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Cross-scale integration of mycorrhizal function.

Francis M Martin,M. Harrison,S. Lennon,Björn D. Lindahl,M. Öpik,A. Polle,N. Requena,M. Selosse

Published 2018 in New Phytologist

ABSTRACT

Scientists working on plant symbioses have known for more than a century that mycorrhizal fungi take central stage in terrestrial ecosystems. Over the last 50 years, several leading scientists have clarified thenatureofwhat isundoubtedly themostcommon,and the most important, mutualistic symbiosis in terrestrial ecosystems (Bonfante, 2018; in this issue of New Phytologist, pp. 982–995). Simply stated, nearly all families of land plants form root symbiotic organs, termed mycorrhizas, with soil fungi belonging to Glomeromycotina,AscomycotinaorBasidiomycotina.Withindaysof their emergence in theupper soil profiles,upto95%ofplant short roots are colonized bymycorrhizal fungi. The importance of this symbiosis in controlling plant nutrient status and growth, and its ecological relevance is now well established (van der Heijden et al., 2015). It is said that the relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and plants is a love story – although this metaphor is undoubtedly naive. This intimate association has its origins in an ancient and intricate relationship that allows both partners to thrive (Martin et al., 2017; Field & Pressel, 2018; in this issue ofNew Phytologist, pp. 996–1011; Pither et al., 2018; pp. 1148–1160; StrulluDerrien et al., 2018; pp. 1012–1030; Zobel, 2018; pp. 947–949). The long relationship between New Phytologist and the mycorrhizal research community has also been described as a love story, and indeed the title of a 2013 Editorial by Selosse andMartin was ‘Mycorrhizas and New Phytologist: une vraie histoire d’amour’. From a recent Web of Science citation analysis, it is clear that mycorrhizal research still contributes greatly to the success of the journal; themost widely cited and influential article in recent years being the Tansley review by van der Heijden et al. (2015), which discusses the key biological and ecological roles of the different types of mycorrhizal symbioses. This long-standing and tight association is also reflected in the organization of symposia, associated with special issues of the journal, such as the recent 33 New Phytologist Symposium ‘Networks of power and influence: ecology and evolution of symbioses between plants and mycorrhizal fungi ’ (Bender et al., 2014). A particularly exciting aspect with mycorrhiza in the New Phytologist, for an Editor, but also as a reader, is the diversity of approaches covered, ranging from evolution, physiology or genomics, to molecular biology and ecology. The published papers offer the true picture of a very active research community investigating mycorrhizal symbioses in many directions and by many methods and disciplines. This paves the way for papers crossing the disciplinary borders, e.g. viewing genomic or physiological traits as a starting point to analyze evolutionary patterns (e.g. Delaux et al., 2012) or ecologically relevant questions (e.g. B€odeker et al., 2014), and producing elegant, highly-cited works. The present Editorial explores New Phytologist’s rich history of publishing the best research on this most fascinating and complex series of interactions, and, happily, this ‘real love story’ continues to play out. Today, with the advent of new concepts and techniques, the possibility of integration across a wide range of disciplines from genomics to molecular ecology and field ecology is becoming a reality that is much encouraged by New Phytologist. Since Selosse andMartin’s Editorial was published, further outstanding research in this field has appeared in the pages of the journal, including a special issue titled ‘Ecology and evolution ofmycorrhizas’ in 2015 (see Dickie et al., 2015 for an overview), and we are proud to introduce the collection presented here, which includes some of the most recent research in the area. In this Editorial we will highlight some of the recent innovative mycorrhizal research published in the journal and look to future challenges that lie ahead. This theme is continued throughout the Forum of this issue, including Commentaries on selected papers and a series of Letters stimulated by discussions and the ideas exchanged at two conferences held in 2017, both of which theNew Phytologist Trust was proud to support: the 9 International Congress on Mycorrhizas (ICOM), in Prague, Czech Republic (Waller et al., 2018), and the 3 International Molecular MycorrhizaMeeting (iMMM3; see Plett, 2018) in Toulouse, France. The broad scope and wide range of themes covered in these meetings illustrate how diverse mycorrhizal research is. This diversity is reflected in the Editorial board of New Phytologist, and below we offer some insights and reflections fromEditors past and present on the articles presented herein.

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CLAIMS

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CONCEPTS

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