Genetic variation and evolutionary history of a mycorrhizal fungus regulate the currency of exchange in symbiosis with the food security crop cassava.

ABSTRACT: Most land plants form symbioses with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Diversity of AMF increases plant community productivity and plant diversity. For decades, it was known that plants trade carbohydrates for phosphate with their fungal symbionts. However, recent studies show that plant-derived lipids probably represent the most essential currency of exchange. Understanding the regulation of plant genes involved in the currency of exchange is crucial to understanding stability of this mutualism. Plants encounter many different AMF genotypes that vary greatly in the benefit they confer to plants. Yet the role that fungal genetic variation plays in the regulation of this currency has not received much attention. We used a high-resolution phylogeny of one AMF species (Rhizophagus irregular

SUBMITTER: Savary R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7242447 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature