Interactions between soil microorganisms and plants-soil systems are crucial for maintaining ecosystem functionality and addressing climate change. Soil microorganisms regulate the ecological functions and stability of plant-soil systems through influencing plant growth, nutrient cycling, and soil fertility, and have broad application prospects in sustainable agricultural development. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are pivotal components of the sustainable development of the ecosystem, which can affect nutrient exchange between plants and soil, improve plant productivity, stress resistance and play an important role in improving soil quality and nutrient cycling. Under environmental stress conditions, AMF colonization could promote plant uptake of soil moisture and nutrients, improve plant productivity and stress resistance, and play a key role in improving soil quality and nutrient cycling. However, studies have shown that AMF can inhibit plant yield accumulation, which is not conducive to maintaining soil ecological function and sustainability. Currently, research on the effects of AMF on plant-soil systems is inconsistent, which might be related to environmental conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to summarize the existing research results systematically and clarify the role and mechanism of AMF on plant-soil systems productivity, stress resistance and nutrient cycling. The review summarized the development and symbiotic mechanism of the symbiotic relationship between AMF and plant-soil systems. The exchange of carbon sources and phosphorus nutrients is the core of plant-AMF symbiosis. In the plant-AMF symbiosis system, plants transfer about 20% of photosynthetic products to AMF for its growth. In return, AMF hyphae absorb nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen from the soil to promote the growth of the host plant. This review also discussed the mechanism of AMF on plant-soil systems productivity and stress resistance. There is a ‘trade-off’ between plants and AMF symbiosis. When the benefits of the host plant exceed the input costs, it promotes the symbiosis between AMF and the plant, while the costs exceed the benefits, the host plant weakens the symbiotic relationship with AMF. In addition, the review highlighted the effects of AMF on nutrient cycling in plant-soil systems. Finally, critical scientific issues in the AMF-plant-soil symbiosis that required further systematic research were proposed, and the shortcomings of current research and proposed future research were discussed to promote research in this field, in order to provide new ideas for the sustainable development of agricultural ecosystems. In future research, it is necessary to establish an AMF-plant-soil environment database based on specific environmental conditions, AMF strains, and plant types to enhance the role of AMF in agricultural production, environmental remediation, and climate change response.