Assimilation of mineral nitrogen and ion balance in the two partners of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis: Data and hypothesis

Abstract

Assimilation pathways of mineral nitrogen and ion balances of the two partners of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis (fungi and woody plants) are reviewed. Data are presented about the partners both in pure culture and in mycorrhizal association. The two forms of mineral nitrogen, ammonium and nitrate, differ in their mobility in the soil, their transport into the cells, their uptake rates by plants and their assimilation pathways. These metabolic differences are related to differences in adjustment of ion balances and carbon metabolism under conditions of nitrate or ammonium nutrition. The data obtained on the partners of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis are discussed from this point of view and the observations composed with those on herbaceous angiosperms.