Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Maintenance of host specialisation gradients in ectomycorrhizal symbionts
AU - Voller, Fay
AU - Ardanuy, Agnès
AU - Taylor, Andy F.S.
AU - Johnson, David
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2023 New Phytologist Foundation.
PY - 2024/5/31
Y1 - 2024/5/31
N2 - Many fungi that form ectomycorrhizas exhibit a degree of host specialisation, and individual trees are frequently colonised by communities of mycorrhizal fungi comprising species that fall on a gradient of specialisation along genetic, functional and taxonomic axes of variation. By contrast, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi exhibit little specialisation. Here, we propose that host tree root morphology is a key factor that gives host plants fine-scale control over colonisation and therefore opportunities for driving specialisation and speciation of ectomycorrhizal fungi. A gradient in host specialisation is likely driven by four proximate mechanistic ‘filters’ comprising partner availability, signalling recognition, competition for colonisation, and symbiotic function (trade, rewards and sanctions), and the spatially restricted colonisation seen in heterorhizic roots enables these mechanisms, especially symbiotic function, to be more effective in driving the evolution of specialisation. We encourage manipulation experiments that integrate molecular genetics and isotope tracers to test these mechanisms, alongside mathematical simulations of eco-evolutionary dynamics in mycorrhizal symbioses.
AB - Many fungi that form ectomycorrhizas exhibit a degree of host specialisation, and individual trees are frequently colonised by communities of mycorrhizal fungi comprising species that fall on a gradient of specialisation along genetic, functional and taxonomic axes of variation. By contrast, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi exhibit little specialisation. Here, we propose that host tree root morphology is a key factor that gives host plants fine-scale control over colonisation and therefore opportunities for driving specialisation and speciation of ectomycorrhizal fungi. A gradient in host specialisation is likely driven by four proximate mechanistic ‘filters’ comprising partner availability, signalling recognition, competition for colonisation, and symbiotic function (trade, rewards and sanctions), and the spatially restricted colonisation seen in heterorhizic roots enables these mechanisms, especially symbiotic function, to be more effective in driving the evolution of specialisation. We encourage manipulation experiments that integrate molecular genetics and isotope tracers to test these mechanisms, alongside mathematical simulations of eco-evolutionary dynamics in mycorrhizal symbioses.
KW - heterorhizic roots
KW - host specialist
KW - partner choice
KW - resource exchange
KW - speciation
U2 - 10.1111/nph.19395
DO - 10.1111/nph.19395
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 37984824
AN - SCOPUS:85177444503
VL - 242
SP - 1426
EP - 1435
JO - New Phytologist
JF - New Phytologist
SN - 0028-646X
IS - 4
ER -