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Allen, MF. 2009. Bidirectional water flows through the soil-fungal-plant mycorrhizal continuum. New Phytologist. 182(2):290-293. This paper comments on the study by Erik Lilleskov, et al. [see New Phytologist (2009) 182, 483-494] demonstrating the importance of the complex transport of water from deep in the soil to the mycorrhizal sporocarps. Understanding the results presented, and the laboratory and field studies on hydraulic redistribution preceding it, underscores the dynamic and important complex structural elements that actually comprise the soil-fungal-plant interface. Lilleskov et al. found that particular fungi have adapted this mechanism for sporulation, particularly Boletus edulis, whereas others with less well developed rhizomorphs (Russula spp.) did not show this extensive use of deep water. Their finding that Amanita muscaria may even parasitize the water of B. edulis is intriguing, only adding to the complexity of organism interactions occurring despite the drought conditions of these highly diverse ecosystems.
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