Javeria Afzal

M16-03
MSc 3rd semester
Topic of Presentation:

Forest Establishment using fungi:

Role of Fungi in forest establishment:
Mycorrhizal fungi play a role of utmost importance in
forest establishment.
When the plant came from water to land , fungi made
them able to exist on land because they did not have
enough extensive root system.
In the establishment of forest the value of Mycorrhizal
fungi cannot be ignored.
The role of lichens is also very important in forest
establishment as these are the pioneers of succession.
Role of Mycorrhizal fungi:
The word mycorrhizae comes from two Greek words,
mycos, means fungus and rhiza, means root; therefore
mycorrhizae literally means “fungus root”.
Mycorrhizae is the name an important symbiotic
relationship between plant roots and certain fungi.
Unlike the fungi that cause disease, this relationship
benefits both the host plant and the fungi.
The plants provides the fungi with carbohydrates, and
in exchange, the fungi increase the plants’ ability to
take up phosphorus and macronutrients from the soil.
It also provides protection against the certain root
diseases.
Over the 95% of the plant families are known to have
some form of Mycorrhizal association.
Benefits of Mycorrhizal association:
Plants absorb the nutrients and water through fine root
hairs; Mycorrhizal relationship increases the amount of
nutrient and water because fungal hyphae perform the
function of root hairs so, in this way surface area is
increased.
Fungal hyphae have 3 advantages over plants’ root hairs;
a) Hyphae reach farther out into the soil, covering more
area than root hairs.
b) They are more attracted to nutrients.
c) They are smaller than root hairs, so they can get into the
spaces in soil where root hairs cannot.
Hyphae promote the growth of bacteria that can extract
the phosphorus from organic matter. The phosphorus
released by bacteria is absorbed by hyphae and passed on
to the plants. This is the most well known benefit.
Mycorrhizal relationships protect the host plants against
from disease chemically and physically. The fungi produce
antibiotics that inhibit the organisms and further
suppress disease by improving host nutrition which
increases plant vigor.
Also, the protective sheath or mantle, formed by the ECM
relationship physically protects the root from disease.
The fungal hyphae block the plants’ uptake of zinc, cadmium and
manganese from soil, so plant can exist in soil of high heavy metal
concentration.
Mycorrhizal colonization often increases the production of plant
hormones such as gibberellins and cytokinines. These hormones are
responsible for cell division, stem elongation, seed germination and
other functions.
 Do you know???
Mycorrhizal fungi can increase the root capacity of a plant by upto
700 times in just a few month.
The roots of a mature Beech tree laid out end to end would stretch for
5 miles, the Mycorrhizal hyphae responsible for feeding that tree
would stretch around the globe.
Hyphae network can be excess of 100 meters of hyphae per cubic
centimeter.
Types Of Mycorrhizae:
Two major types;
1) Ectomycorrhizae
2) Endomycorrhizae
 In Ectomycorrhizal association, fungi invade the cortical
regions of the host root without penetrating cortical cells.
The main diagnostic features of this type are;
 The formation within root of a hyphal network known as
the Harting net around cortical cells.
A thick layer of hyphal mat on the root surface known
as sheath or mantle.
In endomycorrhizal association of the VA type, the
fungi penetrate the cortical cells and form clusters of
finely divided hyphae known as arbuscule in the
cortex.
Most Ectomycorrhizal fungi belong to the several
genera within the class basidiomycetes while some
belong to zygomycetes. On the other hand, AM belong
to zygomycetes.
Application of AM technology:
Keys to the successful application of AM fungi
technology are availability of good quality inocula and
clear understanding of the circumstances under which
Mycorrhizal fungi are likely to enhance plant growth.
Because AM fungi are obligate symbionts and cannot
multiplied in laboratory media apart from living host.
In the most common way of producing AM inocula,
fungi are multiplied in the presence of suitable host
plant growing in some kind of matrix which may sand,
soil or sand-soil mixture.
The supply of P and other nutrients is monitored to
promote maximum fungal infection. This process
requires as long as 16-18 weeks.
After this period medium is allowed to dry down upto
5% moisture. The plant is then cut off and the
remaining medium containing spores, pieces of fungal
hyphae and segments of infected roots serves as crude
inoculum.
Such an inoculum can be stored at 22̊̊c for as long as 3
years.
The need to inoculate:
The widespread occurrence of AM fungi in soil
throughout tropical and temperate regions has
sometimes led to notion that inoculation of soils with
AM fungi is not essential.
However inoculation is necessary where the fungi
have been eliminated or their populations reduced by
pesticide application, fumigation or erosion.
Conclusion:
Mycorrhizal fungi assist plants by enhancing plant nutrient and
water uptake, reducing environmental stresses and improve the
overall growth of plant.
Numerous studies have demonstrated benefits for plants for land
reclamation, landscapes installation, home gardening and forest
establishment.
Pine trees and conifers would not exist on Earth without
association with Mycorrhizal fungi.
The largest single organism on Earth (by area) is said to be an
Armillaria fungi covering almost 2200 acres in forest.
So due to this property fungi can be widely used in forest
establishment.