What's in a name? The case for standardized nomenclature for mutualistic Mucoromycotina ‘fine root endophytes’
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are a near-ubiquitous group of plant symbiotic fungi and have been the focus of much mycorrhizal research over the last 60 years (Koide and Mosse, 2004). However, a lesser known group of mycorrhizal fungi, the Mucoromycotina ‘fine root endophytes’ (MFRE), have garnered increasing research interest in recent years. This early branching lineage of fungi (Bidartondo et al., 2011; Field et al., 2015) was recently reclassified as belonging to the subphylum Mucoromycotina (Orchard et al., 2017a) rather than the Glomeromycotina which encompasses the AM fungi (or ‘coarse root endophytes’). Considering the rapidly growing interest in fine root endophytes, the use of a consistent nomenclature is becoming an important issue for the research community. Here, we summarize the background literature and recent discussion from the 12th International Conference on Mycorrhiza (ICOM12; 4–9 August 2024, Manchester, UK), proposing a standardized and cohesive terminology for this group of enigmatic, though widespread, endomycorrhizal fungi.
Editor(s)
Johnson, David
Date Issued
2026-08-12
Date Acceptance
2025-05-13
Citation
Journal of Experimental Botany, 2026, 77 (15), pp.4777-4781
ISSN
0022-0957
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Start Page
4777
End Page
4781
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Experimental Botany
Volume
77
Issue
15
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40365791
PII: 8130892
Subjects
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Glomeromycotina
Mucoromycotina
endomycorrhizal fungi
fine root endophytes
mycorrhizal symbiosis
nomenclature
symbiosis
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
eraf210
Date Publish Online
2025-05-14