Photo of symbiosis of mushrooms with roots
A striking example of fungal symbiosis is mycorrhiza - a community of fungi and higher plants ( various trees). With such “cooperation” both the tree and the mushroom benefit. Settling on the roots of a tree, the fungus performs the function of absorbing root hairs and helps the tree absorb nutrients from the soil. With this symbiosis, the fungus receives ready-made organic substances (sugars) from the tree, which are synthesized in the leaves of the plant with the help of chlorophyll.
In addition, during the symbiosis of fungi and plants, the mycelium produces substances such as antibiotics that protect the tree from various pathogenic bacteria and pathogenic fungi, as well as growth stimulants such as gibberellin. It has been noted that trees under which cap mushrooms grow practically do not get sick. In addition, the tree and the mushroom actively exchange vitamins (mainly groups B and PP).
Many cap mushrooms form symbiosis with the roots of various plant species. Moreover, it has been established that each type of tree is capable of forming mycorrhiza not with one type of fungus, but with dozens different types.
In the photo Lichen
Another example of the symbiosis of lower fungi with organisms of other species is lichens, which are a union of fungi (mainly ascomycetes) with microscopic algae. What is the symbiosis of fungi and algae, and how does such “cooperation” occur?
Until the middle of the 19th century, it was believed that lichens were separate organisms, but in 1867, Russian botanists A. S. Famintsyn and O. V. Baranetsky established that lichens are not separate organisms, but a community of fungi and algae. Both symbionts benefit from this union. Algae, with the help of chlorophyll, synthesize organic substances (sugars), which the mycelium feeds on, and the mycelium supplies the algae with water and minerals, which it sucks from the substrate, and also protects them from drying out.
Thanks to the symbiosis of fungus and algae, lichens live in places where neither fungi nor algae can exist separately. They inhabit hot deserts, high mountains and harsh northern regions.
Lichens are even more mysterious creatures of nature than mushrooms. They change all the functions that are inherent in separately living fungi and algae. All vital processes in them proceed very slowly, they grow slowly (from 0.0004 to several mm per year), and also age slowly. These unusual creatures They are distinguished by a very long life expectancy - scientists suggest that the age of one of the lichens in Antarctica exceeds 10 thousand years, and the age of the most common lichens that are found everywhere is at least 50-100 years.
Thanks to the collaboration of fungi and algae, lichens are much more resilient than mosses. They can live on substrates on which no other organism on our planet can exist. They are found on stone, metal, bones, glass and many other substrates.
Lichens still continue to amaze scientists. They contain substances that no longer exist in nature and which became known to people only thanks to lichens (some organic acids and alcohols, carbohydrates, antibiotics, etc.). The composition of lichens, formed by the symbiosis of fungi and algae, also includes tannins, pectins, amino acids, enzymes, vitamins and many other compounds. They accumulate various metals. Of the more than 300 compounds contained in lichens, at least 80 of them are found nowhere else in the living world of the Earth. Every year, scientists find in them more and more new substances that are not found in any other living organisms. Currently, more than 20 thousand species of lichens are already known, and every year scientists discover several dozen more new species of these organisms.
From this example it is clear that symbiosis is not always simple cohabitation, and sometimes gives rise to new properties that none of the symbionts had individually.
There are a great many such symbioses in nature. With such a partnership, both symbionts win.
It has been established that the desire for unification is most developed in mushrooms.
Mushrooms also enter into symbiosis with insects. An interesting association is the connection between some types of molds and leaf-cutter ants. These ants specifically breed mushrooms in their homes. In separate chambers of the anthill, these insects create entire plantations of these mushrooms. They specially prepare the soil on this plantation: they bring in pieces of leaves, crush them, “fertilize” them with their feces and the feces of caterpillars, which they specially keep in the neighboring chambers of the anthill, and only then introduce the smallest fungal hyphae into this substrate. It has been established that ants breed only mushrooms of certain genera and species that are not found anywhere in nature except anthills (mainly fungi of the genera Fusarium and Hypomyces), and each species of ants breeds certain types of mushrooms.
Ants not only create a mushroom plantation, but also actively care for it: they fertilize, prune and weed. They cut off the emerging fruiting bodies, preventing them from developing. In addition, ants bite off the ends of fungal hyphae, as a result of which proteins accumulate at the ends of the bitten off hyphae, forming nodules resembling fruiting bodies, which the ants then feed on and feed their babies. In addition, when the hyphae are trimmed, the mycelium of the fungi begins to grow faster.
“Weeding” is as follows: if mushrooms of other species appear on the plantation, the ants immediately remove them.
It is interesting that when creating a new anthill, the future queen, after the nuptial flight, flies to a new place, begins to dig tunnels for the home of her future family, and creates a mushroom plantation in one of the chambers. She takes mushroom hyphae from an old anthill before flight, placing them in a special suboral pouch.
Termites are also bred in similar plantations. In addition to ants and termites, bark beetles, boring insects, some types of flies and wasps, and even mosquitoes are involved in “mushroom farming.”
German scientist Fritz Schaudin discovered an interesting symbiosis of our ordinary blood-sucking mosquitoes with actinomycetes yeast fungi, which help them in the process of sucking blood.
Mushrooms - amazing plants eating differently from everything flora and using other methods of reproduction. Fungi have a wide spectrum of action - from provoking diseases to fighting them (like penicillin). Some mushrooms can be a wonderful find for a mushroom picker, while others, at first glance, are completely invisible to humans.
Habitat
It is generally accepted that mushrooms, like a sponge, absorb all the negative influences of the environment. That is why it is important to collect them for food from ecologically clean areas or use artificially grown ones. But not all mushrooms grow on the ground. Often in nature you can find such a phenomenon as mushroom inhabitants of trees. And if the ordinary oyster mushroom is a tasty product, then many other tree companions are unsuitable for food and have a different purpose.
Read more about what mycorrhiza is
There are different types of mushrooms that live on trees. They have their own names and distinctive features. They affect to varying degrees the representatives of the upper class who have chosen their place of residence. Plant mycorrhiza is not a type of fungi and not the mushrooms themselves. It's more of a process.
Effect of symbiosis on plants
Mutual benefit
They, in turn, provide the plant that is their home, useful substances. It happens like this: the roots, dotted with mycelium, become more loose, as a result of which they are able to absorb more moisture, as well as other nutrients, including nitrogen, mineral salts, enzymes and vitamins.
