Impact of Genetically Modified Crops on the Biodiversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

COLOMBO, ROXANA PAULA; FERNANDEZ BIDONDO, LAURA; SILVANI, VANESA ANALÍA; GODEAS, ALICIA M.

GMOs Implications for Biodiversity Conservation and Ecological Processes

Springer

Año: 2021; p. 69 - 86

Plants, including genetically modified (GM) ones, are able to shape thestructure of soil microbiomes by modifying the soil properties and the rhizospherechemistry by the exudation of different compounds, thus influencing the soil microbialdynamics. Among the rhizosphere microorganisms beneficial to the plant community,the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are considered as indicators of soilhealth, playing important roles in plant growth by improving mineral nutrition, stabilizingsoil aggregates, and protecting their host plants against pathogens. In thecontext of a sustainable use of soils and conservation of the biodiversity of thesebeneficial fungi, a better understanding of the effects of GM plants on the mycorrhizalsymbiosis is thus relevant. This chapter seeks to understand the effects of GMcrops on AM fungi by reviewing the existing bibliography and to lay the foundationfor further research works that enrich the current knowledge on this topic. Althoughto date most scientific investigations have found no significant effect of GM plantson AM fungal colonization, some found a negative effect of GM plants on the initialstages of the establishment of the mycorrhizal symbiosis. Thus, it is necessary tocarry out further investigations on a long temporal scale and under different agroecologicalconditions, focusing on AM fungal biodiversity and on the impact ofeach GM crop on these beneficial microorganisms before authorizing release.