A talk by Dr Jen McGaley, Crop Science Centre, University of Cambridge
Event information
No booking required. Normal Garden entry fee applies. Suitable for adults and children aged 12+. Talks continue through the summer.
From exploring herbarium uses to discovering the secrets of wildflowers and fungi, come and discover the fascinating world of plant science in just 30 minutes! Science on Sundays is a free, informal and monthly series of talks, sharing the latest discoveries in plant science and research with our visitors.
What do you think of when you hear the word ‘fungus’? Mushrooms? Moulds? Diseases? What about a maze of fungal filaments living in partnership with the plants all around you?
These are the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. They live underground, growing networks through the soil and inside plant roots. Their partnership with plants is underpinned by nutrition: the fungi deliver soil nutrients and water to the plant, while the plant supplies sugars and fats to the fungi. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are therefore hugely important in both natural and agricultural settings, but remain tricky to study because of their hidden and microscopic lifestyles.
This talk will show how time-lapse microscopy is being used to investigate the concealed lives and activities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the roots of crop plants.
