Efforts to describe the complex relationships between bark beetles and the ophiostomatoid (stain) fungi they transport have largely resulted in a dichotomous classiÞcation. These symbioses have been viewed as either mutualistic (i.e., fungi help bark beetles colonize living trees by overcoming tree defenses or by providing nutrients after colonization in return for transport to a host) or antag...

The diversity of functional and life-history traits of organisms depends on adaptation as well as the legacy of shared ancestry. Although the evolution of traits in macro-organisms is well studied, relatively little is known about character evolution in micro-organisms. Here, we surveyed an ancient and ecologically important group of microbial plant symbionts, the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fu...

We investigated the association between ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and pioneer woody plant species in areas devastated by the eruption of Mt. Usu, Japan, in 2000. We observed 8 woody plant species at the research site, most of which were associated with ECM and/or AM fungi. In particular, dominant woody plant species Populus maximowiczii, Salix hultenii var. ang...

Efforts to maintain and restore whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) forests in western North America have increased dramatically over the last two decades and now include the planting of nursery-grown rust resistant seedlings in openings and burned areas. Over 200,000 nursery seedlings have been planted in the western U.S. but survival rates are low and in many areas approach zero. One possibilit...

Two pathways exist for plant Pi uptake from soil: via root epidermal cells (direct pathway) or via associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, and the two pathways interact in a complex manner. This study investigated distal and local effects of AM colonization on direct root Pi uptake and root growth, at different soil P levels. Medicago truncatula was grown at three soil P levels in ...

The colonization of land by eukaryotes probably was facilitated by a partnership (symbiosis) between a photosynthesizing organism (phototroph) and a fungus. However, the time when colonization occurred remains speculative. The first fossil land plants and fungi appeared 480 to 460 million years ago (Ma), whereas molecular clock estimates suggest an earlier colonization of land, about 600 Ma. Ou...

Context dependency is deemed to position the outcomes of species interactions along a continuum of mutualism to parasitism. Thus, it is imperative to understand which factors determine where a particular interspecific interaction falls along the continuum. Over the past 20 years research on the ectomycorrhizal symbiosis has resulted in sufficient independent studies to now generalize about the ...

An investigation was carried out for fifteen plant species, cultivated widely as vegetable crops in Bangladesh, belonged to six different families to measure their affinity in harbouring symbiotic association with mycorrhizal fungi. Fourteen out of the fifteen species were having developed VA-mycorrhizal colonization in their root tissues with a range of 7% to 98%. All the soil samples tested w...

Citrus is grouped under the salt sensitive crops. Mycorrhizal fungi, a symbiotic relationship between plant roots and beneficial fungi, are supposed to impart the stress tolerance in the host plants. The stress tolerance improved due to Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi (AM fungi) colonization can be attributed to enhanced mineral nutrition. In the present study the efforts are made to evaluate the ...