Development of Two Models in the Context of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Mycorrhizal fungi are a type of fungi that develop multiple symbioses with different plants. Their role is central in the majority of the forests and ecosystems around the world, forming Mycorrhizal Networks, large groups of plants and fungi interconnected underground at the root level. Resources and signals are exchanged between plants and fungi in these networks, increasing the members’ chances of survival and their resistance to external stresses and disturbances. Further understanding of the behaviour and dynamics of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can help us interact with these networks and address the climate change crisis through indirect control of forests and ecosystems. The main goal of this work is to present and test two novel models developed in the context of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, the Network Flow Optimization model and the Dynamic Energy-Budget model. While taking into account the current lack of a proper structure needed to test the first model, this work presents the utility of the Network Flow Optimization framework in the estimation and simulation of the flows and internal dynamics of the fungal mycelium, as well as its potential in gaining insight on the fungal transport strategies and growth dynamics. The second model uses the Dynamic Energy-Budget framework to investigate the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi’s life strategies and their response to various environmental conditions while in a symbiotic relationship with a plant. The current work showed that the Network Flow Optimization model can help identify the main routes of transport and the transport strategies, whereas the Dynamic Energy-Budget model the current status of a symbiosis based on the fungal response and environment, and, vice versa, the most probable response of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus to a specific symbiosis and environment. We believe the two proposed models to be the firsts of a family of models that can provide significant advances in future research on the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi by improving the quality of both in lab and in situ works.