Ectomycorrhizal Symbiosis can Enhance Plant Nutrition through Improved Access to Discrete Organic Nutrient Patches of High Resource Quality

Mycorrhizas and organic nutrient patches

The physiological attributes of fungal hyphae (including the secretion of nutrient-mobilizing enzymes, and rapid and plastic growth) may offer the plant partner in ectomycorrhizal symbiosis access to transient nutrient patches not available to roots. Tibbett and Sanders (pp. 783-789) show that the ectomycorrhizal fungus Hebeloma syrjense is able rapidly to access discrete organic nutrient patches more effectively than can the root system alone, to the benefit of the plant.