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During the past years, there has been an increased interest in the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal biodiversity for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems and in the application of AM fungal technology for agricultural and land rehabilitation schemes. However, one major bottleneck in AM research is the lack of knowledge on ecology, and in particular on life history strategies (LHS) among the different AM fungal families (Hart et al. 2001; Hart and Klironomos 2002). The LHS of an organism is a product of its evolutionary past, and is expressed in the fungal life cycle, i.e. patterns of growth, differentiation, storage and, especially, reproduction (Begon et al. 1996). In order to understandAM fungal ecology, it is central to appreciate species life history traits and genetic diversity. Monoxenic cultures of AM fungi are exploited here to study these issues, with special emphasis on the family Gigasporaceae. |
