Members of the the Basel /Dijon group over the years:

Dirk Redecker, Herbert Stockinger, Marine Peyret-Guzzon, Boris Börstler, Odile Thiéry

We are studying the ecology of Arbuscular Mycorrhiza (AM), a mutualistic symbiosis between the great majority of land plants and fungi from the phylum Glomeromycota. This ubiquitous association facilitates mineral nutrient uptake by the plants and contributes to plant growth and plant health.

It has been shown that glomeromycotan belowground diversity and plant diversity may influence each other, which implies a potential role of the symbiosis for conservation biology.

Identification and taxonomy of the Glomeromycota have traditionally been based on their spores, but it has become clear that the fungi symbiotically active do not necessarily correspond to those found as spores. Determining AM fungal species from spores requires considerable expertise and the spore morphology is does not help at all in distinguishing genotypes within a species. Therefore, molecular methods using PCR and DNA sequences have been instrumental in elucidating glomeromycotan diversity.We have been at the cutting edge of developing and applying molecular tools for the identification of these fungi in order to provide a better understanding of the evolutionary history of these fungi and their ecology in field settings.

As most crops are hosts of AM, efforts have intensified to use this interaction in biotechnology, either by better managing natural mycorrhizal fungal communities and populations or by inoculating fungal strains. Both approaches necessitate the use of molecular identification tools. Our current research at the Research Unit Agroecology in Dijon aims at a better understanding of glomeromycotan taxonomic and functional diversity in order to create cropping systems without intensive application of fertilizers and pesticides in the context of sustainable land use.

Former members of the group:

• Susann Appoloni
• Annemarie Brennwald-Ochsner
• Dr. Boris Börstler
• Isabelle Hijri
• Dr. Philipp Raab
• Dr. Zuzana Sýkorová
• Dr. Odile Thiéry

Guest researchers

• Dr. Ylva Lekberg
• Dr. Istvan Paradi
• Chara Almpani

Field trips

See members of our team on field trips to the sampling sites and other interesting locations:

• Maize monoculture at Rheinweiler (October 2001 and July 2002)
• DOK experiment (July 2002)
• W site (species-rich calcareous grassland, May and August 2003)
• Leek harvest at Murimoos (August 2003)
• Trip to the Engadin (June 2003)
• Mycological excursion of ETH Zurich to Valbella (August/September 2005)

Publications

• Schoch CL, Seifert KA, Huhndorf S, Robert V, Spouge JL, Chen W, Levesque CA, Fungal Barcoding Consortium, 2012. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) as a universal DNA barcode maker for fungi. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 109: 6241–6246.
  
  
• Sýkorová Z, Börstler B, Zvolenská S, Fehrer J, Gryndler M, Vosátka M, Redecker D, 2011. Long-term tracing of Rhizophagus irregularis isolate BEG140 inoculated on Phalaris arundinacea in a coalmine spoil bank, using mitochondrial large subunit rDNA markers. Mycorrhiza, DOI: 10.1007/s00572-011-0375-1.
  
  
• Lekberg Y, Meadow J, Rohr JR, Redecker D, Zabinski CA, 2011. Importance of dispersal and thermal environment for mycorrhizal communities: Lessons from Yellowstone National Park. Ecology 92, 1292-1302.
  
  
• Weiß M, Sykorová Z, Garnica S, Riess K, Martos F, Krause C, Oberwinkler F, Bauer R, Redecker D, 2011. Sebacinales everywhere: previously overlooked ubiquitous fungal endophytes of plants. PloS ONE, 6(2): e16793. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0016793.
  
  
• Baar J, Paradi I, Lucassen ECHT, Hudson-Edwards KA, Redecker D, Roelofs JGM, Smolders AJP, 2011. Molecular analysis of AMF diversity in aquatic macrophytes: A comparison of oligotrophic and ultra-oligotrophic lakes. Aquatic Botany 94, 53-61.
  
  
• Gianinazzi S, Gollotte A, Binet MN, van Tuinen D, Redecker D, Wipf D, 2010. Agroecology: the key role of arbuscular mycorrhizas in ecosystem services. Mycorrhiza 8, 519-530.
  
  
• Al-Yahya'ei MN , Oehl F, Vallino M, Lumini E, Redecker D, Wiemken A, Bonfante P, 2010. Unique arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities uncovered in date palm plantations and surrounding desert habitats of Southern Arabia. Mycorrhiza, DOI: 10.1007/s00572-010-0323-5
  
  
• Thiéry O, Börstler B, Ineichen K, Redecker D, 2010. Evolutionary dynamics of introns and homing endonuclease ORFs in a region of the large subunit of the mitochondrial rRNA in Glomus species (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Glomeromycota). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 55, 599-610.
  
  
• Börstler B, Thiéry O, Sýkorová Z, Berner A, Redecker D, 2010. Diversity of mitochondrial large subunit rDNA haplotypes of Glomus intraradices in two agricultural field experiments and two semi-natural grasslands. Molecular Ecology 19, 1497-1511
  
  
• Blaszkowski J, Ryszka P, Oehl F, Koegel S, Wiemken A, Kovács GM, Redecker D, 2009. Glomus achrum and G. bistratum, two new species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Glomeromycota) found in maritime sand dunes. Botany 87, 260-271.
  
