Mutualisms are reciprocal exploitations that nonetheless increase the fitness of each interacting partner. Two groups of fungal mutualists of plants, epichloe endophytes of grasses and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, were selected as focal systems to discuss population-level processes that contribute to the establishment and maintenance of mutualistic interactions. These two classes of fungal cooperators of plants are subject to different and often conflicting selective pressures and represent distinct trajectories of mutualism evolution. Yet, in both cases population structure of symbionts is a source of information critical for understanding how these fungi interact with their hosts (Xu, 2010).

References:
Xu, J. (2010) Microbial Population Genetics. Caister Academic Press, Norfolk, UK.

Labels: Epichloe endophytes, Fungal cooperators of plants, Fungal Mutualists, Mutualisms