Plant species in the subfamily Monotropoideae are mycoheterotrophs; they obtain fixed carbon from photosynthetic plants via a shared mycorrhizal network. Previous findings show mycoheterotrophic plants exhibit a high level of specificity to their mycorrhizal fungi. In this study we explore the association of mycorrhizal fungi and Monotropa uniflora (Monotropoideae: Ericaceae) in eastern North A...

Mycorrhizal associations are generally favourable for vascular plants in nutrient-poor conditions. Still, non-mycorrhizal plants are common in high arctic and alpine areas, which are often poor in nitrogen and phosphorus. The relative proportion of mycorrhizal plants has been found to decrease along with increasing altitude, suggesting that the advantage of the mycorrhizal symbiosis may change ...

Nitrogen isotopes (N/N ratios, expressed as dN values) are useful markers of the mycorrhizal role in plant nitrogen supply because discrimination against N during creation of transfer compounds within mycorrhizal fungi decreases the N/N in plants (low dN) and increases the N/N of the fungi (high dN). Analytical models of N distribution would be helpful in interpreting dN patterns in fungi and p...

A pot experiment examined the biomass and As uptake of Medicago truncatula colonized by the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus Glomus mosseae in low-P soil experimentally contaminated with different levels of arsenate. The biomass of G. mosseae external mycelium was unaffected by the highest addition level of As studied (200 mg kg(-1)) but shoot and root biomass declined in both mycorrhizal and...

The flavonoids 5,6,7,8,9-hydroxy chalcone, 3,7-hydroxy-4?methoxy flavone, 5,6,7,8-hydroxy-4?-methoxy flavone and 3,5,6,7,4?-hydroxy flavone can be detected only in non-mycorrhizal roots of white clover, but not in mycorrhizal roots, whereas the flavonoids acacetin, quercetin and rhamnetin are only present in mycorrhizal roots. We tested the effect of several concentrations of these compounds on...

This work was carried out to determine the influence of the duration of fallow and of physico-chemical components of soils on the distribution of endomycorrhizal fungal spores and the mycorrhizal soil infectivity. The mycorrhization of indigenous plants from the fallows was examined and it was concluded that, except for Cassia obtusifolia, fungal colonization was poorly developed. No correlatio...

Arbuscular mycorrhiza is a mutualistic association between fungi and higher plants, and play a critical role in nutrient cycling and stress tolerance. However, much less is known about the mycorrhiza-mediated enhancement in growth and salinity tolerance of the peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) growing in the arid and semi-arid areas. Therefore, mycorrhizal status of Glomus mosseae in diverse salini...

Mycorrhizal soybean (Glycine max L. Merr. var. Harosoy-63) plants have lower resistances to water transport than nonmy-corrhizal plants after 4.5 weeks of growth. Although resistances of whole plants differ by 40%, there were no differences in the resistances of stems plus leaves, indicating that the major effect of the mycorrhizae was to reduce the resistance of the roots. Since the fungitoxic...

Most land plants are able to form symbiotic associations with fungi, and in many cases these associations are necessary for plant and fungal survival. These plant/fungal associations are formed with mycorrhizal (arbuscular mycorrhizal or ectomycorrhizal) or endophytic fungi, fungi from distinct phylogenetic lineages. While it has been shown that mycorrhizal fungi are able to transfer nutrients ...

Legumes can enter into symbiotic relationships with both nitrogen-fixing bacteria (rhizobia) and mycorrhizal fungi. Nodulation by rhizobia results from a signal transduction pathway induced in legume roots by rhizobial Nod factors. DMI3, a Medicago truncatula gene that acts immediately downstream of calcium spiking in this signaling pathway and is required for both nodulation and mycorrhizal in...