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Cords may look similar to plant roots, and also frequently have similar functions; hence they are also called rhizomorphs (literally, "root-forms"). As well as growing underground or on the surface of trees and other plants, some fungi make mycelial cords which hang in the air from vegetation.
Mycelium is a primary factor in some plants' health, nutrient intake and growth, with mycelium being a major factor to plant fitness. Networks of mycelia can transport water [4] and spikes of electrical potential. [5] Sclerotia are compact or hard masses of mycelium.
White threads of fungal mycelium are sometimes visible underneath leaf litter in a forest floor. A mycorrhizal network (also known as a common mycorrhizal network or CMN) is an underground network found in forests and other plant communities, created by the hyphae of mycorrhizal fungi joining with plant roots. This network connects individual ...
AMF are able to form symbioses with several plant species and connect to roots of different hosts, allowing CMN. Mycelium networks function through signals that are first produced in plants, then move to the roots and then migrate to AMF. Then, signals go through the plant surface where they can be transported to leaves or other organs.
In return, the plant gains the benefits of the mycelium's higher absorptive capacity for water and mineral nutrients, partly because of the large surface area of fungal hyphae, which are much longer and finer than plant root hairs, and partly because some such fungi can mobilize soil minerals unavailable to the plants' roots. The effect is thus ...
Ectomycorrhizal symbiosis, showing root tips with fungal mycelium from the genus Amanita. An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ektos, "outside", μύκης mykes, "fungus", and ῥίζα rhiza, "root"; pl. ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobiont, and the roots of various plant species.
Unlike some plant root pathogenic fungi, ectomycorrhizal fungi are largely unable to produce many plant cell-wall-degrading enzymes, but increased pectin modification enzymes released by Laccaria bicolor during fungal infection and Hartig net development indicate that pectin degradation may function to loosen the adhesion between neighboring ...
Root hair cells improve plant water absorption by increasing root surface area to volume ratio which allows the root hair cell to take in more water. The large vacuole inside root hair cells makes this intake much more efficient. Root hairs are also important for nutrient uptake as they are main interface between plants and mycorrhizal fungi.