Mushrooms - amazing plants, feeding differently from the rest of the plant world and using other methods of reproduction. Fungi have a wide spectrum of action - from provoking diseases to fighting them (like penicillin). Some mushrooms can be a wonderful find for a mushroom picker, while others, at first glance, are completely invisible to humans.
Habitat
It is generally accepted that mushrooms, like a sponge, absorb all negative influences. environment. That is why it is important to collect them for food from ecologically clean areas or use grown artificially. But not all mushrooms grow on the ground. Often in nature you can find such a phenomenon as mushroom inhabitants of trees. And if the ordinary oyster mushroom is a tasty product, then many other tree companions are unsuitable for food and have a different purpose.
Read more about what mycorrhiza is
There are different types of mushrooms that live on trees. They have their own names and distinctive features. They influence representatives to varying degrees upper class who have chosen their place of residence. Plant mycorrhiza is not a type of mushroom and not the mushrooms themselves. It's more of a process.
Effect of symbiosis on plants
Mutual benefit
They, in turn, provide the plant that is their home, useful substances. It happens like this: the roots, dotted with mycelium, become more loose, as a result of which they are able to absorb more moisture, as well as other nutrients, including nitrogen, mineral salts, enzymes and vitamins.
Types of mushroom roots
Depending on the conditions of symbiosis, types of mycorrhiza are distinguished:
- Ectotrophic or external. It is characterized by entwining the surface bark of plants.
- Endotrophic (internal). Represents the penetration of fungal mycelium into inner fabrics roots.
- Phycomycete type. Characterized by complete penetration of rhizomes by fungi.
- In the euectotrophic type, symbiosis can cause the death of rhizome hairs.
- The ectoendotrophic type indicates the introduction of the fungus into the cortex cells themselves.
- The ericoid type involves the subsequent digestion by the plant of the balls formed by the fungus.
Each type is characteristic of certain types of plants. Trees and shrubs are susceptible predominantly to one variant of mycorrhiza. But they can also be carriers of several types of fungi at the same time.
Since all mushrooms adapt to life differently, they all have their own type of existence. Their habitat is determined by the need to eat. That is why you will never see a single mushroom on bare soil without vegetation.
Not all mycorrhizal fungi grow on the roots of trees, although they can often be found under trees.
Mycorrhiza forms many of the fungi we are familiar with. These are everyone’s favorite and delicious ones - porcini mushrooms, chanterelles, boletuses, boletus mushrooms, honey mushrooms and others. Poisonous mushrooms are also mycorrhizal and feed plants.
Almost everything coniferous trees are mycorrhizal plants. Mycorrhiza of the root is also inherent in birch, which at the same time enters into an alliance with boletus. Similar coexistence can be observed between pine and buttercup, aspen and boletus, beech and chanterelles, hornbeam and porcini mushroom. The fly agaric prefers birch and spruce. Podubovik can grow both under trees and, like oyster mushrooms, on their trunks. Entoloma garden can be found not only under fruit trees such as plum, apricot, but also under forest shrubs rosehip and hawthorn. Birch trees and conifers are preferred for most mushrooms. Therefore, near these trees you can find various inhabitants of the named family.
Mycorrhizal fungi cannot exist without the roots of trees, shrubs or herbaceous plants. When the mycelium acts on the roots of higher plants, a transformation of the rhizome occurs, but such deformations are completely harmless to the plant. This symbiosis has existed for thousands of years, as evidenced by fossilized rocks of ancient plants. Based on these findings, it becomes obvious that this is another one of nature's perfect plans. And everything is calculated in such a way that the coexistence of fungi and plants only benefits both representatives.
Artificially created mycorrhiza
Forest mushrooms fully provide nutrition for wild vegetation. Helping higher plants to feed, becoming more actively saturated with organic substances from the soil, mushrooms bring them invaluable benefits. And therefore, remembering that such mycorrhiza has an effect on all plant representatives, people themselves sometimes try to provide plants with such a symbiosis. After all, on garden plots Plants do not have the ability to interact with fungi.
In addition, there are some plants and even flowers whose nutrition comes precisely from mycorrhiza, and therefore their existence is impossible without the necessary fungi.
If you want to help your plants, you can add a useful roommate to them for symbiosis. In this case, mycelium or fungal spores are used. It is not always possible to provide plants with the necessary nutrition. But the use of mycorrhiza can become good option to supply your favorite plants with all the necessary substances.
1.What is mycorrhiza?
2. Mycorrhizal fungi, or symbiotrophs.
3. The role of mycorrhiza in plant life.
Mycorrhiza (from the Greek mykes - mushroom and rhiza - root), fungal root, mutually beneficial cohabitation (symbiosis) of the mycelium of the fungus with the root of a higher plant. There are ectotrophic (external) Mycorrhiza, in which the fungus entwines the integumentary tissue of the endings of young roots and penetrates into the intercellular spaces of the outermost layers of the cortex, and endotrophic (internal), which is characterized by the introduction of mycelium (fungal hyphae) into the cells. Ectotrophic Mycorrhiza is characteristic of many trees (oak, spruce, pine, birch), shrubs (willow), some shrubs (dryad) and herbaceous plants (buckwheat viviparous). Young roots of these plants usually branch, their ends thicken, the growing part of the roots is enveloped in a thick, dense fungal sheath, from which fungal hyphae extend into the soil and along the intercellular spaces into the root to the depth of one or several layers of bark, forming the so-called. Hartig network; the root hairs die off (euectotrophic type of Mycorrhiza). In the arctic shrub, an arctic and herbaceous plant, the wintergreen hyphae of the large-flowered fungus penetrate not only into the intercellular spaces, but also into the cells of the cortex (ectoendotrophic type of Mycorrhiza). Ectotrophic Mycorrhizae are most often formed by hymenomycetes (genus Boletus, Lactarius, Russula, Amanita, etc.), less often by gasteromycetes. Not one, but several species of fungi can participate in the formation of Mycorrhiza on the roots of one plant. However, as a rule, only certain mycorrhizal fungi are found in plant communities - symbionts of these plant species.
