ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess


Abstract Number: 2388
Session = 20.15.7


PLANT-FUNGAL SYMBIOSES


(1)Y. Shachar-Hill (2)P.E. Pfeffer (2)D.D. Douds (1,2)B. Bago, 1=NM State U, 2=USDA-ARS Wyndmoor PA.


Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi are obligate symbionts that enhance the growth of most land plants. They rely on the host plant for their carbon but the intermediates supplied and their metabolism by the fungus are little known. Using isotopically labeled substrates and NMR we have identified fungal storage compounds, forms of carbon taken up and metabolic fluxes of carbon in different stages of the fungal life cycle and at different locations within the fungus. As well as shedding light on the AM symbiosis, these studies also exhibit certain general features of NMR as a tool: interpretation of isotopic labeling patterns in a few products to infer the activity of several metabolic pathways, potential to study metabolism of two organisms together, the advantages of in vivo spectroscopy, and the usefulness of multinuclear spectroscopy for hypothesis-testing and quantifying labeling.


HTML-Version made 7. July 1999 by Kurt Stüber