The fungal symbionts of arbuscular mycorrhiza form a monophyletic group in the true Fungi, the phylum Glomeromycota. Fewer than 200 described species currently are included in this group. The only member of this clade known to form a different type of symbiosis is Geosiphon pyriformis, which associates with cyanobacteria. Because none of these fungi has been cultivated without their plant hosts...

Ephemeral roots have essential roles in plant and ecosystem functioning. In forests, roots account for a major component of carbon cycling, yet few studies have examined ranges of root trait variation and how different species vary in root form and function in these communities. Root branching intensity, specific root length (SRL; root length per unit dry mass), root diameter, tissue density, p...

The root systems of most agronomic crops are colonized by diverse assemblages of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), varying in the functional benefits (e.g. nutrient transfer, pathogen protection, water uptake) provided to hosts. Little is known about the evolutionary processes that shape the composition of these fungal assemblages, nor is it known whether more diverse assemblages are benefici...

In this study, we collected rhizosphere soils and root samples from a post-mining area and a natural forest area in Jecheon, Korea. We extracted spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) from rhizospheres, and then examined the sequences of 18S rDNA genes of the AMF from the collected roots of plants. We compared the AMF communities in the post-mining area and the natural forest area by sequ...

14 To estimate dynamics of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis in heavy metal (HM) 15 phytoremediation, we conducted a literature survey and correlated HM uptake and relative plant 16 growth parameters from published data. After estimating AM feedback responses for these 17 parameters at low and high soil-HM concentration intervals, we determined that the roles of AM 18 symbiosis are characte...

The identification of plant functional traits that can be linked to ecosystem processes is of wide interest, especially for predicting vegetational responses to climate change. Root diameter of the finest absorptive roots may be one plant trait that has wide significance. Do species with relatively thick absorptive roots forage in nutrient-rich patches differently from species with relatively f...

Mycorrhizal status of the host plant is often ignored in studies on plant-herbivore interactions, but mycorrhizal colonization is known to induce many morphological, physiological, and biochemical changes in host plants, which in turn may alter plant quality as a host for insect herbivores. Both positive and negative effects of mycorrhizal colonization of the host plant on performance and densi...

(1) While it is well-known that trees release carbon (C) to soils as root exudates, the factors that control the magnitude and biogeochemical impacts of this flux are poorly understood. (2) We quantified root exudation and microbially-mediated nutrient fluxes in the rhizosphere for four ~80 year-old tree species in a deciduous hardwood forest, Indiana, USA. We hypothesized that trees that exude...

Transformed root cultures of three nonmycotrophic and one mycotrophic plant species stimulated germination and hyphal growth of the vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus etunicatum (Becker & Gerd.) in a gel medium. However, only roots of the mycotrophic species (carrot) supported continued hyphal exploration after 3 to 4 weeks and promoted appressoria formation by G. etunicatum.