  
• Redecker D. 2009.  Symbiosen – uralte Partnerschaften ("Symbioses - ancient partnerships"). Uni Nova 111 (special issue on Darwin and evolution)
  
  
• Mathimaran N, Falquet L, Ineichen K, Picard C, Redecker D, Wiemken A, Boller T, 2008. Unexpected vagaries of microsatellite loci in Glomus intraradices: Length polymorphisms are rarely due to variation in repeat number only. New Phytologist 180, 568-570.
  
  
• Mathimaran N, Falquet L, Ineichen K, Picard C, Redecker D, Boller T, Wiemken A, 2008. Microsatellites for disentangling underground networks: Strain-specific identification of Glomus intraradices, an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus. Fungal Genetics and Biology 45, 812-817.
  
  
• Börstler B, Raab PA, Thiéry O, Morton JB, Redecker D, 2008. Genetic diversity of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices as determined by mitochondrial large subunit rRNA gene sequences is considerably higher than previously expected. New Phytologist 180, 452-465.
  
  
• Appoloni S, Lekberg Y, Tercek M, Zabinski C, Redecker D, 2008. Molecular community analysis of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in roots from geothermal soils in Yellowstone National Park (USA). Microbial Ecology 56, 649-559.
  
  
• Sýkorová Z, Wiemken A, Redecker D, 2007. Co-occurring Gentiana verna and Gentiana acaulis and their neighboring plants in two Swiss upper montane meadows harbor distinct arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73, 5426-5434.
  
  
• Sýkorová Z, Ineichen K, Wiemken A, Redecker D, 2007. The cultivation bias: different communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi detected in roots from the field, from bait plants transplanted to the field, and from a greenhouse trap experiment. Mycorrhiza 18, 1-14.
  
  
• Redecker D, Raab P, Oehl F, Camacho FJ, Courtecuisse R, 2007. A novel clade of sporocarp-forming species of glomeromycotan fungi in the Diversisporales lineage. Mycological Progress 6, 35-44.
  
  Redecker D, Raab P, 2006. Phylogeny of the Glomeromycota (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi): recent developments and new gene markers. Mycologia 98, 885-895.
  
  
• Redecker D, 2006. Molecular ecology of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: a review of PCR-based techniques. In: Cooper J, Rao JR (Eds), Molecular Techniques for Soil and Rhizosphere Microorganisms. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK, pp. 198-212.
  
  
• Redecker D, 2006. Evolution of metazoa and fungi. Comment on Rokas et al. (Science 310, 1933-1937). Science 312, 53.
  
  
• Oehl F, Sýkorová Z, Redecker D, Wiemken A, Sieverding E, 2006. Acaulospora alpina, a new arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species characteristic for high mountainous and alpine regions of the Swiss Alps. Mycologia 98, 286-294.
  
  
• Hijri I, Sýkorová Z, Oehl F, Ineichen K, Mäder P, Wiemken A, Redecker D, 2006. Communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in arable soils are not necessarily low in diversity. Molecular Ecology 15, 2277-2289.
  
  
• Roesti D, Ineichen K, Braissant O, Redecker D, Wiemken A, Aragno M, 2005. Bacteria associated with spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Glomus geosporum and Glomus constrictum. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 71, 6673-6679.
  
  
• Raab P, Brennwald A, Redecker D, 2005. Mitochondrial large ribosomal subunit sequences are homogeneous within isolates of Glomus (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Glomeromycota). Mycological Research 109, 1315-1322.
  
  
• Oehl F, Redecker D, Sieverding E, 2005. Glomus badium, a new sporocarpic mycorrhizal fungal species from European grasslands with higher soil pH. Journal of Applied Botany and Food Quality 79, 38-43.
  
  
• Redecker D, Hijri I, Wiemken A, 2003. Molecular identification of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in roots: perspectives and problems. Folia Geobotanica 38, 113-124.
  
  
• Redecker D, Kodner R, Graham LE, 2002. Palaeoglomus grayi from the Ordovician. Mycotaxon 84, 33-37.
  
  
• Redecker D, 2002. Molecular identification and phylogeny of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Plant and Soil 244, 67-73.
  
  
• Redecker D, 2002. New views on fungal evolution based on DNA markers
  and the fossil record. Research in Microbiology 153, 125-130.
  
  
• Hijri M, Redecker D, Macdonald-Comber Petetot JA, Voigt K, Wöstemeyer J, Sanders IR, 2002. Identification and isolation of two Ascomycete fungi from spores of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Scutellospora. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 68, 4567-4573.
  
  
• Bidartondo MI, Redecker D, Hijri I, Wiemken A, Bruns TD, Domínguez L, Sérsic A, Leake JR, Read DJ, 2002. Epiparasitic plants specialized on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Nature 419, 389-393.

Most recent update: Oct 13, 2011