As and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Aranda et al, 2013 ; Calonne et al, 2014 ) to varying degrees. The mechanisms underlying the improved tolerance afforded by AM fungi involve increased nutrient levels, optimized water balance, enhanced photosynthesis, and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activity in plants.…”