Plant-Fungus Marriages

The roots of most land plants establish intimate associations with soil fungi. This association of plant roots with fungi is termed mycorrhiza. It is a marriage between two highly dissimilar organisms based on mutual exchange of nutrients: while the plants provide photosynthetically made carbon compounds to the fungi, the fungi in turn provide to the plants nitrogen and phosphorus scavenged from the breakdown of organic polymers in natural substrates. This mutually beneficial partnership makes possible the green cover on Earth and of all life, ultimately, dependent on plants.