With the development of endotrophic Mycorrhiza, the shape of the roots does not change, root hairs usually do not die, a fungal sheath and a “Hartig network” are not formed; The hyphae of the fungus penetrate into the cells of the crustal parenchyma. In plants of the heather, wintergreen, lingonberry and cucumber families, the fungal hyphae in the cells form balls, which are later digested by the plant (ericoid type of Mycorrhiza). Phycomycetes (genus Endogone, Pythium) participate in the formation of this type of mycorrhiza. In plants of the orchid family, fungal hyphae from the soil penetrate into the seed, forming balls that are then digested by the cells of the seed. Of the fungi, this type of Mycorrhiza is characteristic of imperfect ones (genus Rhizoctonia) and less often - basidiomycetes (genus Armillaria, etc.). The most common in nature - in many annual and perennial grasses, shrubs and trees of various families - is the phycomycete type of Mycorrhiza, in which the hyphae of the fungus penetrate through the cells of the epidermis of the root, localizing in the intercellular spaces and cells of the middle layers of the crustal parenchyma. Mycorrhiza has a beneficial effect on the plant: due to the developed mycelium, the absorbing surface of the root increases and the flow of water and nutrients into the plant increases. Mycorrhizal fungi are probably capable of decomposing some soil organic compounds that are inaccessible to plants and producing substances such as vitamins and growth activators. The fungus uses some substances (possibly carbohydrates) that it extracts from the plant root. When cultivating forests on soil that does not contain mycorrhizal fungi, small quantities of forest soil are added to it, for example, when sowing acorns, soil from an old oak forest is added.
Mycorrhizal fungi, or symbiotrophs.
A special group of forest soil fungi consists of very numerous mycorrhizal fungi. This is one of the main groups of mushrooms in the forest. Mycorrhiza - a symbiosis of the roots of higher plants with fungi - is formed in most plants (with the exception of aquatic ones), both woody and herbaceous (especially perennial). In this case, the mycelium located in the soil comes into direct contact with the roots of higher plants. Based on how this contact occurs, three types of mycorrhizae are distinguished: endotrophic, ectotrophic and ectoendotrophic.
In endotrophic mycorrhizae, characteristic of most herbaceous plants, and especially of the orchid family, the fungus spreads mainly inside the root tissues and relatively little comes out. The roots bear normal root hairs. For most orchid species, such mycorrhiza is obligate, i.e. the seeds of these plants cannot germinate and develop in the absence of the fungus. For many other herbaceous plants, the presence of a fungus is not so necessary. Herbaceous plants enter into mycorrhizal symbiosis with microscopic fungi that do not form large fruiting bodies. In endotrophic mycorrhiza, biologically active substances such as vitamins produced by the fungus are probably of great importance for higher plants. In part, the fungus supplies the higher plant with nitrogenous substances, since part of the fungal hyphae located in the root cells is digested by them. The fungus, in turn, receives organic substances - carbohydrates - from the higher plant.
Ectotrophic mycorrhiza is distinguished by the presence of an outer sheath of fungal hyphae on the root. From this sheath, free hyphae extend into the surrounding soil. The root does not have its own root hairs. This mycorrhiza is characteristic of woody plants and is rarely found in herbaceous plants.
The transition between these types of mycorrhizae is ectoendotrophic mycorrhiza, which is more common than purely ectotrophic. Fungal hyphae with such mycorrhiza densely entwine the root from the outside and at the same time give abundant branches that penetrate into the root. This mycorrhiza occurs in most tree species. In this mycorrhiza, the fungus receives carbon nutrition from the root, since it itself, being a heterotroph, cannot synthesize organic substances from inorganic ones. Its outer free hyphae diverge widely in the soil from the root, replacing the latter with root hairs. These free hyphae obtain water, mineral salts, and soluble organic substances (mainly nitrogenous) from the soil. Some of these substances enter the root, and some are used by the fungus itself to build mycelium and fruiting bodies.
