Topic
Cryptothallus mirabilis
About: Cryptothallus mirabilis is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 21 publications have been published within this topic receiving 656 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: It is shown that a non–vascular plant, the non–photosynthetic liverwort Cryptothallus mirabilis, is epiparasitic and is specialized on Tulasnella species that form ectomycorrhizae with surrounding trees at four locations in England, France and Portugal.
Abstract: Many non-photosynthetic vascular plants in 10 diverse families obtain all of their carbon from fungi, but in most cases the fungi and the ultimate sources of carbon are unknown. In a few cases, such plants have been shown to be epiparasitic because they obtain carbon from neighbouring green plants through shared mycorrhizal fungi. In all such cases, the epiparasitic plants have been found to specialize upon narrow lineages of ecto- or arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Here we show that a non-vascular plant, the non-photosynthetic liverwort Cryptothallus mirabilis, is epiparasitic and is specialized on Tulasnella species that form ectomycorrhizae with surrounding trees at four locations in England, France and Portugal. By using microcosm experiments we show that the interaction with Tulasnella is necessary for growth of Cryptothallus, and by using labelling experiments we show that (14)CO(2) provided to birch seedlings is transferred to Cryptothallus by Tulasnella. This is one of the first documented cases of epiparasitism by a non-vascular plant and of ectomycorrhizal formation by Tulasnella. These results broaden the emerging association between epiparasitism and mycorrhizal specialization into a new class of plants and a new order of fungi.
213 citations
TL;DR: The relationships of C. mirabilis within the family Aneuraceae are reconstructed using DNA sequence data from the chloroplast, mitochondrial (trnS), and nuclear (26S and ITS) genomes, and the myco-heterotrophic liverwort should be considered as a distinct species of Aneura, rather than an autonomous genus.
53 citations
TL;DR: It is tentatively suggested that the endophyte of Cryptothallus might be the same fungus as an ectrotroph of Betula roots, a situation mirroring the endomycorrhizas of orchids.
Abstract: Many thalloid liverworts contain aseptate fungi forming arbuscules from swollen trunk hyphae within the host cells. Cryptothallus, Aneura and Riccardia are the only genera possessing basidiomycetous endophytes. The latter form extensive hyphal coils closely followed by the host plasma membrane, a situation mirroring the endomycorrhizas of orchids. The fungi in the subterranean gametophytes of pteridophytes exhibit behaviour similar to that in Cryptothallus but are almost certainly phycomycetes. It is tentatively suggested that the endophyte of Cryptothallus might be the same fungus as an ectrotroph of Betula roots.
44 citations
TL;DR: This ultrastructural study of two closely related liverworts with contrasting modes of nutrition reveals very similar interactions with endophytic dikaryotic basidiomycetes.
Abstract: This ultrastructural study of two closely related liverworts with contrasting modes of nutrition reveals very similar interactions with endophytic dikaryotic basidiomycetes. In both hepatics, collected from a variety of sites, the fungus is confined to specific regions of the gametophyte thallus, and hyphal contact with the substratum is via the rhizoids. The colonization cycle comprises a growth phase when the fungus forms large intracellular coils, host cytoplasm proliferates and the starch content of the plastids decreases, followed by senescence when the hyphae die back and aggregate into large masses. Repeated colonization cycles are frequent. Young hyphae contain abundant glycogen and sometimes amyloid deposits in Cryptothallus. In terms of dolipore substructure, hyphal dimensions, highly characteristic multilayered walls, absence of clamp connections, and the mode of hyphal degeneration, the endophyte in Cryptothallus is virtually identical to that in Aneura from alpine sites but very different fro...
38 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the occurrence of Cryptothallus mirabilis v. Malmb. in Scotland was investigated and it was shown that it occurs frequently in the British Isles.
Abstract: (1950). The Occurrence of Cryptothallus mirabilis v. Malmb. in Scotland. Transactions of the British Bryological Society: Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 357-366.
13 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 1 |
| 2008 | 1 |
| 2005 | 1 |
| 2003 | 1 |
| 2000 | 1 |
| 1999 | 2 |