Inter-plant Communication Through Mycorrhizal Networks Mediates Complex Adaptive Behaviour in Plant Communities

Overview

Journal AoB Plants

Date 2015 May 17

PMID 25979966

Citations 38

Authors

Monika A Gorzelak

Amanda K Asay

Brian J Pickles

Suzanne W Simard

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Adaptive behaviour of plants, including rapid changes in physiology, gene regulation and defence response, can be altered when linked to neighbouring plants by a mycorrhizal network (MN). Mechanisms underlying the behavioural changes include mycorrhizal fungal colonization by the MN or interplant communication via transfer of nutrients, defence signals or allelochemicals. We focus this review on our new findings in ectomycorrhizal ecosystems, and also review recent advances in arbuscular mycorrhizal systems. We have found that the behavioural changes in ectomycorrhizal plants depend on environmental cues, the identity of the plant neighbour and the characteristics of the MN. The hierarchical integration of this phenomenon with other biological networks at broader scales in forest ecosystems, and the consequences we have observed when it is interrupted, indicate that underground 'tree talk' is a foundational process in the complex adaptive nature of forest ecosystems.

Citing Articles

Microbes, macrophages, and melanin: a unifying theory of disease as exemplified by cancer.

Berg S, Berg J Front Immunol. 2025; 15:1493978.

PMID: 39981299 PMC: 11840190. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1493978.

The evolution of signaling and monitoring in plant-fungal networks.

Scott T, Kiers E, West S Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025; 122(4):e2420701122.

PMID: 39835901 PMC: 7617349. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2420701122.

An overview of symbiotic and pathogenic interactions at the fungi-plant interface under environmental constraints.

Mishra S, Srivastava A, Singh A, Pandey G, Srivastava G Front Fungal Biol. 2024; 5:1363460.

PMID: 39524061 PMC: 11544544. DOI: 10.3389/ffunb.2024.1363460.

Early Pennsylvanian Lagerstätte reveals a diverse ecosystem on a subhumid, alluvial fan.

Knecht R, Benner J, Swain A, Azevedo-Schmidt L, Cleal C, Labandeira C Nat Commun. 2024; 15(1):7876.

PMID: 39251605 PMC: 11383953. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52181-0.

Whole-Genome Sequencing of Two Potentially Allelopathic Strains of from the Roots of and Identification of Genes Related to Synthesis of Secondary Metabolites.

Wang Y, Chen P, Lin Q, Zuo L, Li L Microorganisms. 2024; 12(6).

PMID: 38930629 PMC: 11205695. DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12061247.

References

Averill C, Turner B, Finzi A . Mycorrhiza-mediated competition between plants and decomposers drives soil carbon storage. Nature. 2014; 505(7484):543-5. DOI: 10.1038/nature12901. View

Song Y, Ye M, Li C, He X, Zhu-Salzman K, Wang R . Hijacking common mycorrhizal networks for herbivore-induced defence signal transfer between tomato plants. Sci Rep. 2014; 4:3915. PMC: 3904153. DOI: 10.1038/srep03915. View

Bingham M, Simard S . Do mycorrhizal network benefits to survival and growth of interior Douglas-fir seedlings increase with soil moisture stress?. Ecol Evol. 2012; 1(3):306-16. PMC: 3287316. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.24. View

Kurz W, Dymond C, Stinson G, Rampley G, Neilson E, Carroll A . Mountain pine beetle and forest carbon feedback to climate change. Nature. 2008; 452(7190):987-90. DOI: 10.1038/nature06777. View

Tilman D, Reich P, Knops J, Wedin D, Mielke T, Lehman C . Diversity and productivity in a long-term grassland experiment. Science. 2001; 294(5543):843-5. DOI: 10.1126/science.1060391. View

Hanlon M, Coenen C . Genetic evidence for auxin involvement in arbuscular mycorrhiza initiation. New Phytol. 2010; 189(3):701-709. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03567.x. View

Lerat S, Gauci R, Catford J, Vierheilig H, Piche Y, Lapointe L . C transfer between the spring ephemeral Erythronium americanum and sugar maple saplings via arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in natural stands. Oecologia. 2017; 132(2):181-187. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-002-0958-9. View

Schoonmaker A, Teste F, Simard S, Guy R . Tree proximity, soil pathways and common mycorrhizal networks: their influence on the utilization of redistributed water by understory seedlings. Oecologia. 2007; 154(3):455-66. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-007-0852-6. View

Kiers E, Duhamel M, Beesetty Y, Mensah J, Franken O, Verbruggen E . Reciprocal rewards stabilize cooperation in the mycorrhizal symbiosis. Science. 2011; 333(6044):880-2. DOI: 10.1126/science.1208473. View

10.

Teste F, Simard S, Durall D, Guy R, Jones M, Schoonmaker A . Access to mycorrhizal networks and roots of trees: importance for seedling survival and resource transfer. Ecology. 2009; 90(10):2808-22. DOI: 10.1890/08-1884.1. View

11.

Walder F, Niemann H, Natarajan M, Lehmann M, Boller T, Wiemken A . Mycorrhizal networks: common goods of plants shared under unequal terms of trade. Plant Physiol. 2012; 159(2):789-97. PMC: 3375941. DOI: 10.1104/pp.112.195727. View

12.

Johnson D, Gilbert L . Interplant signalling through hyphal networks. New Phytol. 2014; 205(4):1448-1453. DOI: 10.1111/nph.13115. View

13.

Nara K . Ectomycorrhizal networks and seedling establishment during early primary succession. New Phytol. 2006; 169(1):169-78. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2005.01545.x. View

14.

Leake J . The biology of myco-heterotrophic ('saprophytic') plants. New Phytol. 2021; 127(2):171-216. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1994.tb04272.x. View

15.

Frankenberger W, Poth M . Biosynthesis of Indole-3-Acetic Acid by the Pine Ectomycorrhizal Fungus Pisolithus tinctorius. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1987; 53(12):2908-13. PMC: 204221. DOI: 10.1128/aem.53.12.2908-2913.1987. View

16.

Beiler K, Durall D, Simard S, Maxwell S, Kretzer A . Architecture of the wood-wide web: Rhizopogon spp. genets link multiple Douglas-fir cohorts. New Phytol. 2009; 185(2):543-53. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.03069.x. View

17.

Whitham T, Bailey J, Schweitzer J, Shuster S, Bangert R, LeRoy C . A framework for community and ecosystem genetics: from genes to ecosystems. Nat Rev Genet. 2006; 7(7):510-23. DOI: 10.1038/nrg1877. View

18.

Cahill Jr J, McNickle G, Haag J, Lamb E, Nyanumba S, St Clair C . Plants integrate information about nutrients and neighbors. Science. 2010; 328(5986):1657. DOI: 10.1126/science.1189736. View

19.

McNickle G, St Clair C, Cahill Jr J . Focusing the metaphor: plant root foraging behaviour. Trends Ecol Evol. 2009; 24(8):419-26. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2009.03.004. View

20.

Koch A, Kuhn G, Fontanillas P, Fumagalli L, Goudet J, Sanders I . High genetic variability and low local diversity in a population of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004; 101(8):2369-74. PMC: 356957. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0306441101. View