Are high soil-P adapted arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi key to unlocking plant benefits in fertilized soils?

It is known that edaphic factors can modulate the performance of mycorrhizal biostimulants in promoting the growth and secondary anabolism of plants with medicinal relevance. In this context, the adaptation or growth of these fungi to a high P condition can be a strategy to ensure their efficiency in agricultural systems, given that this nutrient is considered an important modulator of mycorrhizal symbiosis. In this regard, 60% of the studies published over the past decade have investigated the efficiency of mycorrhizal fungal isolates, which occur naturally in environments with high phosphate fertility, in promoting distinct benefits to the host cultivated in a phosphorus-supplemented soil. The remaining 40% of studies discussed this potential, considering inoculants that have been artificially adapted in the laboratory to high soil phosphorus availability. This topic is particularly relevant due to the increasing global demand for phosphate fertilizers in agricultural production. Therefore, this perspective compiles studies that address this issue, highlighting the reported benefits of inoculating arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, adapted to high phosphorus conditions, in the growth and synthesis of bioactive compounds in hosts cultivated under similar conditions to the substrate of the inoculum source. In addition, the aspects that need to be investigated in future studies to use mycorrhizal isolates adapted to a target condition feasible, are addressed.