ArticleThe ISME journal2019
Bridging reproductive and microbial ecology: a case study in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.
Article in The ISME journal, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trait Shifts and Vertical Redistribution Enable Nematode-Trapping Fungi to Adapt to Fire Disturbance.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
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- Article
- Sporecasting Biogeography Across Scales: Continental Patterns and Local Constraints on Macrofungal Dispersal.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Nanoplastics interfere with plant-mycorrhizal communication and limit plant growth.The ISME journal · 2026Article
- Climate-linked biogeography of mycorrhizal fungal spore traits.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Accumulation of glomalin-related soil protein to soil carbon storage in forest ecosystems along an elevation gradient.Mycorrhiza · 2025Article
- TraitAM, a global spore trait database for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.Scientific data · 2025Article
- Enhancing consistency in arbuscular mycorrhizal trait-based research to improve predictions of function.Mycorrhiza · 2025Review
- Ecological drivers of fine-scale distribution of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a semiarid Mediterranean scrubland.Annals of botany · 2023Article
- Assessment of fungal spores and spore-like diversity in environmental samples by targeted lysis.BMC microbiology · 2023Article
- AMF Inoculum Enhances Crop Yields ofInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Phenol and Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons Are Stronger Drivers Than Host Plant Species in Shaping the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Component of the Mycorrhizosphere.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- The Effects of Nitrogen and Phosphorus on Colony Growth and Zoospore Characteristics of Soil Chytridiomycota.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Warming and elevated ozone induce tradeoffs between fine roots and mycorrhizal fungi and stimulate organic carbon decomposition.Science advances · 2021Article
- Dispersal of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi: Evidence and Insights for Ecological Studies.Microbial ecology · 2021Review
- Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities in the Soils of Desert Habitats.Microorganisms · 2021Article
- Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in roots and soil respond differently to biotic and abiotic factors in the Serengeti.Mycorrhiza · 2020Article
- Unambiguous identification of fungi: where do we stand and how accurate and precise is fungal DNA barcoding?IMA fungus · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Offspring size is a key trait for understanding the reproductive ecology of species, yet studies addressing the ecological meaning of offspring size have so far been limited to macro-organisms. We consider this a missed opportunity in microbial ecology and provide what we believe is the first formal study of offspring-size variation in microbes using reproductive models developed for macro-organisms. We mapped the entire distribution of fungal spore size in the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (subphylum Glomeromycotina) and tested allometric expectations of this trait to offspring (spore) output and body size. Our results reveal a potential paradox in the reproductive ecology of AM fungi: while large spore-size variation is maintained through evolutionary time (independent of body size), increases in spore size trade off with spore output. That is, parental mycelia of large-spored species produce fewer spores and thus may have a fitness disadvantage compared to small-spored species. The persistence of the large-spore strategy, despite this apparent fitness disadvantage, suggests the existence of advantages to large-spored species that could manifest later in fungal life history. Thus, we consider that solving this paradox opens the door to fruitful future research establishing the relationship between offspring size and other AM life history traits.
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