Recently, considerable attention has been paid to stimulating the production of nutritionally and medicinally valuable secondary metabolites in plants. Like genotype, cultivation practices, environmental conditions, and stress, the symbiotic interaction of plants with soil-dwelling arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is known to influence the content and range of phytochemicals produced by plants. Despite AMF colonization being restricted to the roots, its effect on plant physiology and metabolism is systemic. AMF, therefore, offer an option for sustainably cultivating herbal plants since it can reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides while increasing soil health and biological fertility.

These AMF-mediated phytochemicals may aid plant growth, increase stress resistance, and/or be of medicinal and nutritional significance to humankind. However, the mechanisms underlying the production of these potentially economically and ecologically important phytochemicals remain unknown. Promising areas of research include metabolomic studies, which will offer an enhanced understanding of the metabolic changes taking place due to mycorrhizal symbiosis. Another is the comparative analysis of plant organs in terms of metabolic traits, biomass/allocation patterns, and transcript profiles, which will help in understanding plants’ systemic response to AMF inoculation.

This Research Topic aims to bring together insights and advances in the study of AMF and its relation to plant metabolite production, to better understand this symbiotic interaction and its potential applications. We invite authors to contribute Original Research and Review articles that cover AMF-mediated augmentation of plant secondary metabolites, focusing on metabolomics, physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. We particularly welcome manuscripts that address (but are not limited to):

• Metabolic effects of AMF on individual secondary metabolites of economic importance;
• Mechanistic insights into the metabolic reprogramming of plants by AMF;
• Recent advances, opportunities and challenges of plant secondary metabolite production using AMF;
• Interactive effects of AMF with fertilizers (including enhanced carbon dioxide), chemicals, PGPRs, phytohormones and abiotic and biotic stress on the production of secondary metabolites;
• Interactive studies on plant genotype and AM fungal strains to differentiate common metabolic responses from unique ones.

Topic Editor Mohamed Hijri is the founder of MycoBiont and MycoSystem; and a co-founder of Quorum Inoculants, with no conflict of interest with the Research Topic. The other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.

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Frontiers in Plant Science

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