Most tree species form mycorrhiza with the mycelium of cap mushrooms - macromycetes from the class of basidiomycetes, a group of orders called hymenomycetes. The soil in the forest, especially near the roots of trees, is permeated with mycorrhizal fungi, and numerous fruiting bodies of these fungi appear on the soil surface. These are pink boletus (Leccinum scabrum), red boletus (Leccinum aurantiacum), camelina (Lactarius deliciosus), many types of russula (genus Russula) and many other cap mushrooms found only in the forest. There are significantly fewer mycorrhizal fungi in the group of orders Gasteromycetes. These are mainly species of the genus Scleroderma. The common puffball (see description of the common puffball) enters into a mycorrhizal symbiosis with broad-leaved species. Edible species The genus Melanogaster also forms mycorrhizae mainly with the roots of deciduous trees. Their semi-underground fruiting bodies develop on the soil under a layer of leaf litter or shallowly in the soil, usually in deciduous forests. Melanogaster dubious (M. ambiguus) is especially common in oak and hornbeam forests from May to October. Its black-brown fruit bodies, 1-3 cm in diameter, smell like garlic and have a pleasant spicy taste. A closely related species, Melanogaster broomeianus (M. broomeianus), also found in deciduous forests, has larger (up to 8 cm in diameter) brown fruiting bodies with a pleasant fruity aroma. The class of marsupial fungi (ascomycetes) also contains a small number of mycorrhizal fungi. These are mainly species with underground fruiting bodies belonging to the order Truffles (Tuberales). Black, or true, truffle (Tuber melanosporum) grows in forests along with oak, beech, hornbeam on calcareous gravelly soil, mainly in the south of France; it is not found on Russian territory. White truffle (Choiromyces meandriformis), common in Russia, grows in deciduous forests with birch, poplar, elm, linden, willow, rowan, and hawthorn. For mycorrhizal fungi, such symbiosis is mandatory. Even if their mycelium can develop without the participation of tree roots, fruiting bodies are usually not formed in this case. This is associated with the failure of attempts to artificially breed the most valuable edible forest mushrooms, such as White mushroom(Boletus edulis). It forms mycorrhiza with many tree species: birch, oak, hornbeam, beech, pine, spruce.
Some types of fungi form mycorrhizae with only one specific species. Thus, the larch butterfly (Suillus grevillei) forms mycorrhiza only with larch. For trees, symbiosis with fungi is also important: experiments in forest belts and forest plantations have shown that without mycorrhiza, trees develop worse, are stunted in growth, are weakened, and are more susceptible to diseases.
The role of mycorrhiza in plant life
The existence of mycorrhizae, fungi that live on the roots of plants, has been known for quite some time. This phenomenon - a community, or symbiosis of fungi and higher plants - was discovered by scientists in the mid-19th century. However, for a long time this remained simply a known fact and nothing more. Research in recent decades has shown the enormous role it plays in plant life. The first discoveries were made using a microscope, when fungal threads were discovered entwining the roots of plants. The microscope made it possible to see another type of mycorrhiza, which lives inside the root, penetrating and growing inside the root cells. The first type was called ectomycorrhiza, that is, external mycorrhiza. It has been found on the roots of almost all woody plants. The hyphae of the fungus entwine the root, forming a continuous sheath. From this cover, thin threads stretch in all directions, penetrating the soil for tens of meters around the tree. The mushrooms that we collect in the forest are ectomycorrhizal fruiting bodies in which spores are formed. They can be likened to the underwater part of an iceberg. Anyone who wants to grow edible mushrooms on their plot must first acquire the appropriate tree, then the corresponding mycorrhiza must form on it, and only then, perhaps, fruiting bodies will grow on it. The second type of mycorrhiza is endomycorrhiza, that is, internal mycorrhiza is characteristic mainly of herbaceous plants, including most cultivated plants. It is of much more ancient origin. Both types of mycorrhiza can often be found on one plant.
When scientists found a method to identify the DNA of mycorrhizal fungi, they were amazed by their ubiquity. Firstly, it turned out that about 90% of all plant species have mycorrhizae on their roots. Secondly, it was found that mycorrhizae have existed for as long as they have existed land plants. Endomycorrhizal DNA has been found in the fossil remains of the first land plants, which are about 400 million years old. These first plants were apparently similar to lichens, representing a symbiosis of algae and fungus. The algae, through photosynthesis, creates organic substances to feed the fungus, and the fungus plays the role of a root, extracting mineral elements from the substrate on which the lichen has settled. The fungus accompanied the plant throughout its terrestrial life. Even when the plants had roots, the fungus did not leave them, helping to extract nutrients from the soil. Currently, only a few plant species have gained independence and managed to do without mycorrhiza. These are a number of species from the families Chenopodiaceae, cabbage and amaranthaceae. Actually, it is not entirely clear why this independence is needed, since mycorrhiza increases the absorptive capacity of the roots many times over.
The hyphae of the fungus are more than an order of magnitude thinner than the root hairs and therefore are able to penetrate into the finest pores of soil minerals, which are even present in each individual grain of sand. In one cubic centimeter of soil surrounding the roots, the total length of mycorrhizal threads ranges from 20 to 40 meters. Fungal threads gradually destroy soil minerals, extracting from them mineral plant nutrition elements that are not in the soil solution, including such an important element as phosphorus. Mycorrhiza plays a very significant role in supplying plants with phosphorus, as well as a number of microelements, such as zinc and cobalt. It is clear that the plant does not skimp and pays well for this service, giving mycorrhiza 20 to 30% of the carbon it absorbs in the form of soluble organic compounds.
Further research brought even more unexpected and surprising discoveries regarding the role of mycorrhiza in the plant world. It turned out that the threads of fungi, intertwined underground, can communicate one plant with another through the transfer and exchange of organic and mineral compounds. The concept of plant communities has been illuminated in a completely new light. These are not just plants growing nearby, but a single organism, connected into a single whole by an underground network of numerous thin threads. A kind of mutual aid was discovered, where stronger plants feed weaker ones. Plants with very small seeds especially need this. The microscopic seedling would not have been able to survive if the general nutritional network had not initially taken it into its care. The exchange between plants has been proven by experiments with radioactive isotopes.
