Glomerales is an order of
symbiotic
Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...
fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
within the phylum
Glomeromycota
Glomeromycota (often referred to as glomeromycetes, as they include only one class, Glomeromycetes) are one of eight currently recognized divisions within the kingdom Fungi,
with approximately 230 described species. Members of the Glomeromycot ...
.
Biology
These fungi are all
biotrophic
Symbiosis (from Ancient Greek, Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different Organism, biological organisms, be it Mutualism (biolog ...
mutualists
Mutualism describes the ecological interaction between two or more species where each species has a net benefit. Mutualism is a common type of ecological interaction. Prominent examples include most vascular plants engaged in mutualistic intera ...
. Most employ the
arbuscular mycorrhiza
An arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) (plural ''mycorrhizae'', a.k.a. ''endomycorrhiza'') is a type of mycorrhiza in which the symbiont fungus (''AM fungi'', or AMF) penetrates the cortical cells of the roots of a vascular plant forming arbuscules. (N ...
l method of nutrient exchange with plants. They produce large (.1-.5mm) spores (
azygospore
Azygospore is an asexually formed zygospore in fungi.
Also known as parthenogenically formed from a gamete
A gamete (; , ultimately ) is a haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that reproduce ...
s and
chlamydospore
A chlamydospore is the thick-walled large resting spore of several kinds of fungi, including Ascomycota such as '' Candida'', Basidiomycota such as ''Panus'', and various Mortierellales species. It is the life-stage which survives in unfavourable c ...
s) with thousands of nuclei.
[
]
Phylogeny
All members of their phylum were once thought to be related to the
Endogonaceae
Endogonales is an order of fungi within the phylum of Zygomycota. It contains 2 families, Endogonaceae, with four genera and 27 species and Densosporaceae, with one genera and 5 species.
Genera
''Endogonaceae'';
* ''Endogone''
* '' Jimgerd ...
, but have been found through molecular sequencing data, to be a closer relation to the
Dikarya
Dikarya is a subkingdom of Fungi that includes the divisions Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, both of which in general produce dikaryons, may be filamentous or unicellular, but are always without flagella. The Dikarya are most of the so-called "hig ...
.
Their fossil record extends back to the
Ordovician
The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start ...
period (460 million years ago).
[
]
Orthography
The family name Glomeraceae
The ''Glomeraceae'' are a family of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi that form symbiotic relationships (mycorrhizas) with plant root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the pl ...
upon which this order level name is based, was incorrectly spelled 'Glomaceae', hence the order name was incorrectly spelled 'Glomales'. Both are correctable errors, to Glomeraceae
The ''Glomeraceae'' are a family of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi that form symbiotic relationships (mycorrhizas) with plant root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the pl ...
and Glomerales, as governed by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "trad ...
. The incorrect spellings are commonplace in the literature, unfortunately.
See also
* Glomalin
Glomalin is a glycoprotein produced abundantly on hyphae and spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in soil and in roots. Glomalin was discovered in 1996 by Sara F. Wright, a scientist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service. The name com ...
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q596196
Fungus orders