Types of mushroom roots
Depending on the conditions of symbiosis, types of mycorrhiza are distinguished:
- Ectotrophic or external. It is characterized by entwining the surface bark of plants.
- Endotrophic (internal). It is the penetration of fungal mycelium into the internal tissues of the roots.
- Phycomycete type. Characterized by complete penetration of rhizomes by fungi.
- In the euectotrophic type, symbiosis can cause the death of rhizome hairs.
- The ectoendotrophic type indicates the introduction of the fungus into the cortex cells themselves.
- The ericoid type involves the subsequent digestion by the plant of the balls formed by the fungus.
Each type is characteristic certain types plants. Trees and shrubs are susceptible predominantly to one variant of mycorrhiza. But they can also be carriers of several types of fungi at the same time.
Since all mushrooms adapt to life in different ways, they all have their own type of existence. Their habitat is determined by the need to eat. That is why you will never see a single mushroom on bare soil without vegetation.
Not all mycorrhizal fungi grow on tree roots, although they can often be found under trees.
Mycorrhiza forms many of the fungi we are familiar with. These are everyone’s favorite and delicious ones - porcini mushrooms, chanterelles, boletuses, boletus mushrooms, honey mushrooms and others. Poisonous mushrooms are also mycorrhizal and feed plants.
Almost everything coniferous trees are mycorrhizal plants. Mycorrhiza of the root is also inherent in birch, which at the same time enters into an alliance with boletus. Similar coexistence can be observed between pine and buttercup, aspen and boletus, beech and chanterelles, hornbeam and porcini mushroom. The fly agaric prefers birch and spruce. Podubovik can grow both under trees and, like oyster mushrooms, on their trunks. Entoloma garden can be found not only under fruit trees, such as plum, apricot, but also under forest bushes of rosehip and hawthorn. Birch trees and conifers are preferred for most mushrooms. Therefore, near these trees you can find various inhabitants of the named family.
Mycorrhizal fungi cannot exist without the roots of trees, shrubs or herbaceous plants. When the mycelium acts on the roots of higher plants, a transformation of the rhizome occurs, but such deformations are completely harmless to the plant. This symbiosis has existed for thousands of years, as evidenced by fossilized rocks of ancient plants. Based on these findings, it becomes obvious that this is another one of nature's perfect plans. And everything is calculated in such a way that the coexistence of fungi and plants only benefits both representatives.
Artificially created mycorrhiza
Forest mushrooms fully provide nutrition for wild vegetation. By helping higher plants to feed, becoming more actively saturated with organic substances from the soil, mushrooms bring them invaluable benefits. And therefore, remembering that such mycorrhiza has an effect on all plant representatives, people themselves sometimes try to provide plants with such a symbiosis. After all, on garden plots Plants do not have the ability to interact with fungi.
In addition, there are some plants and even flowers whose nutrition comes precisely from mycorrhiza, and therefore their existence is impossible without the necessary fungi.
If you want to help your plants, you can add a useful roommate to them for symbiosis. In this case, mycelium or fungal spores are used. It is not always possible to provide plants with the necessary nutrition. But using mycorrhiza can be a good option for supplying your favorite plants with all the necessary substances.
Fungi that envelop the roots of the host plant require soluble carbohydrates as a carbon source, and in this respect they differ from most of their free-living, i.e., non-symbiotic relatives that break down cellulose. Mycorrhizal fungi meet at least part of their carbon needs from their hosts. The mycelium absorbs mineral nutrients from the soil, and at present there is no doubt that it actively supplies the host plant with them. Studies using radioactive tracers have found that phosphorus, nitrogen and calcium can travel through fungal hyphae to the roots and then to the shoots. It is surprising that mycorrhiza, apparently, acts no less effectively even without hyphae extending from the mycelium “shell” enveloping the root. Consequently, this “shell” itself must have well-developed abilities to absorb nutrients and transfer them to the plant.[...]
Mycorrhizal cohabitation (symbiosis) is mutually beneficial to both symbionts: the fungus extracts additional, inaccessible nutrients and water from the soil for the tree, and the tree supplies the fungus with the products of its photosynthesis - carbohydrates.[...]
Mushrooms that enter into symbiosis with forest trees most often belong to the group of basidiomycetes - cap mushrooms, combining both edible and inedible species. The mushrooms that we so enthusiastically collect in the forest are nothing more than the fruiting bodies of fungi associated with the roots of various trees. It is curious that some mycorrhizal fungi prefer one type of tree, others prefer several, and their list may include both conifers and deciduous trees.[ ...]
Mycorrhizal symbiosis "fungi - plant roots" is another important adaptation mechanism that has developed as a result of low bioavailability of phosphorus. The fungal component of the symbiosis increases the absorbing surface, but is not able to stimulate sorption through chemical or physical effects. The phosphorus of fungal hyphae is exchanged for carbon fixed by the symbiotic plant.[...]
Who do mycorrhizal fungi need soluble carbohydrates.[...]
Boletus fungi can form mycorrhizae with one, several or even many tree species, systematically sometimes very distant from each other (for example, coniferous and deciduous). But it is often observed that a mushroom of one species or another is confined to trees of only one species or one genus: larch, birch, etc. Within the same genus - to certain species- they usually turn out to be “insensitive”. However, in the case of the genus of pine (Rtiv), there is a greater association not with the entire genus as a whole, but with its two subgenera: two-cone pines (for example, Scots pine) and five-cone pines (for example, Siberian cedar). It should also be noted that some mycorrhizal fungi, isolated from tree roots, can apparently develop as saprophytes, content with litter (fallen needles, leaves, rotten wood) of those tree species with which they usually form yikoriza. For example, White mushroom was found on top of a huge boulder in a pine forest, boletin asiatica (a companion of larch) - on a high rotten stump of a birch tree that grew in a larch forest.[...]
M. plants and mycorrhizal fungi. These relationships with fungi are characteristic of most species of vascular plants (flowering plants, gymnosperms, ferns, horsetails, mosses). Mycorrhizal fungi can entwine the root of a plant and penetrate the root tissue without causing significant damage to it. Fungi incapable of photosynthesis obtain organic substances from plant roots, and in plants, due to branched fungal threads, the absorption surface of the roots increases hundreds of times. In addition, some mycorrhizal fungi not only passively absorb nutrients from the soil solution, but also simultaneously act as decomposers and break down complex substances into simpler ones. Through mycorrhiza, organic substances can be transferred from one plant to another (of the same or different species).[...]
