About the Cover
Most vascular flowering plants are able to form symbiotic associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. These associations develop in the roots, where the fungus assists the plant with the acquisition of phosphate, by delivering it to the cortical cells. As the symbiosis develops, the fungus differentiates within the cortical cells, forming dichotomously branched hyphae called arbuscules. The cover shows a confocal image (pseudocolor) of an arbuscule (Glomus versiforme) that developed within a Medicago truncatula cell. Harrison et al. (pages 2413-2429) identified a phosphate transporter (MtPT4) from M. truncatula that is located exclusively in the periarbuscular membrane, a plant membrane that surrounds the arbuscule. MtPT4 is distributed asymmetrically on this membrane, being most abundant in the regions surrounding the fine branches of the arbuscule. The transport properties and spatial expression patterns of MtPT4 are consistent with a role for MtPT4 in the uptake of phosphate released from the arbuscule.
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Copyright © 2007 by the American Society of Plant Biologists
