Acquisition of host-derived carbon in biomass of the ectomycorrhizal fungus Pisolithus microcarpus is correlated to fungal carbon demand and plant defences.

ABSTRACT: Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi are key players in forest carbon (C) sequestration, receiving a substantial proportion of photosynthetic C from their forest tree hosts in exchange for plant growth-limiting soil nutrients. However, it remains unknown whether the fungus or plant controls the quantum of C in this exchange, nor what mechanisms are involved. Here, we aimed to identify physiological and genetic properties of both partners that influence ECM C transfer. Using a microcosm system, stable isotope tracing, and transcriptomics, we quantified plant-to-fungus C transfer between the host plant Eucalyptus grandis and nine isolates of the ECM fungus Pisolithus microcarpus that range in their mycorrhization potential and investigated fungal growth characteristics and plant and fungal genes that

SUBMITTER: Stuart EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10191194 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature