He also wrote a few others including Teaming with Fungi! Here’s an interesting quote from the book that I wasn’t aware of until reading it back when the book released ( I have read microbeman allude to it on ICMag way back though). He also brought up another interesting concern (mm) about bundling mycoparasitic fungi (trichoderma) with mycorrhizae.
The process of forming arbuscular mycorrhizae is initiated by the plant when soil nutrient conditions, specifically phosphorus levels, are low. Such conditions increase the production and release of strigolactones from the host plant’s roots. These specialized hormones attract fungal spores or hyphae in the soil. Once the strigolactones are discovered by the fungus, they guide the fungal hyphae to the host plant’s roots. An arbuscular mycorrhizal spore has about seven to ten days to reach a root to get carbon before its own on-board supply runs out and it dies.
Once discovered by germinating arbuscular fungi, strigolactones cause fungal hyphae to undergo extensive branching. This increases the number of hyphal tips and thus improves the chances of timely contact with the plant roots. Strigolactones also guide the fungi to grow toward the roots and aid them in the formation of an appressorium, the penetrating mechanism used by fungi to enter the roots. But this is not a one-way dance. The fungi also produce and send chemical signals necessary to prevent the plant from turning its defenses against the incoming mycorrhizal fungi.
- from Teaming with Fungi by Jeff Lowenfels
May be of interest to anyone using soluble fertilizers & mycorrhizae.
she looks like she’s gonna put out for ya for sure!
