Fungal lipochitooligosaccharide symbiotic signals in arbuscular mycorrhiza

Nitrogen-fixing rhizobia use lipochitooligosaccharide (LCO) signal molecules to initiate a symbiotic relationship with plant roots. Although it has been suggested that mycorrhizal fungi also secrete chemical signals for this process, the identity of these molecules was unknown. It is now shown that like rhizobia, mycorrhizal fungi produce LCOs and that these molecules are important for the establishment of the symbiotic relationship between plant root and fungus.