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Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: a specialised niche for rhizospheric and endocellular bacteria

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Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi produce an extensive hyphal network which develops in the soil, producing a specialised niche for bacteria. The aim of this paper is to review briefly the interactions shown by these symbiotic fungi with two bacterial groups: (i) the plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) which are usually associated with fungal surfaces in the rhizosphere, and (ii) a group of endocellular bacteria, previously identified as being related to Burkholderia on the basis of their ribosomal sequence strains. The endobacteria have been found in the cytoplasm of some isolates of AM fungi belonging to Gigasporaceae and offer a rare example of bacteria living in symbiosis with fungi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale & Centro Studio sulla Micologia del Terreno del CNR, Viale Mattioli 25, 10125, Torino, Italy

    Valeria Bianciotto & Paola Bonfante

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  1. Valeria Bianciotto
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  2. Paola Bonfante
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Correspondence to Paola Bonfante.

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Bianciotto, V., Bonfante, P. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: a specialised niche for rhizospheric and endocellular bacteria. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 81, 365–371 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020544919072

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