NASA-Ames Research Center, MS 239-11, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA.
Oecologia. 2009 Oct;161(4):661-4. doi: 10.1007/s00442-009-1434-6. Epub 2009 Aug 15.
In an accompanying editorial Dr Petr Baldrian made a case casting doubt on our recent work addressing the saprophytic potential of ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi. Dr Baldrian's statements illustrate a very valid truth: the book is still very much open on this subject. The point he raised that the only logical reason for these fungi to be responding to high carbon demand or decreased host photosynthetic capacity by up-regulating enzymes is for the purpose of carbon acquisition is valid as well. Despite this, he makes the case that there is no compelling evidence that EM fungi exhibit saprophytic activity. The concept central to Dr Baldrian's conclusion is that even though some EM fungi possess the genes necessary for saprophytic behaviour and may even express these genes, EM fungi do not inhabit a position in the soil column that provides access to usable substrate. In this paper we present both previously published and newly obtained data that demonstrate that this assumption is erroneous, and we present arguments that place the saprophytic potential of EM fungi within a broad ecological context.
在一篇伴随的社论中，Petr Baldrian 博士对我们最近关于外生菌根（EM）真菌腐生潜能的工作提出了质疑。Baldrian 博士的陈述说明了一个非常正确的事实：在这个问题上，这本书仍然有很大的讨论空间。他提出的观点是，这些真菌之所以通过上调酶来响应高碳需求或降低宿主光合作用能力，唯一合乎逻辑的原因是为了获取碳，这也是合理的。尽管如此，他还是认为没有令人信服的证据表明 EM 真菌具有腐生活性。Baldrian 博士结论的核心概念是，即使一些 EM 真菌拥有进行腐生行为所需的基因，并且可能甚至表达这些基因，EM 真菌也不会占据土壤柱中能够获得可用基质的位置。在本文中，我们提出了之前发表和新获得的数据，证明了这个假设是错误的，并且我们提出了将 EM 真菌的腐生潜能置于更广泛的生态背景下的论点。