Scientists have discovered several species of plants, including orchids, which throughout their lives receive nutrition almost exclusively from mycorrhiza, although they have a photosynthetic apparatus and could synthesize organic substances themselves.
Mycorrhiza helps plants tolerate stress, drought, and lack of nutrition. Scientists believe that without mycorrhizae, majestic tropical forests, forests of oaks, eucalyptus, and redwoods could not withstand the climatic stresses that are inevitable in nature.
However, in a plant community, just as in a human community, conflicts are inevitable. Mycorrhiza has a certain selectivity, and if a certain type of mycorrhiza has spread in a plant community, this does not mean that it will be equally favorable to all types of plants. It is assumed that the species composition of plant communities largely depends on the properties of mycorrhiza. For some species that do not correspond to her, she can simply survive without providing them with food. Plants of this unwanted species gradually weaken and die. For a very long time, mycorrhizal fungi could not be grown under artificial conditions. But since the 1980s these difficulties have been overcome. Firms have emerged that produce some types of mycorrhiza for sale. Ectomycorrhiza is produced for use in forest nurseries and it has been found that its introduction into the root zone significantly improves the growth of seedlings.
Do gardeners need mycorrhizal preparations? Indeed, under natural conditions, mycorrhiza is found in all soils. Its spores are so small and light that they are carried by the wind to any distance. In a healthy garden, where chemicals are not abused, mycorrhiza is always present in the soil. However, it has been established that high doses of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, especially fungicides, suppress the development of mycorrhiza. It is not found in soils deprived of fertility as a result of inept farming, as a result of construction, or in soils deprived of humus for one reason or another. The experience of gardeners in the USA, where there are several commercial companies producing mycorrhiza for gardeners, says that in extreme conditions, adding mycorrhizal preparations to the soil has a very good effect. Gardeners who have received land deprived of fertility for use or are located in areas with an unfavorable climate have learned from their own experience that inoculation with mycorrhiza gives them the opportunity to have a flowering garden even in these unfavorable conditions. Usually the mycorrhiza preparation is in the form of a powder containing spores. It is used to treat seeds or roots of seedlings. Endomycorrhiza preparations are used for ornamental and vegetable plants, and ectomycorrhiza preparations are used for trees and shrubs. However, to get a good effect from mycorrhiza, you need to do important condition– switch to an organic gardening method. This means using organic fertilizers, not digging up the soil (only loosening), mulching, and refusing to use high doses mineral fertilizers and fungicides.
The role of mycorrhiza in plant life.
The symbiosis of plants and fungi has existed for 400 million years and contributes to the great diversity of life forms on Earth. In 1845 it was discovered by German scientists. Mycorrhizal endofunges penetrate directly into the root of the plant and form a “mycelium” (mycelium), which helps the roots strengthen the immune system, fight pathogens of various diseases, and absorb water, phosphorus and nutrients from the soil. With the help of a fungus, the plant uses soil resources to full power. One root could not cope with such a task; Without the support of fungi, plants have to direct additional reserves to increase the root system, instead of increasing the above-ground part. Mycorrhiza improves soil quality, aeration, porosity, and the volume of the total absorbent surface of the plant root increases a thousand times! Due to active human intervention in natural processes: the use of heavy equipment, the introduction of chemical fertilizers, construction work, laying pipelines, asphalt and concrete, air and water pollution, dam construction, soil cultivation, soil erosion, etc. - plants began to be exposed to unprecedented stress, their immunity weakened and led to death.
The German company Mykoplant AG - a leading global manufacturer - sells the endofunge Mykoplant ® BT - an innovative product, an environmentally friendly natural product, an organic plant growth regulator, approved by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Federal Republic of Germany. Mikoplant AG is the only company in the world that produces granular mycorrhizal preparations. Mykoplant ® BT is the spores of the endomycorrhizal fungus (Glomus family), enclosed in 3-5 mm of clay (carrier). It took decades of painstaking research to determine the improving qualities of mycorrhizal fungi. The granulated form of the drug is protected by an international patent. The drug is grown in greenhouses.
Mykoplant ® BT promotes the formation of mycorrhiza in 90% of plants and trees.
Does not have phytopathogens and pathogenic microorganisms.
Not an ounce of chemicals.
No negative impact on people, animals or the environment.
Non-toxic, does not accumulate in plants.
Positive effects of mycorrhiza:
Saves water up to 50%
Stores nutrients for plants
Increases growth and improves plant quality
Increases resistance to drought, lack of drainage
Increases resistance to salts and heavy metals
Improves appearance, taste and aroma
Improves stress resistance and overall plant immunity
Improves disease tolerance
Reduces infection in roots and foliage
Accelerates the establishment of plants in a new place
Increases productivity, growth of green mass
Accelerates root development and flowering by 3-4 weeks
Works well in salty or waste-contaminated soil
Use once with perennial plants
What does a mushroom do? 1. Stores additional water (saving up to 50% depending on region) and nutrients for the plant. 2. Dissolves and supplies the plant with unavailable mineral nutrients, such as phosphates. 3. Protects the plant against underground pests (for example, nematodes).
