Fluorogenic properties of 4-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (DMACA) enable high resolution imaging of cell-wall-bound proanthocyanidins in plant root tissues.

Proanthocyanidins (PAs) are polymeric phenolic compounds found in plants and used in many industrial applications. Despite strong evidence of herbivore and pathogen resistance-related properties of PAs, their function is not fully understood. Determining the location and dynamics of PAs in plant tissues and cellular compartments is crucial to understand their mode of action.

Laccaria bicolor pectin methylesterases are involved in ectomycorrhiza development with Populus tremula × Populus tremuloides.

The development of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) symbioses between soil fungi and tree roots requires modification of root cell walls. The pectin-mediated adhesion between adjacent root cells loosens to accommodate fungal hyphae in the Hartig net, facilitating nutrient exchange between partners. We investigated the role of fungal pectin modifying enzymes in Laccaria bicolor for ECM formation with Populus tremula × Populus tremuloides.

Novel Microdialysis Technique Reveals a Dramatic Shift in Metabolite Secretion during the Early Stages of the Interaction between the Ectomycorrhizal Fungus and Its Host .

The colonisation of tree roots by ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi is the result of numerous signalling exchanges between organisms, many of which occur before physical contact. However, information is lacking about these exchanges and the compounds that are secreted by each organism before contact. This is in part due to a lack of low disturbance sampling methods with sufficient temporal and spatial resolution to capture these exchanges.

Balances Xylem Cell Expansion and Secondary Cell Wall Formation in Hybrid Aspen.

Secondary growth relies on precise and specialized transcriptional networks that determine cell division, differentiation, and maturation of xylem cells. We identified a novel role for the ethylene-induced () in balancing xylem cell expansion and secondary cell wall (SCW) formation in hybrid aspen (). Expression of is high in phloem and cambium cells and during the expansion of xylem cells, while it is low in maturing xylem tissue.

The mycorrhizal tragedy of the commons.

Trees receive growth-limiting nitrogen from their ectomycorrhizal symbionts, but supplying the fungi with carbon can also cause nitrogen immobilization, which hampers tree growth. We present results from field and greenhouse experiments combined with mathematical modelling, showing that these are not conflicting outcomes. Mycorrhizal networks connect multiple trees, and we modulated C provision by strangling subsets of Pinus sylvestris trees, assuming that carbon supply to fungi was reduced proportionally to the strangled fraction.

Fluorescent protein expression in the ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria bicolor: a plasmid toolkit for easy use of fluorescent markers in basidiomycetes.

For long time, studies on ectomycorrhiza (ECM) have been limited by inefficient expression of fluorescent proteins (FPs) in the fungal partner. To convert this situation, we have evaluated the basic requirements of FP expression in the model ECM homobasidiomycete Laccaria bicolor and established eGFP and mCherry as functional FP markers. Comparison of intron-containing and intronless FP-expression cassettes confirmed that intron-processing is indispensable for efficient FP expression in Laccaria.