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Flowering plants and the animals that pollinate them have co-evolved. Many plants that are pollinated by insects (in entomophily), bats, or birds (in ornithophily) have highly specialized flowers modified to promote pollination by a specific pollinator that is correspondingly adapted. The first flowering plants in the fossil record had ...
Fungi's relationship to plants in the form of mycelium evolved from parasitism and commensalism. Under certain conditions species of fungi previously in a state of mutualism can turn parasitic on weak or dying plants. [24] Likewise the symbiotic relationship of clown fish and sea anemones emerged from a commensalist relationship.
The mycorrhizal symbiosis between plants and fungi is fundamental to terrestrial ecosystems, with evolutionary origins before the colonization of land by plants. [17] In the mycorrhizal symbiosis, a plant and a fungus become physically linked to one another and establish an exchange of resources between one another.
The symbiosome in a root nodule cell in a plant is an organelle-like structure that has formed in a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The plant symbiosome is unique to those plants that produce root nodules. [2] The majority of such symbioses are made between legumes and diazotrophic Rhizobia bacteria.
There is evidence that plants and endophytes engage in communication with each other that can aid symbiosis. For example, plant chemical signals have been shown to activate gene expression in endophytes. One example of this plant-endosymbiont interaction occurs between dicotyledonous plants in the Convolvulaceae and clavicipitaceous fungi.
Ectomycorrhizal symbiosis, showing root tips with fungal mycelium from the genus Amanita. An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ektos, "outside", μύκης mykes, "fungus", and ῥίζα rhiza, "root"; pl. ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobiont, and the roots of various plant species.
Epiphytes (plants growing on other plants, usually trees) have a commensal relationship with their host plant because the epiphyte benefits in some way (e.g., by escaping competition with terrestrial plants or by gaining greater access to sunlight) while the host plant is apparently unaffected.
Symbiotic bacteria are able to live in or on plant or animal tissue. In digestive systems, symbiotic bacteria help break down foods that contain fiber. They also help produce vitamins. Symbiotic bacteria can live near hydrothermal vents. They usually have a mutual relationship with other bacteria. Some live in tube worms.