Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: Unequal requirement of KAI2 for AM symbiosis across angiosperms
doi: 10.64898/2026.05.03.722480
Figure Lengend Snippet: The KAI2-SMAX1 module affects fungal spread in roots of Lotus japonicus . Percent total root length colonization (RLC) by R. irregularis of the indicated genotypes of L. japonicus grown in sand PTC containers, (a) at 28 dpi, (N plants = 6, ANOVA, Tukey, p<0.05, F 6/35 = 16.86); (b) at 21, 28, 35 and 42 dpi (N plants = 8, ANOVA, tukey, F 2/21 (21 dpi, 28 dpi, 35 dpi, 42 dpi) = 138.6; 80.97; 119.7; 151.5). Different letters indicate different statistical groups. (c) Number of colonization units, (N plants = 16-18, Kruskal-Wallis, Dunn posthoc test, p<0.05, chi-squared = 10.065, df = 2; and (d) average length of colonization units (CU) per plant (N plants = 16-18, Kruskal-Wallis test, with Dunn posthoc test, p<0.05, chi-squared = 12.154, df = 2); in L. japonicus wild-type, kai2a,b and smax1 roots grown in sand:clay beads (2:1) after 19 dpi with R. irregularis . Experiments in C-D were repeated twice with similar results. Bold horizontal lines represent the median; lower and upper whisker indicate quartile 1 and 4. Lower and upper horizontal lines indicate minima and maxima. Different letters indicate different statistical groups. (e) Bright-field microscopy images of WT, kai2a,b or smax1 roots colonized with R. irregularis at 3 wpi with examples of compressed CUs in kai2a,b , and elongated hyphae with low arbuscule density in smax1 CUs. The fungus was stained with acid ink. Scale bars, 500 µM.
Article Snippet: Experiments in PTC containers (Duchefa, Netherlands) were performed as previously described in ( Torabi et al ., 2021 ).
Techniques: Whisker Assay, Microscopy, Staining