Elemental Movements in Mycorrhizal Symbioses: Cell Biological Approaches and Surface Analyses
Abstract: Mycorrhizas are the mutualistic symbioses between plant roots and soil fungi. Mycorrhizal fungi play a role as extensions of roots, and in return, receive carbon compounds from the host plants. Movements of elements in mycorrhizal symbionts are divided in three; long distance translocations between shoots and roots, exchanges between plants and fungi in mycorrhizas, and long distance translocations inside hyphae colonizing in a soil and mycorrhizas. Because of the complexity of structures and colonizing processes, it is an important approach that elemental movements are analyzed anatomically at different structural levels. In this paper, tracer experiments of mycorrhizal symbioses are introduced, where imaging of μXRF for Cd and SIMS for carbon-13 and nitrogen-15, were conducted at a cellular level, using resin embedded materials.
Key words: mycorrhizal symbiosis, element translocation, μXRF，SIMS, cellular localization