Myristate can be used as a carbon and energy source for the asymbiotic growth of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Yuta Sugiura, Rei Akiyama, Sachiko Tanaka, Koji Yano, Hiromu Kameoka, Shiori Marui, Masanori Saito, Masayoshi Kawaguchi, Kohki Akiyama, Katsuharu Saito
Abstract
Significance The origins of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which form symbiotic associations with land plants, date back >460 Mya. During evolution, these fungi acquired an obligate symbiotic lifestyle, and thus depend on their host for essential nutrients. In particular, fatty acids are regarded as crucial nutrients for the survival of AM fungi, owing to the absence of genes involved in de novo fatty acid biosynthesis in the AM fungal genomes that have been sequenced so far. Here we show that myristate initiates AM fungal growth under asymbiotic conditions. These findings will advance the pure culture of AM fungi.