Arachnitis Explained

Arachnitis uniflora, the sole species in the genus Arachnitis, is a non-photosynthetic plant species in the family Corsiaceae. This species is mycoheterotrophic, and it obtains carbon from mycorrhizal fungi of the family Glomeraceae which are associated to its roots.^[1]

A. uniflora is native to southern South America (Bolivia, Chile, Argentina) and the Falkland Islands.^[2]

Description

Although the fungi present in the roots of this species are in some ways the same kind of arbuscular mycorrhizae which are found in the roots of many plants, the details of their association with the plant roots differ in key ways (such as the absence of arbuscules).

Bibliography

• Ibisch. Pierre L.. Neinhuis. Christoph. Rojas. N Patricia. On the Biology, Biogeography, and Taxonomy of Arachnitis Phil. nom. cons. (Corsiaceae) in Respect to a New Record from Bolivia. Willdenowia. 29 November 1996. 26. 1/2. 321–332. 10.3372/wi.26.2616 . 3997251. 4002791 . free.

Notes and References

1. Renny . Mauricio . Acosta . M. Cristina . Cofré . Noelia . Domínguez . Laura S. . Bidartondo . Martin I. . Sérsic . Alicia N. . 2017-04-07 . Genetic diversity patterns of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with the mycoheterotroph Arachnitis uniflora Phil. (Corsiaceae) . Annals of Botany . 119 . 8 . 1279–1294 . 10.1093/aob/mcx023 . 0305-7364 . 5604589 . 28398457.
2. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=300034 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families