Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2004 Sep;163(3):617-627.
doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2004.01152.x.

The fungus does not transfer carbon to or between roots in an arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis

Philip E Pfeffer  1 , David D Douds Jr  1 , Heike Bücking  2 , Daniel P Schwartz  1 , Yair Shachar-Hill  2
Affiliations
Free article

The fungus does not transfer carbon to or between roots in an arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis

Philip E Pfeffer et al. New Phytol. 2004 Sep.
Free article

Abstract

• Carbon transfer from fungus to plant in the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis has been reported, but its significance and even its existence have been called into question and the issue remains controversial. We investigated carbon movement from fungus to plant and from one mycorrhizal root system to another via a common AM fungal network in monoxenic cultures to avoid limitations of some previous studies. • 13 C and 14 C labeled substrates were supplied to functioning in vitro AM mycorrhizas between Ri T-DNA transformed carrot (Daucus carota) roots and Glomus intraradices to follow carbon movement into and between host and fungal metabolite pools. • Fungal triacylglycerol and trehalose were labeled when permeant substrates were supplied to the extraradical mycelium (ERM), but host-specific compounds in the roots did not become labeled. When labeled glucose was provided to a donor root system, label moved to recipient roots via a common AM fungal network but remained in fungal compounds. • We conclude that carbon flow in the AM symbiosis is normally unidirectional from plant to fungus and that while carbon is translocated by the fungus from one metabolically active root system to another, it remains within the intraradical mycelium (IRM).

Keywords: GCMS; Glomus intraradices; NMR; Ri T-DNA carrot (Daucus carota) roots; arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis; carbon translocation.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Bago B, Pfeffer PE, Abubaker J, Jun J, Allan JW, Brouillette J, Douds DD, Lammers PJ, Shachar-Hill Y. 2003. Carbon export from arbuscular mycorrhizal roots involves the translocation of glycogen as well as lipid. Plant Physiology 131: 1496-1507. - PubMed
    1. Bago B, Pfeffer PE, Douds DD, Brouillette J, Bécard G, Shachar-Hill Y. 1999. Carbon metabolism in spores of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices as revealed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Plant Physiology 121: 263-271. - PubMed
    1. Bago B, Pfeffer PE, Shachar-Hill Y. 2000. Carbon metabolism and transport in arbuscular mycorrhizas. Plant Physiology 124: 924-957.
    1. Bago B, Pfeffer PE, Zipfel W, Jun J, Lammers P, Shachar-Hill Y. 2002. Tracking metabolism and imaging transport in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Plant and Soil 244: 189-197.
    1. Bago B, Vierheilig H, Piché Y, Azcon Aguilar C. 1996. Nitrate depletion and pH changes induced by the extraradical mycelium of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices grown in monoxenic culture. New Phytologist 133: 273-280.

LinkOut - more resources