What does the plant do? Supplies the fungus with carbohydrates (glucose)
To facilitate penetration into the root, the product must have direct contact with it. Used especially effectively in spring, early stages plant development, but is successfully used at any stage of plant development. The activity of mycorrhiza is determined by the number of spores per cm3 of the product (in the USA only 10 spores per cm3 are produced and the price of one liter of the product in the USA is $120). Is the number of spores in a product important? Yes, the number of spores is important, since it determines the efficiency of colony formation and the level of bioactivity.
Mycorrhizal fungi are already in the soil. Why then inoculate crops with the drug? Although mycorrhizal fungi can theoretically be found in the soil, not all types are best suited for your crop. The mycoplant consists of many Glomus families, so successful colonization can be considered almost guaranteed. In which countries is the drug already used? Germany, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Greece, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Holland.
What is the unit of measurement for the drug? It is customary to measure in liters, which is equal to approx. 0.33 kg
Who else in the world produces mycorrhizal preparations in granular form? Nobody; Mikoplant AG is the only company in the world that has succeeded in this.
How many years has the company been in existence? The company was registered in 2000.
Is there an ISO certificate for the drug? Currently no, because the quality of the drug is checked by the ISO-certified German Institute for Innovation Technology ITA.
Are all aspects of the influence of mycorrhiza on a plant known? There is still a long way to go. Scientists continue to study the unique natural mechanism of interaction between the drug and the plant, and we can only guess about all the positive aspects of the symbiosis.
Unlike chemicals, the drug cannot be overdosed. Without loosening the soil, when adding the drug to the soil for perennial plants It is applied only once, then the mushroom reproduces underground on its own. The technology for using the drug is carried out with the participation of German specialists. Before applying the granulate, the soil is analyzed and the crops to be planted are calculated. In each case, a suitable substrate and host plant are required; it is important to conduct a variety of experiments during the cultivation period in different climatic zones. Burnt clay is used as a spore carrier.
Advantages of granulate:
1. Long shelf life
2. Light weight (350 kg/m3)
3. Convenient transportation
4. Convenient to use
5. Can be selectively disinfected
6. You can change the number of spores depending on the colonies
7. You can easily dose the drug
8. Can be applied using technical means
Methods of application:
1. Apply the granulate closer to the root into a hole in the pot or directly into the soil.
2. Mechanized application into previously plowed soil.
3. Mixing granulate with grain/seeds before sowing.
Application technology:
The use of the drug does not require special equipment. It is important to ensure contact between the fungus and the roots. Drill holes in the tops of an imaginary five-pointed star at a distance of 1-1.5 meters from the tree trunk (diameter = 5-10 cm, depth 30-50 cm), add 100-200g of granules to each hole, cover with soil, water. Results appear after 5-6 weeks. 1 liter of the drug corresponds to 300-330 grams of product.
One-time use depends on the volume of the root:
1. Seedlings 10 - 25 ml/plant
2. Young bushes 25 - 100 ml/bush
3. Young trees 100 - 250 ml/tree
Granular oiler - forms mycorrhiza with Scots pine and other pines
Mycorrhiza-formers (symbiotrophic macromycetes, mycorrhizal fungi, symbiotrophs) - fungi that form mycorrhiza on the roots of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. They are a specialized ecological group of fungi, recognized within modern mycology since the late 19th century. This group of fungi is specific in that its representatives enter into symbiosis with higher plants, do not have enzymes for the decomposition of cellulose and lignin, and exhibit energy dependence on the symbiont, which is the plant. The term mycorrhiza (“fungal root”) was introduced by the German mushroom researcher A. W. Frank in 1885.
Mycorrhiza
Mycorrhiza is the formation of a symbiosis of a fungus and a plant. It manifests itself in the fact that the mycelium (mycelium) located in the soil intertwines and envelops the roots and root hairs of plants. The roots of the plant are transformed, but this does not harm the owner. Mycorrhiza allows both the fungus and the plant to obtain missing nutrients from the soil. In modern mycology, a distinction is made between exotrophic and endotrophic mycorrhizae. With exotrophic mycorrhiza (ectomycorrhiza), the hyphae of the mycelium entwine the outside of plant roots, and with endotrophic mycorrhiza (endomycorrhiza), the hyphae penetrate into the intercellular space of the roots and inside the cells of the root parenchyma. Ectoendotrophic mycorrhiza (ectoendomycorrhiza) combines the features of both ectomycorrhiza and endomycorrhiza. The phenomenon was described in 1879-1881. Russian scientist F. M. Kamensky and he also gave the first attempt at its scientific explanation; the term was introduced by the German scientist A. V. Frank in 1885.
Differences between mycorrhiza-formers and saprotrophs
Both mycorrhiza-formers and saprotrophs use dead organic matter for their nutrition, and therefore, within the framework of mycology, there is a problem of distinguishing between these groups.
The mycorrhiza-former receives carbohydrates from the plant, which are used by the fungus as a source of energy, and the plant receives from the fungus elements of mineral nutrition, which the mycelium converts into a form digestible by the plant. At the same time, mycorrhiza-formers are similar to saprotrophs in the absence of a plant with which symbiosis is formed or in the stage of free-living mycelium.
