Plant sugar metabolism and arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis

The study of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis (AMS) - the mutualist relationship between the most of land plants and evolutionary old fungal group Glomeromycota - is becoming a prestigious topic. The prevalence of and extent of physiological action of AMS on plants is very interesting for the plant biology itself, but its importance grows, notably in time of global climate change, frequent soil degradation and ascending exhaustion of mineral fertilizer reserves. Although the flows in AMS of some minerals, like of phosphorus was enlightened, carbon exchange between the symbionts is still poorly understood. In this experimental work, I utilized the boom of molecular and bioinformatic methods in the quest for completely unexplained carbon flows. The organisms used include barrel medic (Medicago truncatula), the model legume for symbiotic relationships, biotic, and abiotic stresses; Rhizophagus irregularis, the widely used fungus for such experimental studies of AMS; and Sinorhizobium meliloti, the nodulating nitrogen-fixing bacterium compatible with the barrel medic. Two variants - mycorrhizal (M+) and non-mycorrhizal (NM) plants were subjected to several levels of analysis. I have checked the variants, did the measurements of phosphorus and nitrogen contents, as well as I probed the plants with..