Fungi: advances in understanding the role of root-associated fungi in soil

Publication date: 29/05/2025
Extent: 38 pages

Contributions by: Nimalka Weerasuriya, University of Western Ontario, Canada and A & L Biologicals, Canada; Noor Saeed Cheema, Marianna Wallace and R. Greg Thorn, University of Western Ontario, Canada; and Saveetha Kandasamy, Soledad Saldias and George Lazarovits, A & L Biologicals, Canada

Chapter synopsis:

This chapter highlights the varied roles that root-associated soil fungi play in agricultural ecosystems. The authors begin by describing the relationship between fungi with plants before detailing the beneficial, antagonistic, and dynamic interactions between the two. Next they present an overview of methods for detection, identification, and analysis of communities of root-associated fungi. The authors then explore two crop root mycobiomes case studies: root and rhizosphere mycobiomes in corn and winter wheat, and the use of fungi isolated from high-yielding soil to improve crop performance in low-yielding soils. Finally, they examine the methodological considerations for the use of barcoding gene regions and sequencing platforms for fungal metabarcoding.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2024.0136.15