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The current systems of food production used in Europe and North America have been hugely successful in increasing the yields of arable crops and in reducing the proportion of household budgets devoted to food. Despite this, intensive agricultural systems have had adverse effects on the environment, and the resulting diet has been linked to current health issues. Both the EU and the USA Government...
The mutualistic plant–microbe symbioses are represented as the products of interspecies (reciprocal) altruism which resemble to some extent pathogenic (antagonistic) interactions at the molecular and cytological levels. The evolutionary interconversions (direct filiations) between these types of plant–microbe relationships are evident from the side of the plant hosts which possess gene networks for...
The persistence through evolution of the arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) symbiosis between Glomeromycota and plants is probably due to a widespread molecular dialogue between the two partners. Most studies have focussed on established mycorrhizal systems whilst evidence for cellular commitment of the symbiotic partners during early developmental phases is recent. Whereas spore germination by AM fungi can...
Non-targeted approaches are not based on hypotheses, but screen for molecule pattern differences in organisms under particular conditions or at certain developmental stages. Patterns of RNA accumulation have been intensively analysed during the last years in order to get insights into mycorrhizal symbioses. This chapter will give an overview about these attempts and the results. As an example about...
Because proteins are well known as key effectors of plant responses to environmental cues including recognition, signaling, transport, and defense reactions, interest has been paid to characterize those involved in the establishment and functioning of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis. The recent development of high throughput techniques has enabled large-scale analyses of symbiosis-related proteins...
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, as obligate biotrophs, rely for their growth and activity on carbon provided by their host plant and, in exchange, they improve the mineral nutrition of the plant, in particular the acquisition of phosphorus and to some extent of nitrogen and other minor nutrients. This nutrient exchange takes place across the symbiotic interfaces that are developed as the fungus...
Although arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses are considered to be mutualistic, plant benefit is not always immediately obvious. Non-responsiveness in terms of growth and phosphorus (P) nutrition is observed in a wide variety of plant species, including natives and some widely cultivated crops (e.g. cereals). Non-responsiveness is primarily attributed to variations in the exchange of carbon (C) and...
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are able to tolerate a wide range of metal concentrations in soils. A number of passive and active molecular processes are employed by these fungi to maintain metal homeostasis. The main passive mechanism is the binding of metals to the fungal walls, responsible for a significant percentage of the metal retained. Meanwhile in the cytosol, a number of chelators (metallothioneins,...
Root colonisation by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can improve plant resistance/tolerance to biotic stresses. Although this bioprotection has been amply described in different plant systems, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Besides mechanisms such as improved plant nutrition and competition, experimental evidence supports the involvement of plant defence mechanisms in the observed...
A true species phylogeny requires congruence amongst all independent character data sets that inform on continuity of descent. A morphology-based phylogeny conflicts with rRNA phylogenies in basal nodes, but all are in greater accord at the family level and above. Incongruent patterns are attributed to population-level processes in gene evolution that create signals of homoplasy and distorted relationships...
Spatial analysis techniques have recently become more common in ecological research. The application of these techniques to ecological problems has coincided with the development of molecular techniques for the study of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal communities. Through determination of the spatial properties of ECM fungal species’ distribution (i.e. patch size and shape, degree of clustering), it...
The importance of a spatial context in understanding the ecology and evolution of organisms has become increasingly clear. Although there is a growing awareness of the importance of mycorrhizal fungi in many communities and ecosystems, much of this understanding is based on a spatially homogenized view of these soil fungi. This homogenized approach may limit our understanding of how these organisms...
A diversity of responses to disturbance among ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) species contributing to similar ecosystem functions is important to forest successional recovery. Response diversity is particularly important in ecosystems subject to frequent or catastrophic disturbance, providing insurance that succession proceeds within a historical stability domain. This chapter examines patterns of EMF...
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) biodiversity from 30 sites throughout the Phoenix, USA, metropolitan area was compared to determine the impact of urbanization on AMF communities. Spores from pot cultures started with soil collected from non-indigenous and indigenous plants at urban sites and from indigenous plants at desert sites were identified. The total number of species detected, number of...
This chapter focusses on showing some taxonomic and ecological characters of the main desert truffle species in Spain as well as the main biotechnological procedures followed to produce mycorrhizal plants with some of these fungal species. The full micropropagation protocol of the host plant Helianthemum violaceum is described for the first time. Five different ways of producing mycorrhizal synthesis...
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