General Biology

The study of the establishment of land plants has been an ongoing research topic for years. The latest accepted study suggests a symbiotic relationship of soil fungi assisting the earliest plants establish themselves on land. The research effort of this study is based only on evolutionary history and fossil record collected throughout time. Humphreys, a writer in Nature Communications, exhibited similar symbolic traits of carbon uptake, growth, and asexual reproduction between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and historical land plants. If an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and an ancient land plant are generated in a lab and grown together to observe a symbiotic relationship, then this relationship can be supported based on the data collected from the experiment.

In this testing procedure, Glomeromycota, a historical fungi, and Marchantia paleacea, an ancient liverwort will be observed for a symbiotic relationship. Non-mycorrhizal plants were grown in AMF-free soil on top of or around AMF-colonized plants. Then, observe the symbiotic relationship conceived. Plants were grown in an ambient CO2 environment, consistent with the early Paleozoic period in which these plants first formed a relationship.

At ambient CO2 conditions, the AMF plants displayed photosynthetic gain. The AMF plants also consumed an increased amount of nitrogen and phosphorus. Increased growth and biomass in the AMF plants revealed the success of the relationship. The AMF plants promoted more asexual reproduction.  Lastly, fungal mycelium grew from the mutualistic relationship of the ancient land plant, Marchantia paleacea.

 The data collected by this experiment provides evidential support of the symbiotic relationship of fungi assisting historical plants move to land. The high CO2 atmosphere played a major role in the mycorrhiza relationships with the early plants. Land plants evolving to life on land, with the help of mycorrhiza fungi, was an important turning point towards the present day world. Photosynthesis of land plants removed CO2 from our atmosphere, contributing towards global cooling, rather than global warming. This made the land possible for animals to become terrestrial and branch into the many evolving species living today.  The collection of this data will help in future research of land plants. It gave a deeper understanding of the evolution of early plants and their move to land.

Sources:

Nature Reviews Microbiology; Jan2011, Vol. 9 Issue 1, p6-6, 1p

Humphreys , C.P. “Mutualistic mycorrhiza like symbosis in the most ancient group of land plants..” 103. (2010): n. page. Web. 24 Sep. 2013.