Mycorrhizal Markets, Firms, and Co-ops

Ronald Noë*, E. Toby Kiers

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to JournalReview articleAcademicpeer-review

    25 Downloads (Pure)

    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 languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)777-789
    Number of pages13
    JournalTrends In Ecology and Evolution
    Volume33
    Issue number10
    Early online date31 Aug 2018
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 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.).

    FundersFunder number
    Seventh Framework Programme335542
    European Research Council

      Keywords

      • arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
      • biological market theory
      • mycorrhizal mutualism
      • nutrient exchange mutualism

      Fingerprint

      Dive into the research topics of 'Mycorrhizal Markets, Firms, and Co-ops'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

      Cite this