20 years of training on in vitro culture of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

The UCLouvain Mycology Laboratory (ELI-M) is celebrating this year the 20th anniversary of its international training on in vitro culture of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi programme.

As every year, 13 researchers from all over the world are welcomed by the laboratory for one week, and trained in specific techniques for working with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi.

The techniques for in vitro cultivation of AM fungi on excised roots and autotrophic plants are used since many years at the CEntre of Study on AM Mononexics (CESAMM) as useful tools to investigate plant-fungus associations.

These systems can be used for a wide array of research topics. Indeed, they offer unique advantages in genetics, cell biology, biodiversity and physiological investigations of AM fungi and their hosts. 

Non-destructive microscopic observations, reliable cell physiology studies, clean biochemical and molecular analyses, highly controlled interaction studies with other micro-organisms and the potential to develop reliable in vitro mycorrhization of micro-propagated plants at an industrial scale, are amongst the applications permitted by these techniques. 

The training allow to master both the root organ cultivation technique (i.e. the in vitro culture of an AM fungi with excised roots) and the autotrophic plant in vitro mycorrhization technique. The lab also offer a new session on the Ri T-DNA transformation of roots.

This training is addressed to scientists, technicians and industrials who aim at developing their research potential and the production of contaminant free AM inoculum.

The training programme has been a great success and is fully booked every year.

Want to find out more about the training course? Visit the dedicated website.

Photos: Emmeline Van den Bosch