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Although there is evidence that certain species of mycorrhizal fungi may obtain at least a portion of their carbon via saprotrophic nutrition, [17] the bulk of mycorrhizal carbon acquisition happens by way of trading for host-derived photosynthetic products. Mycorrhizal systems represent a major carbon sink.
A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a green plant and a fungus. The plant makes organic molecules by photosynthesis and supplies them to the fungus in the form of sugars or lipids, while the fungus supplies the plant with water and mineral nutrients, such as phosphorus, taken from the soil.
The English word fungus is directly adopted from the Latin fungus (mushroom), used in the writings of Horace and Pliny. [10] This in turn is derived from the Greek word sphongos (σφόγγος 'sponge'), which refers to the macroscopic structures and morphology of mushrooms and molds; [11] the root is also used in other languages, such as the German Schwamm ('sponge') and Schimmel ('mold').
Petroleum products and some pesticides (typical soil contaminants) are organic molecules (i.e., they are built on a carbon structure), and thereby show a potential carbon source for fungi. Hence, fungi have the potential to eradicate such pollutants from their environment unless the chemicals prove toxic to the fungus.
Saprotrophic nutrition / s æ p r ə ˈ t r ɒ f ɪ k,-p r oʊ-/ [1] or lysotrophic nutrition [2] [3] is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi (e.g. Mucor) and with soil bacteria.
In nematode-trapping fungi, hyphae may be modified into trapping structures such as constricting rings and adhesive nets. Mycelial cords can be formed to transfer nutrients over larger distances. Bulk fungal tissues, cords, and membranes, such as those of mushrooms and lichens , are mainly composed of felted and often anastomosed hyphae.
Production of endoglucanases is widely distributed among fungi and cellobiohydrolases have been isolated in multiple white-rot fungi and in plant pathogens. [33] β-glucosidases are secreted by many wood-rotting fungi, both white and brown rot fungi, mycorrhizal fungi [34] and in plant pathogens. In addition to cellulose, β-glucosidases can ...
They have limited saprobic ability and depend on the plant for their carbon nutrition. [33] AM fungi take up the products of the plant host's photosynthesis as hexoses. Carbon transfer from plant to fungi may occur through the arbuscules or intraradical hyphae. [34] Secondary synthesis from the hexoses by AM occurs in the intraradical mycelium.