Current Research Trends in Endophytic Fungi Modulating Plant Adaptation to Climate Change-associated Soil Salinity Stress

Climate change has significantly led to the intensification of its associated stresses such as salinity, drought, and extreme temperature in agriculture, threatening global food security and safety. In this review, we performed a bibliometric analysis to provide information on the research trends in abiotic stress. The results show that salinity has been revealed to be the most alarming stress in recent years. Salinity or salt stress, is the primary abiotic stressor that significantly impacts plant development, yield, and productivity, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide. This stress causes a significant loss of crop productivity by disrupting water and nutrient uptake. Plant symbionts, particularly fungal endophytes play a key role in mitigating salinity stress in crop plants. Endophytic fungi, particularly Piriformospora indica, and several species of dark septate endophyte (DSE) living symbiotically within plant tissues, are revealed as sustainable and promising tools to mitigate the destructive impacts of salinity stress. Their interaction with the host plants induces the production of osmolytes and antioxidative enzymes, modulates plants to manage osmotic stress, and prevents the accumulation of harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS). Despite these advancements, understanding the specific mechanisms of how these fungi enhance salinity tolerance in host plants remains a research gap. This review synthesizes existing literature, identifies research gaps, and proposes future research directions. It provides a comprehensive overview of the role of endophytic fungi in ameliorating salinity stress, optimizing agricultural practices, and developing sustainable solutions in the context of climate change.