The potential use of arbuscular mycorrhiza in the cultivation of medicinal plants in Barak Valley, Assam: A Review

Abstract

AM fungi are widespread and are found from arctic to tropics in most agricultural and natural ecosystems. They play an important role in plant growth, health and productivity. They increase seedling tolerance to drought, high temperatures, toxic heavy metals, high or low pH and even extreme soil acidity. The cultivation of medicinal and herbal plants has assumed greater importance in recent years due to their tremendous potential in modern and traditional medicine. They are also used as raw materials for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and fragrance industries. Indian system of medicine (ISM) uses 25,000 species belonging to more than 1000 genera. About 25% species are used by the industries. The Barak Valley is the southernmost part of the Assam and consists of three districts namely Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. Different tribes staying here are directly using of medicinal plants for the treatments of different ailments. Comparatively very less attention has been given for the conservation of some of these rare and endangered medicinal plants which are extensively used by the tribes of Assam. So, AM fungi can play an effective role in the conservation of some valuable medicinal plants where Glomus sp. was found to be widely used for the increase yield of important medicinal plants. This review summarizes the data from recent studies to elucidate the potential use of AM fungi for promoting growth and disease resistance in medicinal plants found in southern part of Assam, which in turn provide a natural enhancer for the commercial production of traditional drugs from various important plants.

Effect of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi And Some Phosphorus Sources on Growth, Seeds Yield, Chemical Compositions, Oil Productivity and Fixed Oil Constituents of Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) Plant

“…Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi play an important role in plant growth, health and productivity. AMF fungi help plants to absorb nutrients, especially the less available mineral nutrients such as copper, molybdenum, phosphorus and zinc (Chanda et al, 2014) AMF fungi have been shown to have benefits to host plants by increasing herbivore tolerance, pollination, soil stability, and heavy metal tolerance (Hart and Trevors 2005). Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi help plant species to uptake water and nutrients and make physiological changes to increase growth and productivity of host plants, AMF fungi play a key role in soil fertility and plant nutrition, enhancing the uptake and translocation of mineral nutrients (P, N, S, K, Ca, Fe, Cu and Zn) from soil to host plants, by means of an extensive below ground hyphal network, which spreads from colonized roots into the soil environment (Smith and Read 2008 and Raei and Weisany 2013)…”

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Associated with Wati (Piper methysticum), a Medicinal Plant from Merauke Lowland, Papua, Indonesia

“…This result was supported by Maffia et al (1993) that Glomus, Acaulospora, and Gigaspora were observed in the Piperaceae rhizosphere, the genus Scutellospora cannot be found in this study. AMF can be utilized in increasing plant growth, including medicinal plants (Thapa et al, 2015;Chandra et al, 2014). According to Gogoi & Sigh (2011), AMF has an effect on the growth of Piper longum (Gogoi & Sigh, 2011;Seema & Garampalli, 2015) and P. nigrum (da Luz et al, 2015).…”

“…Previously, there was not research, which has been done on AMF in rhizosphere of wati plant (P. methysticum) and in lowland area of Merauke, which having low pH. The plant species of P. methysticum are known to contain a fairly high metabolite (Tanjung et al, 2014), but AMF can be well-associated (Chandra et al, 2014). In fact, besides AMF, various plant species are also able to associate with endophytes (Cape et al, 2014;Hasanah et al, 2017).…”

“…Plants derive nutrients from the absorption carried out by the fungus, while the fungi derive energy sources from the photosynthesis of plants (Smith & Read, 2008;Souza, 2015). The role of AMF (Phylum Glomeromycota) in the growth of medicinal plants in various countries is significant (Sundar et al, 2011;Raei & Weisany, 2013;Chandra et al, 2014), including in China (Wang & Zhao, 2008). Several types of AMF are found to be symbiotic with the roots of medicinal plants such as ginseng (Panax ginseng, P. notoginseng, and P. quiquefolium), Datura stramonium, Atractylodes macrochepala, and several other medicinal plants (Wang & Zhao, 2008).…”

Comparative assessment of arbuscular mycoorhizal fungi (AMF) associated with Oroxylum indicum L. (Kurz.)- an ethno-medicinal plant of N. E. India

“…They can make the event possible through enhancing the uptake and translocation of mineral nutrients like phosphorous, nitrogen, sulphur, potassium, calcium, iron, copper and zinc from soil to the host plants. AM fungi associated with the medicinal plants are also known to enhance the plant growth and improve the active metabolites (Chanda et. al, 2014).…”