The role of the external mycelium of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the carbon transfer process between plants

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the relative contribution of the pathways involved in the carbon transfer process between Lolium perenne plants using 14CO2. The results showed that the direct transfer pathway via mycorrhizal hyphae contributed 46%, the indirect transfer pathway mediated by the mycorrhizal mycelium 15%, and the indirect transfer pathway, not mediated by the mycorrhizal mycelial net, 39%.