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Tracking metabolism and imaging transport in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Metabolism and transport in AM fungi

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Abstract

In the last few years the application of modern techniques to the study of arbuscular mycorrhizas has greatly increased our understanding of the mechanisms underlying carbon metabolism in these mutualistic symbioses. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) monoxenic cultures, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy together with isotopic labeling, and analyses of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) have shed light on the metabolic processes taking place in these interactions, particularly in the case of the mycobiont. More recently, in vivo multiphoton microscopy has provided us with some new insights in the allocation and translocation processes which play crucial roles in the distribution of host plant-derived C throughout the fungal colony. In this mini-review we highlight recent advances in these fields, with special attention to the visualization of oleosomes (i.e., lipid bodies) as they move along the long, coenocytic AM fungal hyphae. Volumetric measurements of such oleosomes have allowed us to estimate the flux of triacylglycerides from the intraradical to the extraradical phase of the AM fungal colony. We raise questions and postulate regulatory mechanisms for C metabolism and translocation within the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal colony.

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Author notes

  1. Berta Bago

    Present address: Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CSIC/UV/GV), Camí de la Marjal s/n, 46470, Albal (Valencia), Spain)

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Estación Experimental del Zaidín (CSIC), Calle Profesor Albareda 1, 18008, Granada, Spain

    Berta Bago

  2. Eastern Regional Research Center, ARS-USDA, 600 East Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA, 19038, USA

    Philip E. Pfeffer

  3. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Warren Zipfel

  4. New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA

    Peter Lammers & Yair Shachar-Hill

Authors
  1. Berta Bago
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  2. Philip E. Pfeffer
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  4. Peter Lammers
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  5. Yair Shachar-Hill
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Correspondence to Berta Bago.

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Bago, B., Pfeffer, P.E., Zipfel, W. et al. Tracking metabolism and imaging transport in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Metabolism and transport in AM fungi. Plant and Soil 244, 189–197 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020212328955

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