L.A. Garibova in her book “The Mysterious World of Mushrooms” identifies the following differences, which indicate a difference in the biochemistry of these ecological groups of fungi:
- only mycorrhiza-formers form indole compounds (some saprotrophs also form them, but in significantly smaller quantities);
- mycorrhiza-formers produce growth substances such as auxins;
- mycorrhiza-formers have almost no antibiotic properties;
- mycorrhiza-formers do not participate in the destruction of cellulose and are not able to develop on it without carbon sources available to them;
- most mycorrhiza-formers do not have hydrolytic enzymes, in particular they do not synthesize laccase, which is needed for the oxidation of lignin;
- mycorrhiza-formers have a more complete amino acid composition.
Symbiotrophs in the fungal kingdom
Boletus is a tubular mushroom that forms mycorrhiza with aspens and other tree species
Red fly agaric - forms mycorrhiza mainly with birch and spruce
Mycorrhiza-formers are ascomycetes, basidiomycetes and zygomycetes.
Thus, mycorrhiza-formers are all tubular (boletal mushrooms), many of which are edible and collected by humans for food consumption: porcini mushrooms, boletus mushrooms, boletus mushrooms, moss mushrooms, oak mushrooms.
Mycorrhiza is formed by some gasteromycetes, mainly of the genus False puffball, as well as some species of marsupial fungi related to truffles (species from the order Truffleaceae ( tuberales)).
In modern mycological literature, there are references to the fact that some mushrooms, for example, thin mushroom and lacquer, can behave both as mycorrhiza-formers and as saprotrophs, depending on habitat conditions. They form mycorrhiza if conditions for trees are unfavorable (swamp, semi-desert, etc.)
The role of mycorrhiza-formers in the biocenosis
The functions of mycorrhiza-formers in the biocenosis, as indicated in the book by L. G. Garibova “The Mysterious World of Mushrooms,” come down to the following:
- Mycorrhiza formers convert nitrogen-containing compounds in the topsoil into a form that can be absorbed by plants.
- Mycorrhizal fungi contribute to the supply of phosphorus, calcium and potassium to plants.
- Mycorrhiza-forming mycelium increases the area of nutrition and water supply for plants. In the arid conditions of deserts and semi-deserts, woody plants receive soil nutrition thanks to mycorrhiza-formers.
- Protection of plants from pathogenic microorganisms.
Literature
- Burova L. G. The mysterious world of mushrooms - M.: Nauka, 1991.
All types of fungi described in this article are mycorrhizal. In other words, they form mycorrhizae (or fungal roots) with certain tree species and live with them for years in a strong symbiosis.
Mushrooms receive organic matter from the tree: carbohydrates in the form of tree sap with sugars, amino acids, some vitamins, growth and other substances they need. With the help of mycorrhiza, the tree extracts nitrogenous products, minerals, phosphorus and potassium, and water.
Mushrooms become attached to certain forest species and cannot live without them. But at the same time, they are very picky: they love well-warmed soil, rich in forest humus.
The development of mushrooms is influenced by many factors: air humidity and temperature, lighting conditions, soil moisture, and so on.
Without their favorite tree species, mycorrhizal fungi do not bear fruit at all. In turn, trees often become weaker and sicker without their mushroom brothers. Thus, larch and pine seedlings that do not have mycorrhiza simply die on nutrient-poor soil. And vice versa, in close collaboration with mushrooms they successfully develop in these same places.
The host tree stimulates the growth of mycelium (mycelium) only if it lacks minerals obtained from the soil. Therefore, porcini mushrooms are more likely to appear on poor sandy soil than on fertile soil. The question arises, how to make wild mushrooms grow in the garden?
There is only one way - to artificially inoculate mycelium with their green partners. Growing mycorrhizal fungi is possible only outdoors and under mycorrhizal trees.
The main thing is to preserve the inseparable pair of mushrooms and trees, without which the full development of a mushroom culture is impossible. This means it is necessary to create favorable conditions, close to those in which these fungi exist in the wild. To do this, at a minimum, you need the presence of appropriate tree species in your garden - birch, aspen, pine, spruce, larch, and so on.
In addition to cultivating valuable and popular mycorrhizal mushrooms, mushroom growers have repeatedly tried to grow yellow chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius), white milk mushrooms (Russula delica) and true milk mushrooms (Lactarius resimus) in the garden under a birch tree, and funnel mushrooms (Craterellus cornucopioides) under several deciduous trees; Polish sucker and chestnut mushrooms; russula under the most different breeds trees and black milk mushrooms under spruce and birch.
PORCINI
The most important trumpet mushroom of the Russian forest is the porcini mushroom (Boletus edulis), otherwise it is called boletus or cow.
It grows from the beginning of June to the end of October in deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests, in parks and gardens, along paths and abandoned roads, on the edges, along the slopes of ditches, in old dugouts and trenches, sometimes in thickets of bushes, after a drought in moss along swamps and drained swamps, but not in the dampest places (under birch, pine, spruce and oak trees); alone and in groups, often, annually.
The cap of the porcini mushroom reaches a diameter of 10 and even 30 cm. In youth it is round, hemispherical, in maturity it is cushion-shaped, in old age it can straighten to prostrate-convex, prostrate and depressed.
The cap is smooth, sometimes wrinkled in dry weather, often matte, shiny, slightly slimy in rain. The edge of the cap is leathery, often acute-angled.
