چکیده
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Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) are able to synthesize a diverse group of secondary
metabolites (SMs) such as terpenoids or terpenes, steroids, phenolics, and alkaloids with a broad
range of therapeutic and pharmacological potentials. Extensive use of MAPs in various industries
makes it important to re-evaluate their research, development, production, and use. In intensive
agricultural systems, increasing plant productivity is highly dependent on the application of chemical
inputs. Extreme use of chemical or synthetic fertilizers, especially higher doses of N fertilization,
decrease the yield of bioactive compounds in MAPs. The plant–soil microbial interaction is an ecofriendly strategy to decrease the demand of chemical fertilizers. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF),
belongs to phylum Glomeromycota, can form mutualistic symbiotic associations with more than 80% of
plant species. The AMF–plant symbiotic association, in addition to increasing nutrient and water
uptake, reprograms the metabolic pathways of plants and changes the concentration of primary and
secondary metabolites of medicinal and aromatic plants. The major findings reported that inoculation
of AMF with MAPs enhanced secondary metabolites directly by increasing nutrient and water uptake
and also improving photosynthesis capacity or indirectly by stimulating SMs’ biosynthetic pathways
through changes in phytohormonal concentrations and production of signaling molecules. Overall,
the AMF-MAPs symbiotic association can be used as new eco-friendly technologies in sustainable
agricultural systems for improving the quantity and quality of MAPs.
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