This is the first book describing in vitro cultivation of root organs. The text describes various biological aspects such as the physiology, biochemistry, biodiversity, and life cycles of fungi, as well as the effects of symbiosis on plant growth and development, including large-scale fungus production for biotechnological use. Detailed protocols allow the immediate application of the method to culture mycorrhizal fungi in vitro.

State of the Art.- In Vitro Culture of Mycorrhizas.- Systematics.- The Monoxenic Culture of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi as a Tool for Germplasm Collections.- The Monoxenic Culture of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi as a Tool for Systematics and Biodiversity.- Life Cycle of Glomus Species in Monoxenic Culture.- Life History Strategies in Gigasporaceae: Insight from Monoxenic Culture.- In Vitro Development and Physiology of Glomeromycetes.- Environmental Factors That Affect Presymbiotic Hyphal Growth and Branching of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi.- Breaking Myths on Arbuscular Mycorrhizas in Vitro Biology.- Host and Non-Host Impact on the Physiology of the AM Symbiosis.- Carbon Metabolism, Lipid Composition and Metabolism in Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi.- Monoxenic Culture as a Tool to Study the Effect of the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis on the Physiology of Micropropagated Plantlets in Vitro and ex Vitro.- Uptake, Assimilation and Translocation of Mineral Elements in Monoxenic Cultivation Systems.- Interaction of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi with Soil-Borne Pathogens and Non-Pathogenic Rhizosphere Micro-Organisms.- Root Organ Culture of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi.- Cistus incanus Root Organ Cultures: a Valuable Tool for Studying Mycorrhizal Associations.- Cultivation of Edible Ectomycorrhizal Fungi by in Vitro Mycorrhizal Synthesis.- Root Organ Culture of Other Fungal Symbioses.- Geosiphon pyriformis-a Glomeromycotan Soil Fungus Forming Endosymbiosis with Cyanobacteria.- Sebacinaceae: Culturable Mycorrhiza-Like Endosymbiotic Fungi and Their Interaction with Non-Transformed and Transformed Roots.- Biotechnology.- Large-Scale Inoculum Production of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Root Organs and Inoculation Strategies.- Methodology.- Methodologies for in Vitro Cultivation ofArbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi with Root Organs.

The ?rst 30 cm of the earth¿s surface represents a fragile and valuable ecos- tem, thanks to which terrestrial plants, and indirectly animals and humans, can live. The microbial activity occurring in soil is largely responsible for its physical and nutritional quality. Among the micro-organisms living in soil, the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi play a major role. They are present in all types of soil, everywhere on the planet, living in symbiotic association with the roots of most plant species. They have co-evolved with plants for 400 million years, improving their nutrition and resistance to v- ious types of stress. Present practices in conventional agriculture, which introduce great amounts of chemicals, have eliminated or underexploited the AM symbiosis. The rational exploitation of AM fungi in sustainable agriculture, to help minimize the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, has been hampered by several biological characteristics of these mic- organisms: they cannot be grown in the absence of a plant host and their genetic structure is very complex. Despite these limitations, biologists have made important progress in understanding better the functioning of AM fungi. An in vitro technique has been developed using mycorrhizal root organ cultures, which made it possible to investigate the genetics, cell biology and physiology of AM fungi. We can now be objective enough to critically evaluate the impacts the in vitro technique has had to improve our knowledge on mycorrhizal symbiosis.