Life Histories of Symbiotic Rhizobia and Mycorrhizal Fungi

Research on life history strategies of microbial symbionts is key to understanding the evolution of cooperation with hosts, but also their survival between hosts. Rhizobia are soil bacteria known for fixing nitrogen inside legume root nodules. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are ubiquitous root sy...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current biology 2011-09, Vol.21 (18), p.R775-R785
Main Authors: Denison, R. Ford, Kiers, E. Toby
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
arbuscular mycorrhizas
Bacteria
Biological Evolution
Cooperation
Evolution
Fitness
Fungi
hosts
Hyphae
Hyphae - growth & development
Hyphae - physiology
Legumes
Life history
Mycorrhizae - growth & development
Mycorrhizae - physiology
mycorrhizal fungi
Nitrogen
nitrogen fixation
Nutrients
Plants - microbiology
Plasticity
quorum sensing
Reproduction
Rhizobiaceae - growth & development
Rhizobiaceae - physiology
root nodules
Roots
Soil
soil bacteria
Soil Microbiology
Soil microorganisms
Spore germination
Spores, Fungal - growth & development
Spores, Fungal - physiology
Survival
Symbionts
Symbiosis
vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Research on life history strategies of microbial symbionts is key to understanding the evolution of cooperation with hosts, but also their survival between hosts. Rhizobia are soil bacteria known for fixing nitrogen inside legume root nodules. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are ubiquitous root symbionts that provide plants with nutrients and other benefits. Both kinds of symbionts employ strategies to reproduce during symbiosis using host resources; to repopulate the soil; to survive in the soil between hosts; and to find and infect new hosts. Here we focus on the fitness of the microbial symbionts and how interactions at each of these stages has shaped microbial life-history strategies. During symbiosis, microbial fitness could be increased by diverting more resources to individual reproduction, but that may trigger fitness-reducing host sanctions. To survive in the soil, symbionts employ sophisticated strategies, such as persister formation for rhizobia and reversal of spore germination by mycorrhizae. Interactions among symbionts, from rhizobial quorum sensing to fusion of genetically distinct fungal hyphae, increase adaptive plasticity. The evolutionary implications of these interactions and of microbial strategies to repopulate and survive in the soil are largely unexplored.
ISSN:0960-9822
1879-0445
DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2011.06.018