This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Giovannetti, M.
Right arrow Articles by Citernesi, A. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Giovannetti, M.
Right arrow Articles by Citernesi, A. S.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Giovannetti, M.
Right arrow Articles by Citernesi, A. S.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 1999, p. 5571-5575, Vol. 65, No. 12
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Anastomosis Formation and Nuclear and Protoplasmic Exchange in Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Manuela Giovannetti,* Dario Azzolini, and Anna Silvia Citernesi

Dipartimento di Chimica e Biotecnologie Agrarie, Centro di Studio per la Microbiologia del Suolo, CNR, Università di Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy

Received 13 May 1999/Accepted 17 September 1999

We observed anastomosis between hyphae originating from the same spore and from different spores of the same isolate of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Glomus mosseae, Glomus caledonium, and Glomus intraradices. The percentage of contacts leading to anastomosis ranged from 35 to 69% in hyphae from the same germling and from 34 to 90% in hyphae from different germlings. The number of anastomoses ranged from 0.6 to 1.3 per cm (length) of hyphae in mycelia originating from the same spore. No anastomoses were observed between hyphae from the same or different germlings of Gigaspora rosea and Scutellospora castanea; no interspecific or intergeneric hyphal fusions were observed. We monitored anastomosis formation with time-lapse and video-enhanced light microscopy. We observed complete fusion of hyphal walls and the migration of a mass of particles in both directions within the hyphal bridges. In hyphal bridges of G. caledonium, light-opaque particles moved at the speed of 1.8 ± 0.06 µm/s. We observed nuclear migration between hyphae of the same germling and between hyphae belonging to different germlings of the same isolate of three Glomus species. Our work suggests that genetic exchange may occur through intermingling of nuclei during anastomosis formation and opens the way to studies of vegetative compatibility in natural populations of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dipartimento di Chimica e Biotecnologie Agrarie, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy. Phone: 39-050-571561. Fax: 39-050-571562. E-mail: mgiova{at}agr.unipi.it.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 1999, p. 5571-5575, Vol. 65, No. 12
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Bianciotto, V., Genre, A., Jargeat, P., Lumini, E., Becard, G., Bonfante, P. (2004). Vertical Transmission of Endobacteria in the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus Gigaspora margarita through Generation of Vegetative Spores. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 3600-3608 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pandey, A., Roca, M. G., Read, N. D., Glass, N. L. (2004). Role of a Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathway during Conidial Germination and Hyphal Fusion in Neurospora crassa. Eukaryot Cell 3: 348-358 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Koch, A. M., Kuhn, G., Fontanillas, P., Fumagalli, L., Goudet, J., Sanders, I. R. (2004). High genetic variability and low local diversity in a population of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101: 2369-2374 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • de Souza, F. A., Declerck, S. (2003). Mycelium development and architecture, and spore production of Scutellospora reticulata in monoxenic culture with Ri T-DNA transformed carrot roots. Mycologia 95: 1004-1012 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gandolfi, A., Sanders, I. R., Rossi, V., Menozzi, P. (2003). Evidence of Recombination in Putative Ancient Asexuals. Mol Biol Evol 20: 754-761 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Giovannetti, M., Sbrana, C., Strani, P., Agnolucci, M., Rinaudo, V., Avio, L. (2003). Genetic Diversity of Isolates of Glomus mosseae from Different Geographic Areas Detected by Vegetative Compatibility Testing and Biochemical and Molecular Analysis. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 616-624 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»