Programming good relations--development of the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.

The majority of plants live in symbiotic associations with fungi or bacteria that improve their nutrition. Critical steps in a symbiosis are mutual recognition and subsequently the establishment of an intimate association, which involves the penetration of plant tissues and, in many cases, the invasion of individual host cells by the microbial symbiont. Recent advances revealed that in the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis with soil fungi of the order Glomeromycota, plant-derived signals attract fungal hyphae and stimulate their growth. Upon physical attachment of the fungal symbiont to the root surface, an active plant developmental program prepares the epidermal cells for penetration by the fungus. Thus, plants actively help symbiotic fungi to colonize their roots rather than just tolerating them.