poster


NIEMIRA, BRENDAN A., LAURA ARRIOLA & GENE R. SAFIR. Dept. Botany and 
Plant Pathology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824. - 
Arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization and border cell production in the 
Liliaceae and Amaranthaceae

Different plant species vary in their capacity to produce border cells 
(BC, aka "sloughed root cap cells"), but production is consistent within 
families. The propensity of the members of a given family to be 
colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is potentially related to 
BC production: families which produce thousands of BC per root tip (e.g. 
Fabaceae and Cucurbitaceae) tend to be heavily colonized by AM, families 
which produce hundreds of BC per root tip (e.g. Solanaceae) tend to be 
less heavily colonized by AM, while families which do not produce BC 
(e.g. Brassicaceae and Chenopodiaceae) are not colonized by AM. Species 
(Asparagus officinalis, Allium porrum, Al. cepa, Al. schoenoprasum) in 
the Liliaceae, a family known to be colonized by AM, were assessed for 
BC production and AM colonization. Preliminary results indicate that 
species in the Liliaceae produce BC on the order of 250-350 BC per root 
tip. These results support the hypothesis of a correlation between BC 
production and AM propensity. BC production and AM colonization of 
species (Amaranthus tricolor, Am. caudatus, Gomphrena globosa, Celosia 
cristata) in the Amaranthaceae, a family previously shown to produce BC, 
will be discussed.