The mutualistic symbiosis involving Glomeromycota, a distinctive phylum of early diverging Fungi, is widely hypothesized to have promoted the evolution of land plants during the middle Paleozoic. These arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) perform vital functions in the phosphorus cycle that are fundamental to sustainable crop plant productivity. The unusual biological features of AMF have long fa...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), belonging to the Glomeromycota, are soil microorganisms that establish mutualistic symbioses with the majority of higher plants. The efficient uptake of low mobility mineral nutrients by the fungal symbiont and their further transfer to the plant is a major feature of this symbiosis. Besides improving plant mineral nutrition, AMF can alleviate heavy metal tox...

Lavender species form the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and are at the same time highly susceptible to white root rot. In an attempt to evaluate the response of mycorrhizal Lavandula angustifolia L. to Armillaria mellea (Vahl:Fr) P. Kumm in a greenhouse experiment, plants were previously inoculated with an isolate of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis (former Glomus in...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), belonging to the fungal phylum Glomeromycota, form mutualistic symbioses with roots of almost 80% of land plants. The release of genomic data from the ubiquitous AMF Rhizophagus irregularis revealed that this species possesses a large set of putative secreted proteins (RiSPs) that could be of major importance for establishing the symbiosis. In the present stu...

Elaeagnus angustifolia L. is a drought-resistant species. Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis is considered to be a bio-ameliorator of saline soils that can improve salinity tolerance in plants. The present study investigated the effects of inoculation with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis on the biomass, antioxidant enzyme activities, and root, stem, and leaf ion accumula...

High copper (Cu) levels in uprooted old vineyard soils may cause toxicity in transplanted young vines, although such toxicity may be reduced by inoculating plants with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of AMF on the plant growth, chlorophyll contents, mycorrhizal colonization, and Cu and phosphorus (P) absorption in young vines cultivate...

Understanding the outcome of the plant-microbe symbiosis in reduced or altered is vital to developing life support systems for long-distance space travel and colonization of other planets. Thus, the aim of this research was to understand mutualistic relationships between plants and endophytic microbes under the influence of altered gravity. This project utilized the model tripartite relationshi...

This study used a [(13)C]DNA stable isotope probing (SIP) technique to elucidate a direct pathway for the translocation of (13)C-labeled photoassimilate from maize plants to extraradical mycelium-associated phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) that mediate the mineralization and turnover of soil organic phosphorus (P) in the hyphosphere. Inoculation with PSB alone did not provide any benefit t...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is an intimate and ancient symbiosis found between most of terrestrial plants and fungi from the Glomeromycota family. Later during evolution, the establishment of the nodulation between legume plants and soil bacteria known as rhizobia, involved several genes of the signaling pathway previously implicated for AM symbiosis. For the past years, the identific...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are root-inhabiting fungi that form mutualistic symbioses with their host plants. AMF symbiosis improves nutrient uptake and buffers the plant against a diversity of stresses. Rhizophagus irregularis is one of the most widespread AMF species in the world, and its application in agricultural systems for yield improvement has increased over the last years. Still...