From the Guidelines
Mycorrhizal networks play a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem health by acting as connectors between network modules and increasing stability 1.
Key Functions of Mycorrhizal Networks
- Enhance nutrient uptake: Mycorrhizal fungi produce metabolites that bacteria can exploit when nutrients are limited, providing a physical space for bacterial colonization and dispersal 1.
- Support bacterial resistance: Mycorrhizal fungi can support bacterial resistance to hydric stress, increasing the overall resilience of the ecosystem 1.
- Increase network robustness: While some studies suggest that the addition of fungi to bacterial networks can decrease network robustness, others indicate that it can increase transitivity and modularity, leading to a more complex and interconnected network 1.
Importance of Inter-Kingdom Interactions
The inclusion of inter-kingdom interactions, including both prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes, is essential for understanding the emergent properties of microbiomes and their stability 1.
Future Research Directions
More integrative microbiome research is needed to fully understand the role of mycorrhizal networks in health, as many studies focus on bacteria alone, and the addition of multiple guilds and/or kingdoms may change stability assessments 1.
From the Research
Mycorrhizal Networks and Health
- Mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic relationships with plant roots, enabling plants to better adapt to adverse soil conditions, enhance plant tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses, and improve plant establishment and growth 2.
- The symbiosis between mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots allows for the exchange of nutrients, with the fungi providing plants with nutrients that may be inaccessible to root systems 3.
- Different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi cocolonizing on a single plant root system can recruit distinct microbiomes, which can have different predicted functions 4.
Role in Abiotic Stress
- Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis plays a crucial role in plant abiotic stress, including drought resistance, mineral nutrient uptake, hormone synthesis, salt resistance, and heavy metal stress 5.
- Mycorrhizal fungi can help plants tolerate different abiotic stresses, such as drought, heavy metals, and soil salinity, as well as biotic stresses, such as pathogen infections 2.
Mutualistic Interaction
- Mycorrhizal fungi belong to several taxa and develop mutualistic symbiotic associations with over 90% of all plant species 6.
- The mutualistic interaction between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is complex and involves the exchange of nutrients and other benefits, such as improved plant growth and development 6.
- Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have several peculiar biological traits, including obligate biotrophy, intracellular development inside the plant tissues, and unique genetics, which make their study intriguing and challenging 6.