Glomus mosseae

(Nicol. & Gerd.) Gerd. & Trappe

SPORES single in the soil, in loose aggregates or compact sporocarps; pale yellow (2A2) to golden yellow (5B8); globose to subglobose; (80-)185(-280) µm diam; sometimes irregular; 80-140 x 195-280 µm; with one subtending hypha. Sporocarps contain 2-5 spores surrounded with a peridium. Peridium composed of loosely interwoven, branched, hyaline hyphae, 1.5-16.0 µm wide, with walls 0.5-0.8 µm thick.

SUBCELLULAR STRUCTURE OF SPORES consists of one wall with three layers (swl1-3).
PVLG
In PVLG+Melzer's reagent
In PVLG+Melzer's reagent

Layer 1 mucilagenous, hyaline, (0.5-)1.1(-2.0) µm thick, staining reddish white (11A2) in Melzer’s reagent, usually present only in the most juvenile spores.

Layer 2 semiflexible, smooth, hyaline, (0.8-)1.2(-1.8) µm thick, rarely present in mature spores, usually visible in the form of highly decomposed fragments.

Layer 3 laminate, pale yellow (2A2) to golden yellow (5B8), (2.8-)4.5(-7.2) µm thick.
In PVLG+Melzer's
SUBTENDING HYPHA pale yellow (2A2) to golden yellow (5B8); funnel-shaped; (12.5-)25.0(-30.0) µm wide at the spore base.

Wall of subtending hypha pale yellow (2A2) to golden yellow (5B8); 2.2-4.3 µm thick; composed of three layers (shwl1-3), continuous with spore wall layers 1-3; in most mature spores, the wall is 1-layered or consists of two layers continuous with spore wall layers 2 and 3.

Pore closed by a curved septum, continuous with the innermost sublayers of the laminate spore wall layer 3.

GERMINATION. A germ tube emerges from the lumen of the subtending hypha.

MYCORRHIZAE. In roots of Plantago lanceolata L., mycorrhizae of Gl. mosseae consisted of arbuscules, vesicles, as well as intra- and extraradical hyphae staining intensively in 0.1% trypan blue.
In roots of P. lanceolata

DISTRIBUTION. Glomus mosseae is a frequent component of communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with plants of different regions of the world (Blaszkowski 1993; Blaszkowski et al. 2001). Blaszkowski (1993) found it to be the third most frequently occurring arbuscular fungal species in Poland; it markedly preferred cultivated soils. In uncultivated Polish sites, Gl. mosseae has been revealed in the Bledowska Desert (50o22’N, 19o34’E; Blaszkowski et al. 2002), the Hel Peninsula (54o47’N, 18o25’E-54o36’N, 18o49’E; Blaszkowski 1994), and the Tuchola Forests (53o46’N, 17o42’E-5340’N, 17o54’E; Tadych and Blaszkowski 2000).

NOTES. When observed under a dissecting microscope, spores of Gl. mosseae are most similar to those of Gl. caledonium. However, the spore wall of the former species contains three layers, of which two outer ones slough with age The latter fungus produces spores with a 4-layered wall and the impermanent layer is only the outermost one (Morton 1996, 2000).

REFERENCES

Blaszkowski J. 1993. Comparative studies of the occurrence of arbuscular fungi and mycorrhizae (Glomales) in cultivated and uncultivated soils of Poland. Acta Mycol. 28, 93-140.

Blaszkowski J. 1994. Arbuscular fungi and mycorrhizae (Glomales) of the Hel Peninsula, Poland. Mycorrhiza 5, 71-88.

Blaszkowski J., Tadych M., Madej T., Adamska I., Iwaniuk A. 2001. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Glomales, Zygomycota) of Israeli soils. Mat. II Polsko-Izraelskiej Konf. Nauk. nt. „Gospodarowanie zasobami wodnymi i nawadnianie roslin uprawnych”. Przeglad naukowy Wydz. Inz. Ksztalt. Srod. 22, 8-27.

Blaszkowski J., Tadych M., Madej T. 2002. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Glomales, Zygomycota) of the Bledowska Desert, Poland. Acta Soc. Bot. Pol. 71, 71-85.

Morton J. M. 1996. Redescription of Glomus caledonium based on correspondence of spore morphological characters in type specimens and a living reference culture. Mycorrhiza 6, 161-166.

Morton J. B. 2000. International Culture Collection of Arbuscular and Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi. West Virginia University.

Tadych M., Blaszkowski J. 2000. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi of the Brda river valley in the Tuchola Forests. Acta Mycol. 35, 3-23.