What are Mycorrhizae?

[Mystic Wolf]

What are Mycorrhizae? https://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/hcol/mycorrhizae.asp.html
If you have ever enjoyed the shade of an oak, decorated a pine, spruce or Douglas fir as a Christmas tree, admired the beauty of an orchid, or eaten a blueberry or chanterelle mushroom, you have benefited from the hidden world of mycorrhizal fungi, a world which makes the survival of most of earth's land plants possible.
   Mycorrhizae are symbiotic relationships that form between fungi and plants. The fungi colonize the root system of a host plant, providing increased water and nutrient absorption capabilities while the plant provides the fungus with carbohydrates formed from photosynthesis. Mycorrhizal fungi encompass many major groups of the fungus Kingdom and in the past were divided into two non-evolutionarily related groups: the ectotrophic and endotrophic based upon the position of the fungal hyphae in relation to the tissues of a plants roots.
Ectomycorrhizal fungi ensheath the root cells but usually do not penetrate them (extracellular).
Endomycorrhizal fungi penetrate and enter the cells of a plant root (intracellular).

The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant's rhizosphere, its root system. Mycorrhizae play important roles in plant nutrition, soil biology, and soil chemistry.

Mycorrhizal fungi can interconnect individual plants to form common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs). Recent work has shown that these networks can transport signals produced by plants in response to herbivore and pathogen infestation to neighboring plants before they are attacked. The speed of transfer to uninfested plants is such that the mechanism is likely to have measurable benefits for plant protection.

 

[SunKat]

Thanks for all of the information Mystic Wolf!  I was looking through all the discussions you posted. :)

[Mystic Wolf]

Thanks, SunKat. I have more information on the mushrooms but will place a few new ones about every other day.