The color of the cap depends on the time of year, humidity and temperature, as well as on the tree species next to which the mycorrhiza mushroom grows and forms: gray-ocher, gray-brown, ocher-brown, brown, chestnut, chestnut-brown, brown-brown and dark brown, lighter towards the edges.
The coloring is often uneven, the cap may be covered with multi-colored or blurry white spots, and late autumn fade to whitish, marbled gray and greenish. Young mushrooms grown under fallen leaves or under a birch tree may be uncolored and have a completely white cap.
The tubular layer is finely porous, consisting of free, deeply notched or adherent tubes up to 4 cm long.
In youth it is white, in maturity it is yellow or yellow-greenish, in old age it is yellow-green or olive-yellow, turning brown.
The leg of the porcini mushroom grows in length up to 10 and even 20 cm, in thickness up to 5 and even 10 cm. In youth it is thick, tuberous, and in maturity it lengthens, becoming club-shaped or expanded towards the base.
It is solid, smooth, sometimes wrinkled, white, ocher, brownish or brownish, with a light mesh pattern, which is especially noticeable in the upper part of the leg.
The pulp is fleshy, dense, white, with a pleasant mushroom smell or almost odorless and with a nutty taste. The color does not change when broken.
BOROVIK
Boletus, or white pine mushroom (Boletus pinicola), grows on sandy soils, in green and white moss, in grass in pine forests and in forests mixed with pine from mid-May in warm and humid spring to early November in warm autumn. As the latest Carpathian experience shows, it can also grow under other tree species, such as spruce and beech.
The cap of the boletus reaches a diameter of 20 cm. It is very fleshy, hemispherical in youth, convex in maturity, sometimes with a tuberculate surface, and cushion-shaped in old age.
The skin is smooth or velvety, and looks slightly sticky in the rain. The edge is often lighter than the middle, sometimes pinkish.
The color of the cap is burgundy, olive-brown, chestnut-brown, chocolate and dark red-brown, sometimes with a bluish and even purple tint.
Young mushrooms grown under moss may be uncolored and have a whitish or pink cap with a beautiful marbled pattern.
The tubular layer is white in youth, darkens with age to a yellowish, and then yellowish-olive color.
The tubes are up to 4 cm long, but noticeably shorten where they grow to the stem.
The leg of the boletus grows up to 12 cm in length. It is thick, very dense, club-shaped, and has a strong thickening at the base; white, white-pinkish, yellow-pinkish, yellow-brownish or reddish-brown and covered with a noticeable reddish or yellow-brown reticulate pattern.
The pulp is dense, white, reddish under the skin of the cap and stem, does not change color when broken, has a pleasant taste and pungent smell of raw potatoes. ON A NOTE
Porcini mushroom and boletus are considered one of the highest quality, tasty and nutritious mushrooms. They make excellent soups with a light, clear broth, fry, dry (very fragrant), freeze, salt and pickle. At proper drying the flesh remains light in color, unlike moss mushrooms and boletuses.
You can fry it without preliminary boiling, or just to be on the safe side, boil it for about 10 minutes. In some Western European countries, porcini mushrooms are added raw to salads, but I would save my stomach from such shocks.
COMMON BORTOWER
One of the most common, most unpretentious, but highly respected trumpet mushrooms is the common boletus (Leccinum scabrum).
The people gave him many names: obabok, grandma, spiker, birch, podgreb and gray mushroom.
Boletus grows in birch forests and forests mixed with birch, under single birch trees in the forest, in bushes and woodlands, including tundra, along roads and ditches, in gardens and on grassy city lawns from mid-May to the first ten days of November, singly and in groups, annually.
The cap of the boletus reaches a diameter of 10 and even 20 cm. In youth it is hemispherical, in maturity it becomes convex or cushion-shaped; usually it is smooth, dry, matte, and slightly sticky in the rain.
The cap is yellow-brown, brownish, gray-brown, brown-brown, chestnut-brown, dark brown and black-brown, sometimes almost white with a pinkish tint and gray, often spotted.
The skin of the cap is not removed during cooking.
The tubes are up to 3 cm long, with a notch at the stem or almost free. The tubular layer in youth is finely porous, whitish and grayish, darkening in maturity to dirty gray or gray-brown, often with whitish spots, convex, spongy, easily separated from the pulp.
The boletus stem grows up to 12 and even 20 cm long, and up to 4 cm thick. It is cylindrical, slightly thinner towards the cap and sometimes noticeably thickens towards the base, hard, solid, whitish with longitudinal whitish fibrous scales, which darken to dark with age. gray, brown, black-brown and even black.
The pulp is watery, dense and tender in youth, rather quickly becomes loose, flabby, and in the stem it turns into hard fibrous. It is white or grayish-white, at the base of the leg it can be yellowish or greenish, does not change color at the break; with a faint pleasant mushroom smell and taste.
Porcini mushrooms and boletus mushrooms compete with each other, so it is better to sow their spores under birch trees on different areas garden Boletus mushrooms have an undeniable advantage over noble mushrooms and boletus - with proper care, its harvests will be more frequent and higher.
With regular watering, boletus mushrooms will appear under birch trees on their own.
When bearing fruit, boletus removes a lot of potassium from the soil. If the garden is not located in potassium-rich lowlands, then at the beginning of each season it is necessary to replenish potassium and other minerals.
