Journal
MYCORRHIZA
Volume 26, Issue 4, Pages 263-274Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00572-015-0675-y
Keywords
Ericoid mycorrhizal fungi; Metal tolerance; Yeast model system; Omics approaches
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Funding
- Italian Consorzio Interuniversitario per le Biotecnologie (CIB)
- Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Italy)-Royal Society (UK)
- Fondazione San Paolo
- Cassa di Risparmio di Torino (CRT)
- Vinci programme
- Laboratory of Excellence ARBRE [ANR-11-LABX-0002-01]
- University of Torino
- Italian MIUR
- Regione Piemonte
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Ericoid mycorrhizal plants dominate in harsh environments where nutrient-poor, acidic soil conditions result in a higher availability of potentially toxic metals. Although metal-tolerant plant species and ecotypes are known in the Ericaceae, metal tolerance in these plants has been mainly attributed to their association with ericoid mycorrhizal fungi. The mechanisms underlying plant protection by the fungal symbiont are poorly understood, whereas some insights have been achieved regarding the molecular mechanisms of heavy metal tolerance in the fungal symbiont. This review will briefly introduce the general features of heavy metal tolerance in mycorrhizal fungi and will then focus on the use of omics approaches and heterologous expression in model organisms to reveal the molecular bases of fungal response to heavy metals. Functional complementation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae has allowed the identification of several ericoid mycorrhizal fungi genes (i.e., antioxidant enzymes, metal transporters, and DNA damage repair proteins) that may contribute to metal tolerance in a metal-tolerant ericoid Oidiodendron maius isolate. Although a powerful system, the use of the yeast complementation assay to study metal tolerance in mycorrhizal symbioses has limitations. Thus, O. maius has been developed as a model system to study heavy metal tolerance mechanisms in mycorrhizal fungi, thanks to its high metal tolerance, easy handling and in vitro mycorrhization, stable genetic transformation, genomics, transcriptomic and proteomic resources.
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