• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.121-142
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• 1983

Recently mycorrhizal research has been one of the most fast-growing research areas in modern plant science and microbiology. The application potential of mycorrhizal techniques to agriculture and forestry is enormous in view of the ubiquitous nature of mycorrhizae and known benefits of mycorrhizae to host plants. Unfortunately, very few scientists in Korea are currently involved in mycorrhizal research. When a team of American plant pathologists visited Korea in September 1982 to participate in the Korea-U.S.A. Joint Seminar on Forest Diseases and Insect Pests, they were surprised by the principal author's statement that there was no single research project on mycorrhizae sponsored by Korean government or any scientific institutions. The author initiated a few years ago a research project on the ecology of tree mycorrhizae with a foreign financial support. Major areas of interest were survey of ectomycorrhizae in relation to soil fertility, taxonomic distribution of mycorrhizae among woody plants, identification of ectomycorrhizal fungi, and growth response of woody plants to artificial inoculation. In spite of the enormous application potential of mycorrhizae to agronomic plants, the subject of mycorrhizae has not been recognized by Korean agronomists, foresters or pathologists. The purpose of this review rather written in Korean is to introduce the techniques of mycorrhizal research to Korean scientists and to urge them to participate in challenging new scientific field which might bring us a remarkable increase in crop productivity and tree growth through manipulation of this unique symbiosis. In this review, following topics were discussed in the same order: introduction; brief history of mycorrhizal research; morphology and classification of mycorrhizae; distribution of mycorrhizae in plant kingdom and in soil profile; physiology of mycorrhizae (functions, mineral nutrition, mycorrhizal formation); interaction of mycorrhizae with soil-born plant pathogens. mycorrhizae in nitrogen-fixing plants; application of mycorrhizal techniques to nursery practices (isolation, culture, inoculation, and response); prospect in the future.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2020

Mycorrhiza refers to the association between a plant and a fungus colonizing the cortical tissue of the plant's roots during periods of active plant growth. The benefits afforded by plants from mycorrhizal symbioses can be characterized either agronomically, based on increased growth and yield, or ecologically, based on improved fitness (i.e., reproductive ability). In either case, the benefit accrues primarily because mycorrhizal fungi form a critical linkage between plant roots and the soil. The soilborne or extramatrical hyphae take up nutrients from the soil solution and transport them to the root. This mycorrhizae-mediated mechanism increases the effective absorptive surface area of the plant. There are seven major types of mycorrhizae along with mycoheterotrophy: endomycorrhizae (arbuscular mycorrhizae, AM), ectomycorrhizae (EM), ectendomycorrhizae, monotropoid, arbutoid, orchid, and ericoid. Endomycorrhizal fungi form arbuscules or highly branched structures within root cortical cells, giving rise to arbuscular mycorrhiza, which may produce extensive extramatrical hyphae and significantly increase phosphorus inflow rates in the plants they colonize. Ectomycorrhizal fungi may produce large quantities of hyphae on the root and in the soil; these hyphae play a role in absorption and translocation of inorganic nutrients and water, and also release nutrients from litter layers by producing enzymes involved in mineralization of organic matters. Over 4,000 fungal species, primarily belonging to Basidiomycotina and to a lesser extent Ascomycotina, are able to form ectomycorrhizae. Many of these fungi produce various mushrooms on the forest floor that are traded at a high price. In this paper, we discuss the benefits, nutrient cycles, and artificial cultivation of mycorrhizae in Korea.