There are also mycorrhizal fungi that cohabit with the roots of higher plants. The mycelium of these fungi envelops the roots of plants and helps obtain nutrients from the soil. Mycorrhiza is observed mainly in woody plants that have short sucking roots (oak, pine, larch, spruce).[...]
These are mushrooms of the genera Elaphomyces and truffle (Tuber). The last births form mycorrhizae and with woody plants- beech, oak, etc. [...]
In the case of endotrophic mycorrhizae, the relationship between the fungus and higher plants is even more complex. Due to the small contact of the hyphae of the mycorrhizal fungus with the soil, a relatively small amount of water, as well as mineral and nitrogenous substances, enters the root in this way. In this case, biologically active substances such as vitamins produced by the fungus probably become important for higher plants. In part, the fungus supplies the higher plant with nitrogenous substances, since part of the fungal hyphae located in the root cells is digested by them. The mushroom receives carbohydrates. And in the case of orchid mycorrhiza, the fungus itself gives carbohydrates (in particular, sugar) to the higher plant.[...]
Almost all types of trees in normal conditions cohabitate with mycorrhizal fungi. The mycelium of the fungus envelops the thin roots of the tree like a sheath, penetrating into the intercellular space. A mass of the finest mushroom threads, extending a considerable distance from this cover, successfully performs the function of root hairs, sucking up a nutrient soil solution. [...]
One of the most common species of this genus and the entire family is the porcini mushroom (B. edulis, table 34). It is the most nutritionally valuable of all edible mushrooms in general. It has about two dozen forms, differing mainly in the color of the fruiting body and mycorrhizal association with a particular tree species. The cap is whitish, yellow, brownish, yellow-brown, red-brown or even almost black. The spongy layer in young specimens is pure white, later yellowish and yellowish-olive. The leg has a light mesh pattern. The pulp is white and does not change when broken. Grows with many tree species - coniferous and deciduous, in middle lane in the European part of the USSR - more often with birch, oak, pine, spruce, but has never been recorded in the USSR with such a common species as larch. In the Arctic and mountain tundras it occasionally grows with dwarf birch. The species is Holarctic, but in cultures of the corresponding tree species it is also known outside the Holarctic (for example, Australia, South America). In some places it grows in abundance. In the USSR, the porcini mushroom lives mainly in the European part, in Western Siberia, in the Caucasus. It is very rare in Eastern Siberia and Far East.[ ...]
The roots of the grasshoppers are thick and fleshy, and in many species they are retractable. The cells of the root cortex usually contain a mycorrhizal fungus, which belongs to the phycomycetes. These mycorrhizal roots lack root hairs.[...]
The role of mycorrhiza is very important in tropical rain forests, where the absorption of nitrogen and other inorganic substances occurs with the participation of a mycorrhizal fungus, which feeds saprotrophically on fallen leaves, stems, fruits, seeds, etc. The main source of minerals here is not the soil itself, but soil fungi . Minerals enter the mushroom directly from the hyphae of mycorrhizal fungi. In this way, more extensive use of minerals and their more complete circulation are ensured. This explains that most of the root system of rain forest plants is in the surface layer of soil at a depth of about 0.3 m. [...]
It should also be noted that in artificially created forest plantations of one or another tree species, the especially characteristic species of mycorrhizal fungi accompanying them are sometimes found very far from the boundaries of their natural range. In addition to tree species, the type of forest, type of soil, its humidity, acidity, etc. are of great importance for the growth of boletus mushrooms[...]
The true milk mushroom is found in birch and pine-birch forests with quite a linden undergrowth. in large groups(“flocks”), from July to September. An obligatory mycorrhizal mushroom with birch.[...]
Mutualism is a widespread form of mutually beneficial relationships between species. Lichens are a classic example of mutualism. Symbionts in a lichen - a fungus and an alga - physiologically complement each other. The hyphae of the fungus, entwining the cells and filaments of the algae, form special suction processes, haustoria, through which the fungus receives substances assimilated by the algae. Algae obtains its minerals from water. Many grasses and trees normally exist only in cohabitation with soil fungi that settle on their roots. Mycorrhizal fungi promote the penetration of water, minerals and organic substances from the soil into plant roots, as well as the absorption of a number of substances. In turn, they receive carbohydrates and other organic substances necessary for their existence from the roots of plants.[...]
One of the measures against acidification of forest soils is their liming in the amount of 3 t/ha every 5 years. It may be promising to protect forests from acid rain using certain types of mycorrhizal fungi. The symbiotic community of fungal mycelium with the root of a higher plant, expressed in the formation of mycorrhiza, can protect trees from the harmful effects of acidic soil solutions and even significant concentrations of some heavy metals, such as copper and zinc. Many mycorrhiza-forming fungi have the active ability to protect trees from the effects of drought, which are especially harmful to trees growing in conditions of anthropogenic pollution. [...]
Gray russula (R. decolorans) has a cap that is first spherical, spherical, then spread out, flat-convex and until depressed, yellow-brown, reddish-orange or yellowish-orange, more or less reddish along the edge, lilac or pinkish, unequally fading, with scattered red spots, 5-10 cm in diameter with a thin, slightly striped edge. The plates are adherent, white, then yellow. These mushrooms are found mainly in pine forests of the green-moss type. Obligatory as mycorrhizal fungi with pine. The taste is sweet, then spicy.[...]
Most of the mineral nutrition elements enter the forest organisms and the entire biota of the ecosystem exclusively through plant roots. The roots extend into the soil, branching into thinner and thinner ends, and thus cover a sufficiently large volume of soil, which provides a large surface area for the absorption of nutrients. The surface area of the roots of the community was not measured, but it can be assumed that it exceeds the surface area of the leaves. In any case, nutrients predominantly enter the community not through the surface of the roots themselves (and not through root hairs for most plants), but through the significantly larger surface area of fungal hyphae. The surface of the predominant part of the roots is mycorrhizal (that is, covered with fungal mycelium, which is in symbiosis with the root), and the hyphae of these fungi extend from the roots into the soil; For most terrestrial plants, fungi are intermediaries in the absorption of nutrients.[...]
