Unearthing Plant Secrets

Abstract

Plant researchers have gone underground, tapping roots for plant secrets and possible solutions to the growing problem of phosphorous pollution. Maria Harrison, a scientist at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), recently discovered genes that transport phosphorous from beneficial mycorrhizal fungi into the plant roots. It is estimated that the vast major? ity of vascular plants form symbiotic relationships with mycorrhizal fungi. Plants have adapted and co-evolved proteins to allow certain processes, such as phosphorous uptake, to occur in the roots in association with myc? orrhizal fungi, says Harrison. She has spent 10 years investigating the molecular controls behind plant-mycorrhizal associations and has already identified six transporter genes that shuttle phosphate between plant parts. Recent data suggest that plants may rely more heavily on the fungus for phosphorous when involved in Mycorrhizal fungi (green) inside plant