Question

Name the type of association that the genus Glomus exhibits with higher plants.

Answer 1

The hyphae of this mycorrhizal fungus contain the glycoprotein glomalin, which could be one of the main reserves of carbon present in the soil.

Complete answer:
First we should know about mycorrhizae to answer this question. Mycorrhiza is a typical symbiotic relationship between a plant and a fungus. The term mycorrhizae relates to the function of the fungus in its root system, the rhizosphere of the plant. In plant nutrition, soil biology and chemistry, mycorrhizae play significant roles. The fungus conquers the root tissues of the host plant, either intracellularly like in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM or AMF), or extracellularly as in ectomycorrhizal fungi, in a mycorrhizal relationship.

Glomus shows an AM relationship with higher plants named arbuscular Mycorrhizae. These are the kinds of fungi that are small, harmless organisms that bind themselves to the roots of plants and definitely help plants to absorb the soil's water and organic nutrients. Arbuscular Mycorrhizae, or AM, constitute Mycorrhizae whose hyphae enter plant cells, forming structures that as a means of nutrient exchange are either vesicles or arbuscules. In reality, fungal hyphae do not invade the protoplast, but invaginate the membrane of the cells. In order to allow the movement of nutrients among them, the arrangement of the arbuscules significantly raises the contact surface region between the hypha and cell cytoplasm.

Note: For several millions of years, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have (probably) been asexual and, uniquely, individuals can possess several genetically distinct nuclei (a condition called heterokaryosis).