The function of ecosystems includes a complex distinctive features metabolism - transfer, transformation, use and accumulation of inorganic and organic substances. Some aspects of this metabolism can be studied using radioactive isotopes, such as radioactive phosphorus: observations of their movements in the aquatic environment (aquarium, lake) are being carried out. Radioactive phosphorus circulates very quickly between water and plankton, and penetrates more slowly into coastal plants and animals and gradually accumulates in bottom sediments. When phosphate fertilizers are introduced into the lake, there is a temporary increase in its productivity, after which the concentration of phosphates in the water returns to the level that was before the introduction of the fertilizer. Nutrient transport brings together all parts of the ecosystem, and the amount of nutrients in water is determined not only by its supply, but also full function ecosystems in a stable state. In a forest ecosystem, nutrients from the soil enter plants through mycorrhizal fungi and roots and are distributed to various plant tissues. Most of the nutrients go to the leaves and other short-lived tissues, which ensures that the nutrients return to the soil after a short time, thereby completing the cycle. Nutrients also enter and into the soil as a result of being washed off from plant leaves. Organic substances are also washed off the surface of the leaves into the soil, and some of them have an inhibitory effect on other plants. Chemical inhibition of some plants by others is only one of the manifestations of allelochemical influence, chemical influences one species to another. The most widespread variant of such influences is the use chemical compounds organisms for defense against their enemies. Broad groups of substances take part in the metabolism of communities: inorganic nutrients, food (for heterotrophs) and allelochemical compounds.[...]
Modern ferns, the geological history of which dates back to the Carboniferous (Permian-Carboniferous genus Psaronius - Rzagopshe - etc.). Perennial plants ranging from small forms to very large. The stems are dorsiventral corpuscles or thick tuberous trunks. The stems are fleshy. In the stems, as in other vegetative organs, there are large lysigenic mucus passages, which are one of the features of marattioisids. In large forms, a dictyostele of a very complex structure is formed (the most complex in the genus Angiopteris). Tracheids scalenes. The genus Angiopteris exhibits very weak development of secondary xylem. The roots bear peculiar multicellular root hairs. The first roots to form usually contain a mycorrhizal phycomycete fungus in their bark. Young leaves are always spirally twisted. Very characteristic is the presence at the base of the leaves of two thick stipule-like formations, connected together by a special transverse bridge.[...]
The ability of green plants to carry out photosynthesis is due to the presence of pigments. Maximum light absorption is achieved by chlorophyll. Other pigments absorb the remaining part, converting it into different kinds energy. In angiosperm flowers, due to pigmentation, the solar spectrum with a certain wavelength is selectively captured. The idea of two plasmas in organic world predetermined the symbiotrophic beginning of plants. Isolated from all parts of plants, symbiotic endophytes of the Fungi imperfect class synthesize pigments of all colors, hormones, enzymes, vitamins, amino acids, lipids and supply them to the plant in exchange for the carbohydrates obtained. Hereditary transmission of endophytes guarantees the integrity of the system. Some plant species have two types of ecto-endophytic mycorrhizal fungi or fungi and bacteria, the combination of which provides flower color, plant growth and development (Gelzer, 1990).
1.What is mycorrhiza?
2. Mycorrhizal fungi, or symbiotrophs.
3. The role of mycorrhiza in plant life.
Mycorrhiza (from the Greek mykes - mushroom and rhiza - root), fungal root, mutually beneficial cohabitation (symbiosis) of the mycelium of the fungus with the root of a higher plant. There are ectotrophic (external) Mycorrhiza, in which the fungus entwines the integumentary tissue of the endings of young roots and penetrates into the intercellular spaces of the outermost layers of the cortex, and endotrophic (internal), which is characterized by the introduction of mycelium (fungal hyphae) into the cells. Ectotrophic Mycorrhiza is characteristic of many trees (oak, spruce, pine, birch), shrubs (willow), some shrubs (dryad) and herbaceous plants (buckwheat viviparous). Young roots of these plants usually branch, their ends thicken, the growing part of the roots is enveloped in a thick, dense fungal sheath, from which fungal hyphae extend into the soil and along the intercellular spaces into the root to the depth of one or several layers of bark, forming the so-called. Hartig network; the root hairs die off (euectotrophic type of Mycorrhiza). In the arctic shrub, an arctic and herbaceous plant, the wintergreen hyphae of the large-flowered fungus penetrate not only into the intercellular spaces, but also into the cells of the cortex (ectoendotrophic type of Mycorrhiza). Ectotrophic Mycorrhizae are most often formed by hymenomycetes (genus Boletus, Lactarius, Russula, Amanita, etc.), less often by gasteromycetes. Not one, but several species of fungi can participate in the formation of Mycorrhiza on the roots of one plant. However, as a rule, only certain mycorrhizal fungi are found in plant communities - symbionts of these plant species.
With the development of endotrophic Mycorrhiza, the shape of the roots does not change, root hairs usually do not die, a fungal sheath and a “Hartig network” are not formed; The hyphae of the fungus penetrate into the cells of the crustal parenchyma. In plants of the heather, wintergreen, lingonberry and cucumber families, the fungal hyphae in the cells form balls, which are later digested by the plant (ericoid type of Mycorrhiza). Phycomycetes (genus Endogone, Pythium) participate in the formation of this type of mycorrhiza. In plants of the orchid family, fungal hyphae from the soil penetrate into the seed, forming balls that are then digested by the cells of the seed. Of the fungi, this type of Mycorrhiza is characteristic of imperfect ones (genus Rhizoctonia) and less often - basidiomycetes (genus Armillaria, etc.). The most common in nature - in many annual and perennial grasses, shrubs and trees of various families - is the phycomycete type of Mycorrhiza, in which the hyphae of the fungus penetrate through the cells of the epidermis of the root, localizing in the intercellular spaces and cells of the middle layers of the crustal parenchyma. Mycorrhiza has a beneficial effect on the plant: due to the developed mycelium, the absorbing surface of the root increases and the flow of water and nutrients into the plant increases. Mycorrhizal fungi are probably capable of decomposing some soil organic compounds that are inaccessible to plants and producing substances such as vitamins and growth activators. The fungus uses some substances (possibly carbohydrates) that it extracts from the plant root. When cultivating forests on soil that does not contain mycorrhizal fungi, small quantities of forest soil are added to it, for example, when sowing acorns, soil from an old oak forest is added.
Mycorrhizal fungi, or symbiotrophs.
