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The Role of Arbuscular Mycorrhiza in the Growth and Development of Plants in the Family Gentianaceae

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The Gentianaceae - Volume 1: Characterization and Ecology

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Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) is an ancient symbiosis between land plants and those fungi from the Phylum Glomeromycota. It is estimated to occur in a large majority of plant species, including plants from the family Gentianaceae. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonize plant roots and in exchange for carbohydrates, they contribute to plant mineral nutrient uptake, increased water absorption , tolerance to pathogens, drought, high soil temperatures, toxic heavy metals, extremes in pH and transplant shock. AMF were also reported to have a decisive influence on plant diversity and community productivity. A large plant–fungal network may be established, because more than one plant can be colonized by the same fungal “individual” and each plant may host several fungal species. Non-photosynthetic plants, known as mycoheterotrophs, may parasitize their green neighboring plants by taking up carbohydrates from the shared fungal network. This chapter summarizes research on mycorrhiza and gentians published to date. In brief, all gentians investigated were colonized by AMF and this colonization always had a specific morphology. AMF may play an important role in the life cycle of gentians. For example, several lineages of achlorophyllous mycoheterotrophic gentians showed greatest host specificity known so far in AM. The role of AMF in the growth and development of Gentianaceae is discussed in detail.

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks Miroslav Kolařík for critically reading this chapter, the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (The Institutional Research Program, Grant No. AV0Z60050516) and the Czech Science Foundation (Grant No. P504/10/P021) for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mycorrhizal Symbioses, Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, CZ-252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic

    Zuzana Sýkorová

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  1. Zuzana Sýkorová
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Correspondence to Zuzana Sýkorová .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Botanical Garden-Center for Biological Diversity Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland

    Jan J. Rybczyński

  2. Plant and Crop Sciences Division, University of Nottingham School of Biosciences, Loughborough, United Kingdom

    Michael R. Davey

  3. Botanical Garden-Center for Biological Diversity Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland

    Anna Mikuła

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Sýkorová, Z. (2014). The Role of Arbuscular Mycorrhiza in the Growth and Development of Plants in the Family Gentianaceae. In: Rybczyński, J., Davey, M., Mikuła, A. (eds) The Gentianaceae - Volume 1: Characterization and Ecology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54010-3_12

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