To do this, water the soil around the tree with two buckets of solution (at the rate of 10 g of potassium chloride and 15 g of superphosphate per 1 bucket).
When preparing " seed material“from old caps, boletus spores mostly remain mixed with the pulp and do not precipitate well, so you need to use a suspension of their spores along with the pulp.
NOTE
There are more than ten types of boletus, including the more famous ones, such as blackhead, swamp, smoky and pinkish.
Of these, the one most often found in gardens is the not very tasty swamp boletus (Leccinum holopus), which is best collected at a young age and preferably just the caps.
Mycorrhiza plays vital role in supplying plants with water and nutrient solutions, but its role is not limited to this. The problem is poorly studied and poorly reflected in widely available sources.
For too long mycorrhiza has remained without a motto!
I will briefly outline the main features of mycorrhiza. Translated into Russian mycorrhiza - fungal root. Mycorrhiza is a symbiosis of fungi and roots, without which most plants cannot live and develop normally.
It has been established that approximately 98% of higher plants on Earth are not able to fully live and develop without mycorrhiza.
According to the information I have, they are highly respected in the plant world for their gigantic size and powerful enzymatic apparatus. Their hyphae (mycelium) sometimes spread hundreds of meters in width and deep down, and the mass can sometimes reach several tons.
The very powerful enzymatic apparatus of fungi is capable of producing a wide variety of enzymes - special proteins that play the role of catalysts in living nature. They can break down a wide variety of nutrients in the soil, both detritus itself and humin molecules from the humus nutrient reserve.
Entering into a symbiotic relationship with plant roots, fungi receive glucose from them, and in return supply the plants with water and nutrient solutions.
In the presence of mycorrhiza, plants never experience water starvation. Mycorrhiza is the most powerful source of water for plants. The suction surface area of mycorrhiza-forming fungi is 100 times greater than the suction surface of the root. Mycorrhiza improves root nutrition of plants 15 times.
Mycorrhiza supplies plants with mineral salts, vitamins, enzymes, biostimulants, hormones and other active substances, and it is mycorrhiza that provides the main supply of plants with deficient phosphorus and potassium.
It has been established that even such widely used agricultural crops as grain and fodder cereals, legumes, potatoes, and sunflowers are also mycotrophic. If the roots of these plants have mycorrhizal fungi, their productivity can increase from 10 to 15 times.
Symbiotic mycorrhiza-forming plants are boletus, boletus, boletus, russula, red fly agaric, which is poisonous to humans, and so on. The more different mushrooms collected to introduce mycorrhiza into the soil of the site, the better.
There is no need to try to use saprophytic mushrooms: honey mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, champignons, dung beetles, puffballs and similar mushrooms, since they are not capable of forming mycorrhizae.
In addition, symbiotic fungi have a strong protective effect on plants by secreting a large number of antibiotics that suppress pathogenic organisms.
How to introduce mycorrhiza into the soil under trees and shrubs? It is advisable to use cap mushrooms, as they are the most powerful and form perennial mycorrhizae.
It makes sense to look for mushrooms not only in the forest, but also in old apple and pear orchards, where you can find mushrooms, milk mushrooms, pigs and russula.
Action plan. Pick any edible mushrooms. Soak well-ripened caps for 24 hours in clean water, then water the mulch under trees and shrubs with this water. As a result, fungal spores will enter the soil. It is optimal to introduce fungal spores into a thick layer of sawdust.
If you have a dog, take it with you to look for mushrooms. I think that she can help you by finding mushrooms by smell, and you won’t have to wander through the forest in vain, but will only have to cut off the mushrooms she finds and put them in a basket. It is not for nothing that in Europe they use specially trained dogs, as well as pigs, to search for the most expensive mushrooms (truffles).
When transplanting seedlings of trees and shrubs from the forest, be sure to take a couple of buckets of the soil in which they grew - this way you can almost guarantee that they will be provided with mycorrhiza.
I will try to introduce mycorrhiza not only under all the trees and shrubs, but also, as an experiment, into the soil of some garden beds. If you can provide garden plants with mycorrhiza, they will produce unprecedented yields! I will watch and compare. I'll let you know the results.
If you have problems picking mushrooms, you can use biological drugs Mycoplant And Trichodermin, following the instructions for their use. Most likely, I will have to use these preparations to provide the trees and shrubs of the ecopark with mycorrhiza, because I will be planting them long before the mushroom season, and in general I have regular problems with collecting mushrooms.
It is believed that drugs Mycoplant And Trichodermin are not particularly good in our climate: it is much more effective to use fungal spores - these are the best mushrooms for the formation of mycorrhiza, so I will specifically breed them in the garden and in ecopark Z.
On September 3, 2016, my neighbor and I went to the forest to pick mushrooms. I collected two buckets of white boletuses, boletus and aspen mushrooms. On the morning of September 4th, I finely chopped the mushroom caps, poured them into three 20-liter buckets, filled them with water and mixed them several times. I cleaned the mushroom stems, boiled them and fried them.
On September 5th, I watered the soil under the bushes and trees with water containing fungal spores to additionally provide them with mycorrhiza - judging by the apple harvests, there is probably mycorrhiza under the apple trees. To strain the water with spores, I had to buy a plastic colander for 39 rubles.
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