Most terrestrial plants interact with diverse clades of mycorrhizal and root-endophytic fungi in their roots. Through belowground plant-fungal interactions, dominant plants can benefit by interacting with host-specific mutualistic fungi and proliferate in a community based on positive plant-mutualistic fungal feedback. On the other hand, subordinate plant species may persist in the community by...

Ergosterol, a membrane sterol found in fungi but not in plants, was used to estimate live mycelial biomass in ectomycorrhizae. Loblolly pine (Pinus tueda L.) seeds were sown in April 1993 and grown with standard nursery culture practices. Correlations between total seedling ergosterol and visual assessment of mycorrhizal colonization were high during July and August but low as ectomycorrhizal d...

Biological communities are often structured by environmental factors even at small spatial scales. Fungi are no exception, though the patterns and mechanisms underlying their community structure are usually unknown. Previous work documented zonation in fungi under tree canopies primarily through their fruiting patterns. Here we investigate the existence of zonation patterns in fungal communitie...

Molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the sustained metal tolerance of ectomycorrhizal fungi are largely unknown. Some of the main mechanisms involved in metal detoxification appear to involve the chelation of metal ions in the cytosol with thiol-containing compounds, such as glutathione, phytochelatins, or metallothioneins. We used an improved high-performance liquid chromatography meth...

The results of eight years of study of the ectomycorrhizal macrofungi at the subalpine Lyman Lake Basin (Glacier Peak Wilderness area in the North Cascade Mountains, Washington, USA) are reported. The basin was divided into three sites: the primary successional glacier forefront vs two secondary successional habitats (subalpine parkland and old-growth montane Tsuga mertensiana-Abies amabilis). ...

Ectomycorrhizal fungi allow their host plants access to organic forms of N through enzymatic mineralization of the substrate and enhanced absorption of amino acids and mineral N. The cost to the plant is carbohydrates that support fungal growth and metabolism. Enrichment of soils with mineral N, as through atmospheric deposition, may affect the growth and function of these fungi by direct effec...

Diverse clades of mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi are potentially involved in competitive or facilitative interactions within host-plant roots. We investigated the potential consequences of these ecological interactions on the assembly process of root-associated fungi by examining the co-occurrence of pairs of fungi in host-plant individuals. Based on massively-parallel pyrosequencing, we anal...

Ectomycorrhizal fungi form symbioses with all the major tree species in the boreal forest zone and they are of key importance in nutrient acquisition, plant protection against root pathogens and drought stress. Their diversity and the impacts of forestry practises on these highly important organisms is therefore of great interest. The aim of the study was to describe ectomycorrhizal biodiversit...

Ectomycorrhizal fungi play a key role in mobilizing nutrients embedded in recalcitrant organic matter complexes, thereby increasing nutrient accessibility to the host plant. Recent studies have shown that during the assimilation of nutrients, the ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus decomposes organic matter using an oxidative mechanism involving Fenton chemistry (Fe H2O2 H ¡ Fe ̇OH H2O), s...

Anthropogenic activities during the last century have increased levels of atmospheric CO2. Forest net primary productivity increases in response to elevated CO2, altering the quantity and quality of carbon supplied to the rhizosphere. Ectomycorrhizal fungi form obligate symbiotic associations with the fine roots of trees that mediate improved scavenging for nutrients in exchange for a carbohydr...