Association of vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi with the moss Funaria hygrometrica

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Abstract
Reports on the mycorrhizal status of mosses have been scanty and inconclusive. We observed hyphae and vesicles resembling structures of vesicular–arbuscular (VA) mycorrhizal fungi within the moss Funaria hygrometrica Hedw. growing on the soil surface of asparagus – Glomus epigaeus pot cultures. Controlled-environment experiments to determine whether moss is a potential host for VA fungi were conducted by inoculating moss cultures, asparagus plants, or combinations of moss and asparagus plants with chlamydospores of G. epigaeus. Examination of cleared and stained asparagus roots and moss plants 10 weeks after addition of G. epigaeus spores revealed typical arbuscules, vesicles, and hyphal coils in roots of asparagus grown alone or in combination with moss; hyphae, vesicles, and spores were seen in moss plants, but only in those grown with asparagus "companion" plants. Glomus epigaeus colonization was widespread in moss stem and leaf tissue, and spore production was most prolific in senescent tissues. Similar endophytic structures and abundant sporulation occurred in the moss layer of G. mosseae and G. fasciculalus moss-companion plant pot cultures. Although the Funaria–VA fungus association is apparently not a mutualistic one, the system may have ecological significance as well as potential for production of VA inoculum.
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