A special group of forest soil fungi consists of very numerous mycorrhizal fungi. This is one of the main groups of mushrooms in the forest. Mycorrhiza - a symbiosis of the roots of higher plants with fungi - is formed in most plants (with the exception of aquatic ones), both woody and herbaceous (especially perennial). In this case, the mycelium located in the soil comes into direct contact with the roots of higher plants. Based on how this contact occurs, three types of mycorrhizae are distinguished: endotrophic, ectotrophic and ectoendotrophic.
In endotrophic mycorrhizae, characteristic of most herbaceous plants, and especially of the orchid family, the fungus spreads mainly inside the root tissues and relatively little comes out. The roots bear normal root hairs. For most orchid species, such mycorrhiza is obligate, i.e. the seeds of these plants cannot germinate and develop in the absence of the fungus. For many other herbaceous plants, the presence of a fungus is not so necessary. Herbaceous plants enter into mycorrhizal symbiosis with microscopic fungi that do not form large fruiting bodies. In endotrophic mycorrhiza, biologically active substances such as vitamins produced by the fungus are probably of great importance for higher plants. In part, the fungus supplies the higher plant with nitrogenous substances, since part of the fungal hyphae located in the root cells is digested by them. The fungus, in turn, receives organic substances - carbohydrates - from the higher plant.
Ectotrophic mycorrhiza is distinguished by the presence of an outer sheath of fungal hyphae on the root. From this sheath, free hyphae extend into the surrounding soil. The root does not have its own root hairs. This mycorrhiza is characteristic of woody plants and is rarely found in herbaceous plants.
The transition between these types of mycorrhizae is ectoendotrophic mycorrhiza, which is more common than purely ectotrophic. Fungal hyphae with such mycorrhiza densely entwine the root from the outside and at the same time give abundant branches that penetrate into the root. This mycorrhiza is found in most tree species. In this mycorrhiza, the fungus receives carbon nutrition from the root, since it itself, being a heterotroph, cannot synthesize organic substances from inorganic ones. Its outer free hyphae diverge widely in the soil from the root, replacing the latter with root hairs. These free hyphae obtain water, mineral salts, and soluble organic substances (mainly nitrogenous) from the soil. Some of these substances enter the root, and some are used by the fungus itself to build mycelium and fruiting bodies.
Most tree species form mycorrhiza with the mycelium of cap mushrooms - macromycetes from the class of basidiomycetes, a group of orders called hymenomycetes. The soil in the forest, especially near the roots of trees, is permeated with mycorrhizal fungi, and numerous fruiting bodies of these fungi appear on the soil surface. These are pink boletus (Leccinum scabrum), red boletus (Leccinum aurantiacum), camelina (Lactarius deliciosus), many types of russula (genus Russula) and many other cap mushrooms found only in the forest. There are significantly fewer mycorrhizal fungi in the group of orders Gasteromycetes. These are mainly species of the genus Scleroderma. The common puffball (see description of the common puffball) enters into a mycorrhizal symbiosis with broad-leaved species. Edible species of the genus Melanogaster also form mycorrhizae mainly with the roots of deciduous trees. Their semi-underground fruiting bodies develop on the soil under a layer of leaf litter or shallowly in the soil, usually in deciduous forests. Melanogaster dubious (M. ambiguus) is especially common in oak and hornbeam forests from May to October. Its black-brown fruit bodies, 1-3 cm in diameter, smell like garlic and have a pleasant spicy taste. A closely related species, Melanogaster broomeianus (M. broomeianus), also found in deciduous forests, has larger (up to 8 cm in diameter) brown fruiting bodies with a pleasant fruity aroma. The class of marsupial fungi (ascomycetes) also contains a small number of mycorrhizal fungi. These are mainly species with underground fruiting bodies belonging to the order Truffles (Tuberales). Black, or true, truffle (Tuber melanosporum) grows in forests along with oak, beech, hornbeam on calcareous gravelly soil, mainly in the south of France; it is not found on Russian territory. White truffle (Choiromyces meandriformis), common in Russia, grows in deciduous forests with birch, poplar, elm, linden, willow, rowan, and hawthorn. For mycorrhizal fungi, such symbiosis is mandatory. Even if their mycelium can develop without the participation of tree roots, fruiting bodies are usually not formed in this case. This is associated with the failure of attempts to artificially breed the most valuable edible forest mushrooms, such as the porcini mushroom (Boletus edulis). It forms mycorrhiza with many tree species: birch, oak, hornbeam, beech, pine, spruce.
Some types of fungi form mycorrhizae with only one specific species. Thus, the larch butterfly (Suillus grevillei) forms mycorrhiza only with larch. For trees, symbiosis with fungi is also important: experiments in forest belts and forest plantations have shown that without mycorrhiza, trees develop worse, are stunted in growth, are weakened, and are more susceptible to diseases.
The role of mycorrhiza in plant life
The existence of mycorrhizae, fungi that live on the roots of plants, has been known for quite some time. This phenomenon - a community, or symbiosis of fungi and higher plants - was discovered by scientists in the mid-19th century. However, for a long time this remained simply a known fact and nothing more. Research in recent decades has shown the enormous role it plays in plant life. The first discoveries were made using a microscope, when fungal threads were discovered entwining the roots of plants. The microscope made it possible to see another type of mycorrhiza, which lives inside the root, penetrating and growing inside the root cells. The first type was called ectomycorrhiza, that is, external mycorrhiza. It has been found on the roots of almost all woody plants. The hyphae of the fungus entwine the root, forming a continuous sheath. From this cover, thin threads stretch in all directions, penetrating the soil for tens of meters around the tree. The mushrooms that we collect in the forest are ectomycorrhizal fruiting bodies in which spores are formed. They can be likened to the underwater part of an iceberg. Anyone who wants to grow edible mushrooms on their plot must first acquire the appropriate tree, then the corresponding mycorrhiza must form on it, and only then, perhaps, fruiting bodies will grow on it. The second type of mycorrhiza is endomycorrhiza, that is, internal mycorrhiza is characteristic mainly of herbaceous plants, including most cultivated plants. It is of much more ancient origin. Both types of mycorrhiza can often be found on one plant.
