ABSTRACT
Over the past decade, inocula of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have become commercially available, but we are still far from integrating arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) into plant production. The role of AMF in plant production has been marginalized in high-input agriculture through the use of pesticides and fertilizers, creating sce narios where the symbiosis may even be causing growth depressions when the cost (carbon drain) of the symbiosis becomes higher than the benefit (phosphorous uptake) (Ryan and Graham, 2002). More recently, the focus has been on areas with little or no AMF inoculum potential, such as plant production in horticulture that is based on soilless growth media. AMF have also been used in the restoration of disturbed landscapes, such as after major construction work (Dodd et al., 2002), in the bioremediation of polluted soils (Joner and Leyval, 2003; Vivas et al., 2003), and in the restoration of desertified eco systems (Requena et al., 2001).
