Abstract
The nutrient exchange mutualism between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMFs) and their host plants qualifies as a biological market, but several complications have hindered its appropriate use. First, fungal ‘trading agents’ are hard to identify because AMFs are potentially heterokaryotic, that is, they may contain large numbers of polymorphic nuclei. This means it is difficult to define and study a fungal ‘individual’ acting as an independent agent with a specific trading strategy. Second, because nutrient exchanges occur via communal structures (arbuscules), this temporarily reduces outbidding competition and transaction costs and hence resembles exchanges among divisions of firms, rather than traditional trade on markets. We discuss how fungal nuclei may coordinate their trading strategies, but nevertheless retain some independence, similar to human co-operatives (co-ops).
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 777-789 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Trends In Ecology and Evolution |
Volume | 33 |
Issue number | 10 |
Early online date | 31 Aug 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2018 |
Funding
We thank Michelle Afkhami and an anonymous reviewer for constructive suggestions. Research was supported by European Research Council ERC 335542 (to E.T.K.).
Funders | Funder number |
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Seventh Framework Programme | 335542 |
European Research Council |
Keywords
- arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
- biological market theory
- mycorrhizal mutualism
- nutrient exchange mutualism