When scientists found a method to identify the DNA of mycorrhizal fungi, they were amazed by their ubiquity. Firstly, it turned out that about 90% of all plant species have mycorrhizae on their roots. Secondly, it was found that mycorrhiza has existed for as long as land plants have existed. Endomycorrhizal DNA has been found in the fossil remains of the first land plants, which are about 400 million years old. These first plants were apparently similar to lichens, representing a symbiosis of algae and fungus. The algae, through photosynthesis, creates organic substances to feed the fungus, and the fungus plays the role of a root, extracting mineral elements from the substrate on which the lichen has settled. The fungus accompanied the plant throughout its terrestrial life. Even when the plants had roots, the fungus did not leave them, helping to extract nutrients from the soil. Currently, only a few plant species have gained independence and managed to do without mycorrhiza. These are a number of species from the families Chenopodiaceae, cabbage and amaranthaceae. Actually, it is not entirely clear why this independence is needed, since mycorrhiza increases the absorptive capacity of the roots many times over.
The hyphae of the fungus are more than an order of magnitude thinner than the root hairs and therefore are able to penetrate into the finest pores of soil minerals, which are even present in each individual grain of sand. In one cubic centimeter of soil surrounding the roots, the total length of mycorrhizal threads ranges from 20 to 40 meters. Fungal threads gradually destroy soil minerals, extracting from them mineral plant nutrition elements that are not in the soil solution, including such an important element as phosphorus. Mycorrhiza plays a very significant role in supplying plants with phosphorus, as well as a number of microelements, such as zinc and cobalt. It is clear that the plant does not skimp and pays well for this service, giving mycorrhiza 20 to 30% of the carbon it absorbs in the form of soluble organic compounds.
Further research brought even more unexpected and surprising discoveries regarding the role of mycorrhiza in the plant world. It turned out that the threads of fungi, intertwined underground, can communicate one plant with another through the transfer and exchange of organic and mineral compounds. The concept of plant communities has been illuminated in a completely new light. These are not just plants growing nearby, but a single organism, connected into a single whole by an underground network of numerous thin threads. A kind of mutual aid was discovered, where stronger plants feed weaker ones. Plants with very small seeds especially need this. The microscopic seedling would not have been able to survive if the general nutritional network had not initially taken it into its care. The exchange between plants has been proven by experiments with radioactive isotopes.
Scientists have discovered several species of plants, including orchids, which throughout their lives receive nutrition almost exclusively from mycorrhiza, although they have a photosynthetic apparatus and could synthesize organic substances themselves.
Mycorrhiza helps plants tolerate stress, drought, and lack of nutrition. Scientists believe that without mycorrhizae, majestic tropical forests, forests of oaks, eucalyptus, and redwoods could not withstand the climatic stresses that are inevitable in nature.
However, in a plant community, just as in a human community, conflicts are inevitable. Mycorrhiza has a certain selectivity, and if a certain type of mycorrhiza has spread in a plant community, this does not mean that it will be equally favorable to all types of plants. It is assumed that the species composition of plant communities largely depends on the properties of mycorrhiza. For some species that do not correspond to her, she can simply survive without providing them with food. Plants of this unwanted species gradually weaken and die. For a very long time, mycorrhizal fungi could not be grown under artificial conditions. But since the 1980s these difficulties have been overcome. Firms have emerged that produce some types of mycorrhiza for sale. Ectomycorrhiza is produced for use in forest nurseries and it has been found that its introduction into the root zone significantly improves the growth of seedlings.
Do gardeners need mycorrhizal preparations? Indeed, under natural conditions, mycorrhiza is found in all soils. Its spores are so small and light that they are carried by the wind to any distance. In a healthy garden, where chemicals are not abused, mycorrhiza is always present in the soil. However, it has been established that high doses of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, especially fungicides, suppress the development of mycorrhiza. It is not found in soils deprived of fertility as a result of inept farming, as a result of construction, or in soils deprived of humus for one reason or another. The experience of gardeners in the USA, where there are several commercial companies producing mycorrhiza for gardeners, says that in extreme conditions, adding mycorrhizal preparations to the soil has a very good effect. Gardeners who have received land deprived of fertility for use or are located in areas with an unfavorable climate have learned from their own experience that inoculation with mycorrhiza gives them the opportunity to have a flowering garden even in these unfavorable conditions. Usually the mycorrhiza preparation is in the form of a powder containing spores. It is used to treat seeds or roots of seedlings. Endomycorrhiza preparations are used for ornamental and vegetable plants, and ectomycorrhiza preparations are used for trees and shrubs. However, to get a good effect from mycorrhiza, you need to do important condition– switch to an organic gardening method. This means using organic fertilizers, not digging up the soil (only loosening), mulching, and refusing to use high doses mineral fertilizers and fungicides.
The role of mycorrhiza in plant life.
The symbiosis of plants and fungi has existed for 400 million years and contributes to the great diversity of life forms on Earth. In 1845 it was discovered by German scientists. Mycorrhizal endofunges penetrate directly into the root of the plant and form a “mycelium” (mycelium), which helps the roots strengthen the immune system, fight pathogens of various diseases, and absorb water, phosphorus and nutrients from the soil. With the help of a fungus, the plant uses soil resources to full power. One root could not cope with such a task; Without the support of fungi, plants have to direct additional reserves to increase the root system, instead of increasing the above-ground part. Mycorrhiza improves soil quality, aeration, porosity, and the volume of the total absorbent surface of the plant root increases a thousand times! Due to active human intervention in natural processes: the use of heavy equipment, the application of chemical fertilizers, construction work, laying pipelines, asphalt and concrete, air and water pollution, construction of dams, soil cultivation, soil erosion, etc. - plants began to be exposed to unprecedented stress, their immunity weakened and led to death.
The German company Mykoplant AG - a leading global manufacturer - sells the endofunge Mykoplant ® BT - an innovative product, an environmentally friendly natural product, an organic plant growth regulator, approved by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Federal Republic of Germany. Mikoplant AG is the only company in the world that produces granular mycorrhizal preparations. Mykoplant ® BT is the spores of the endomycorrhizal fungus (Glomus family), enclosed in 3-5 mm of clay (carrier). It took decades of painstaking research to determine the improving qualities of mycorrhizal fungi. The granulated form of the drug is protected by an international patent. The drug is grown in greenhouses.
Mykoplant ® BT promotes the formation of mycorrhiza in 90% of plants and trees.
Does not have phytopathogens and pathogenic microorganisms.
Not an ounce of chemicals.
