Effect of Agrochemicals on Mycorrhizae

Intertwined Existence: The Life of Plant Symbiotic Fungi in Agricultural Soils

“…It has been suggested that nontarget detrimental effects on AM (Trappe et al 1984;Vyas and Vyas 2000) may diminish the benefits of pesticides for controlling crop pests. This has led to increases in pesticide use to reduce weeds, plant diseases and insect pests in agricultural fields.…”

“…One study shows that there is a variable response of arbuscular mycorrhizae to systemic fungicides (von Alten et al 1993). The literature is full of examples showing that effects are quite variable (Diedhiou et al 2004;Jabaji-Hare and Kendrick 1987;Kjoller and Rosendahl 2000;Kling and Jakobsen 1997;Salem et al 2003;Schreiner and Bethlenfalvay 1997;Sukarno et al 1998;von Alten et al 1993) and in some cases contradictory (Trappe et al 1984;Vyas and Vyas 2000). Similarly, Plenchette and Perrin (1992) found that systemic fungicides decreased or had no effect on mycorrhization of leek while non-systemic fungicides affected wheat.…”