Full name: Phylogeny and taxonomy of Glomeromycota (arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and related fungi)
Short name: Glomeromycota
Version: 8.0, Sep 2008
Release date: 2008-09-05
Authors/editors: A. Schüßler & C. Walker
Taxonomic coverage: Fungi - Glomeromycota
English name of the group: Glomeromycota
Number of species: 164
Number of infraspecific taxa: 0
Number of synonyms: 103
Number of common names: 0
Total number of names: 267
Abstract: The Glomeromycota are mycorrhiza forming fungi. Mycorrhiza (literally fungus-root) are mutualistic association of fungi with plant roots and the vast majority of plant species (probably >95%) are associated with mycorrhizal fungi; strictly speaking, plants do not have roots, they have mycorrhiza. The most widely distributed mycorrhizal 'type', both through the plant kingdom (formed by about 80% of all vascular plants) and geographically, is an endomycorrhiza formed by the Glomeromycota and called arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM). In this, hyphae colonize plant cells and produce finely branched structures (the arbuscules). This symbiosis feeds most land plants, the arbuscules facilitating nutrient exchange and water uptake and, by carbohydrate transport to the soil, also represent a relevant terrestrial carbon sink.
Organization: Department of Biology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany
Website: http://www.AMF-phylogeny.com