None negative impact on people, animals and the environment.
Non-toxic, does not accumulate in plants.
Positive effects of mycorrhiza:
Saves water up to 50%
Stores nutrients for plants
Increases growth and improves plant quality
Increases resistance to drought, lack of drainage
Increases resistance to salts and heavy metals
Improves appearance, taste and aroma
Improves stress resistance and overall plant immunity
Improves disease tolerance
Reduces infection in roots and foliage
Accelerates the establishment of plants in a new place
Increases productivity, growth of green mass
Accelerates root development and flowering by 3-4 weeks
Works well in salty or waste-contaminated soil
Use once with perennial plants
What does a mushroom do? 1. Stores additional water (saving up to 50% depending on region) and nutrients for the plant. 2. Dissolves and supplies the plant with unavailable mineral nutrients, such as phosphates. 3. Protects the plant against underground pests (for example, nematodes).
What does the plant do? Supplies the fungus with carbohydrates (glucose)
To facilitate penetration into the root, the product must have direct contact with it. It is used especially effectively in the spring, in the early stages of plant development, but can be successfully used at any stage of plant development. The activity of mycorrhiza is determined by the number of spores per cm3 of the product (in the USA only 10 spores per cm3 are produced and the price of one liter of the product in the USA is $120). Is the number of spores in a product important? Yes, the number of spores is important, since it determines the efficiency of colony formation and the level of bioactivity.
Mycorrhizal fungi are already in the soil. Why then inoculate crops with the drug? Although mycorrhizal fungi can theoretically be found in the soil, not all types are best suited for your crop. The mycoplant consists of many Glomus families, so successful colonization can be considered almost guaranteed. In which countries is the drug already used? Germany, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Greece, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Holland.
What is the unit of measurement for the drug? It is customary to measure in liters, which is equal to approx. 0.33 kg
Who else in the world produces mycorrhizal preparations in granular form? Nobody; Mikoplant AG is the only company in the world that has succeeded in this.
How many years has the company been in existence? The company was registered in 2000.
Is there an ISO certificate for the drug? Currently no, because the quality of the drug is checked by the ISO-certified German Institute for Innovation Technology ITA.
Are all aspects of the influence of mycorrhiza on a plant known? There is still a long way to go. Scientists continue to study the unique natural mechanism of interaction between the drug and the plant, and we can only guess about all the positive aspects of the symbiosis.
Unlike chemicals, the drug cannot be overdosed. Without loosening the soil, when adding the drug to the soil for perennial plants, it is applied only once, then the fungus multiplies underground on its own. The technology for using the drug is carried out with the participation of German specialists. Before applying the granulate, the soil is analyzed and the crops to be planted are calculated. In each case, a suitable substrate and host plant are required; It is important to conduct a variety of experiments during the cultivation period in different climatic zones. Burnt clay is used as a spore carrier.
Advantages of granulate:
1. Long shelf life
2. Light weight (350 kg/m3)
3. Convenient transportation
4. Convenient to use
5. Can be selectively disinfected
6. You can change the number of spores depending on the colonies
7. You can easily dose the drug
8. Can be applied using technical means
Methods of application:
1. Apply the granulate closer to the root into a hole in the pot or directly into the soil.
2. Mechanized application into previously plowed soil.
3. Mixing granulate with grain/seeds before sowing.
Application technology:
The use of the drug does not require special equipment. It is important to ensure contact between the fungus and the roots. Drill holes in the tops of an imaginary five-pointed star at a distance of 1-1.5 meters from the tree trunk (diameter = 5-10 cm, depth 30-50 cm), add 100-200g of granules to each hole, cover with soil, water. Results appear after 5-6 weeks. 1 liter of the drug corresponds to 300-330 grams of product.
One-time use depends on the volume of the root:
1. Seedlings 10 - 25 ml/plant
2. Young bushes 25 - 100 ml/bush
3. Young trees 100 - 250 ml/tree
All types of fungi described in this article are mycorrhizal. In other words, they form mycorrhizae (or fungal roots) with certain tree species and live with them for years in a strong symbiosis.
Mushrooms receive organic matter from the tree: carbohydrates in the form of tree sap with sugars, amino acids, some vitamins, growth and other substances they need. With the help of mycorrhiza, the tree extracts nitrogenous products, minerals, phosphorus and potassium, and water.
Mushrooms become attached to certain forest species and cannot live without them. But at the same time, they are very picky: they love well-warmed soil, rich in forest humus.
The development of mushrooms is influenced by many factors: air humidity and temperature, lighting conditions, soil moisture, and so on.
Without their favorite tree species, mycorrhizal fungi do not bear fruit at all. In turn, trees often become weaker and sicker without their mushroom brothers. Thus, larch and pine seedlings that do not have mycorrhiza, on poor nutrients soil simply die. And vice versa, in close collaboration with mushrooms they successfully develop in these same places.
The host tree stimulates the growth of mycelium (mycelium) only if it lacks minerals obtained from the soil. Therefore, porcini mushrooms are more likely to appear on poor sandy soil than on fertile soil. The question arises, how to force Forest mushrooms grow in the garden?
There is only one way - to artificially inoculate mycelium with their green partners. Growing mycorrhizal fungi is possible only outdoors and under mycorrhizal trees.
The main thing is to preserve the inseparable pair of mushrooms and trees, without which the full development of a mushroom culture is impossible. This means that it is necessary to create favorable conditions close to those in which these fungi exist in wildlife. To do this, at a minimum, you need the presence of appropriate tree species in your garden - birch, aspen, pine, spruce, larch, and so on.
In addition to cultivating valuable and popular mycorrhizal mushrooms, mushroom growers have repeatedly tried to grow yellow chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius), white milk mushrooms (Russula delica) and true milk mushrooms (Lactarius resimus) in the garden under a birch tree, and funnel mushrooms (Craterellus cornucopioides) under several deciduous trees; Polish sucker and chestnut mushrooms; Russula under a variety of tree species and black milk mushrooms under spruce and birch.
PORCINI
The most important trumpet mushroom of the Russian forest is the porcini mushroom (Boletus edulis), otherwise it is called boletus or cow.
It grows from the beginning of June to the end of October in deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests, in parks and gardens, along paths and abandoned roads, on the edges, along the slopes of ditches, in old dugouts and trenches, sometimes in thickets of bushes, after a drought in moss along swamps and drained swamps, but not in the dampest places (under birch, pine, spruce and oak trees); alone and in groups, often, annually.
