Plant growth promotion by beneficial fungi in phosphate-starved conditions

Abstract

Phosphorus is one of three macronutrients limiting plant growth in natural soils. For efficient phosphate uptake from soil, plants get help from root-associated fungi such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and the root endophyte Colletotrichum tofieldiae. Plants have also developed a phosphate starvation response (PSR) system that senses phosphate starvation and increases phosphate uptake. In this review, we discuss how these two root-associated beneficial fungi contribute to plant growth in phosphate-starvation conditions. We also discuss how the plant PSR system regulates beneficial fungi via the regulation of tryptophan-derived secondary metabolites of the plant.