The cap of the porcini mushroom reaches a diameter of 10 and even 30 cm. In youth it is round, hemispherical, in maturity it is cushion-shaped, in old age it can straighten to prostrate-convex, prostrate and depressed.
The cap is smooth, sometimes wrinkled in dry weather, often matte, shiny, slightly slimy in rain. The edge of the cap is leathery, often acute-angled.
The color of the cap depends on the time of year, humidity and temperature, as well as on the tree species next to which the mycorrhiza mushroom grows and forms: gray-ocher, gray-brown, ocher-brown, brown, chestnut, chestnut-brown, brown-brown and dark brown, lighter towards the edges.
The coloring is often uneven, the cap can be covered with multi-colored or blurry white spots, and in late autumn it can fade to a whitish, gray marbled and greenish color. Young mushrooms grown under fallen leaves or under a birch tree may be uncolored and have a completely white cap.
The tubular layer is finely porous, consisting of free, deeply notched or adherent tubes up to 4 cm long.
In youth it is white, in maturity it is yellow or yellow-greenish, in old age it is yellow-green or olive-yellow, turning brown.
The leg of the porcini mushroom grows in length up to 10 and even 20 cm, in thickness up to 5 and even 10 cm. In youth it is thick, tuberous, and in maturity it lengthens, becoming club-shaped or expanded towards the base.
It is solid, smooth, sometimes wrinkled, white, ocher, brownish or brownish, with a light mesh pattern, which is especially noticeable in the upper part of the leg.
The pulp is fleshy, dense, white, with a pleasant mushroom smell or almost odorless and with a nutty taste. The color does not change when broken.
BOROVIK
Boletus, or white pine mushroom (Boletus pinicola), grows on sandy soils, in green and white moss, in grass in pine forests and in forests mixed with pine from mid-May in warm and humid spring to early November in warm autumn. As the latest Carpathian experience shows, it can also grow under other tree species, such as spruce and beech.
The cap of the boletus reaches a diameter of 20 cm. It is very fleshy, hemispherical in youth, convex in maturity, sometimes with a tuberculate surface, and cushion-shaped in old age.
The skin is smooth or velvety, and looks slightly sticky in the rain. The edge is often lighter than the middle, sometimes pinkish.
The color of the cap is burgundy, olive-brown, chestnut-brown, chocolate and dark red-brown, sometimes with a bluish and even purple tint.
Young mushrooms grown under moss may be uncolored and have a whitish or pink cap with a beautiful marbled pattern.
The tubular layer is white in youth, darkens with age to a yellowish, and then yellowish-olive color.
The tubes are up to 4 cm long, but noticeably shorten where they grow to the stem.
The leg of the boletus grows up to 12 cm in length. It is thick, very dense, club-shaped, and has a strong thickening at the base; white, white-pinkish, yellow-pinkish, yellow-brownish or reddish-brown and covered with a noticeable reddish or yellow-brown reticulate pattern.
The pulp is dense, white, reddish under the skin of the cap and stem, does not change color when broken, has a pleasant taste and pungent smell of raw potatoes. ON A NOTE
Porcini mushroom and boletus are considered one of the highest quality, tasty and nutritious mushrooms. They make excellent soups with a light, clear broth, fry, dry (very fragrant), freeze, salt and pickle. When properly dried, the pulp remains light in color, unlike moss mushrooms and boletuses.
You can fry without pre-boiling, or just to be on the safe side, boil for about 10 minutes. In some countries Western Europe The porcini mushroom is used raw in salads, but I would protect my stomach from such shocks.
COMMON BORTOWER
One of the most common, most unpretentious, but highly respected trumpet mushrooms is the common boletus (Leccinum scabrum).
The people gave him many names: obabok, grandma, spiker, birch, podgreb and gray mushroom.
Boletus grows in birch forests and forests mixed with birch, under single birch trees in the forest, in bushes and woodlands, including tundra, along roads and ditches, in gardens and on grassy city lawns from mid-May to the first ten days of November, singly and in groups, annually.
The cap of the boletus reaches a diameter of 10 and even 20 cm. In youth it is hemispherical, in maturity it becomes convex or cushion-shaped; usually it is smooth, dry, matte, and slightly sticky in the rain.
The cap is yellow-brown, brownish, gray-brown, brown-brown, chestnut-brown, dark brown and black-brown, sometimes almost white with a pinkish tint and gray, often spotted.
The skin of the cap is not removed during cooking.
The tubes are up to 3 cm long, with a notch at the stem or almost free. The tubular layer in youth is finely porous, whitish and grayish, darkening in maturity to dirty gray or gray-brown, often with whitish spots, convex, spongy, easily separated from the pulp.
The boletus stem grows up to 12 and even 20 cm long, and up to 4 cm thick. It is cylindrical, slightly thinner towards the cap and sometimes noticeably thickens towards the base, hard, solid, whitish with longitudinal whitish fibrous scales, which darken to dark with age. gray, brown, black-brown and even black.
The pulp is watery, dense and tender in youth, rather quickly becomes loose, flabby, and in the stem it turns into hard fibrous. It is white or grayish-white, at the base of the leg it can be yellowish or greenish, does not change color at the break; with a faint pleasant mushroom smell and taste.
Porcini mushrooms and boletus mushrooms compete with each other, so it is better to sow their spores under birch trees in different parts of the garden. Boletus mushrooms have undeniable advantage in front of noble mushrooms and boletuses - when proper care its harvests will be more frequent and higher.
With regular watering, boletus mushrooms will appear under birch trees on their own.
When bearing fruit, boletus removes a lot of potassium from the soil. If the garden is not located in potassium-rich lowlands, then at the beginning of each season it is necessary to replenish potassium and other minerals.
To do this, water the soil around the tree with two buckets of solution (at the rate of 10 g of potassium chloride and 15 g of superphosphate per 1 bucket).
When preparing " seed material“from old caps, boletus spores mostly remain mixed with the pulp and do not precipitate well, so you need to use a suspension of their spores along with the pulp.
NOTE
There are more than ten types of boletus, including the more famous ones, such as blackhead, swamp, smoky and pinkish.
Of these, you can most often find in gardens the not very tasty swamp boletus (Leccinum holopus), which is best collected in at a young age and preferably just hats.