Héctor Montero

A global map showing sites where AMF data were analyzed for this Fungal Ecology paper

A phylogeny showing the distribution of AMF fungi across different biomes.

What is the global richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)? A recent paper in Fungal Ecology by @steffilutz.bsky.social and colleagues provides updated estimates of AMF richness from 4,733 sampling sites across the globe doi.org/10.1016/j.fu...

Excited to share that a chapter of my PhD is now out, just two weeks before my defense.

Our study shows that agricultural expansion into native forests and grasslands drives strong biodiversity loss in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi across the Andes.

Paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Defunding fungi: US’s living library of ‘vital ecosystem engineers’ is in danger of closing These fungi boost plant growth and restore depleted ecosystems, but federal funding for a library housing them has been cut – and it may be forced to close

@invam.bsky.social collection, prairies, and AMF all featured in the awesome article

Defunding fungi: US’s living library of ‘vital ecosystem engineers’ is in danger of closing www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Are you interested in using synthetic approaches to promote arbuscular mycorrhiza symbiosis? Then our PostDoc position may be for you: jobs.mpimp-golm.mpg.de/jobposting/b...

Spatiotemporal regulation of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis at cellular resolution https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.31.685811v1

Fig. 2 Phylogenetically distinct structures produced by the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal mycelium.

✨ Paper spotlight ✨

Mycelial Dynamics in Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

(🧵 1/5) Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form vast underground hyphal networks that support plant life.

Bryophytes hold a larger gene family space than vascular plants - Nature Genetics A super-pangenome analysis incorporating 123 newly sequenced bryophyte genomes reveals that bryophytes exhibit a larger number of unique and lineage-specific gene families than vascular plants.

Here's 123 new bryophyte genomes for you!
Apparently, bryophytes time and again include microbial genes in their genomic repertoire, and occupy a langer gene space than vascular plants.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Carnivorous plants lack genes to host arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi When friends abandon them, some plants go on a killing spree.

botany.one/2025/10/carn...

Learn about loss and retention of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in carnivorous plants in our latest publication in @newphyt.bsky.social ! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Nice article. How can one see which particular fungi (species, genera) are present in particular regions?

Origin matters: mycorrhizal growth response and induced resistance to pathogens depend on mycorrhizal and pathogen source Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are critical to native plant community ecology and influence plant invasions. Research has focused on nutritional benefits of AMF, although evidence shows that the...

Check out our new paper: Origin matters: mycorrhizal growth response and induced resistance to pathogens depend on mycorrhizal and pathogen source, where we show that mycorrhizal induced resistance occurs within native plant species 🌱 @newphyt.bsky.social

One versus many independent assemblies of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in flowering plants - Nature Communications Symbiosis of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in evolutionarily novel “nodules” of diverse flowering plants including legume crops was assembled from pre-existing functions. Testing hypotheses of single vs. m...

Great article. The evolution of symbiotic nitrogen fixation is fascinating and complicated 🎢

📢Our synthesis of current knowledge on the fascinating cell of #arbuscular #mycorrhizal fungi is out @currentbiology.bsky.social, part of the special #fungi issue. With @rachaelcargill.bsky.social @tobykiers.bsky.social @thomasshimizu.bsky.social

Open access link: www.cell.com/current-biol...

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Comparative transcriptomics in ferns reveals key innovations and divergent evolution of the secondary cell walls - Nature Plants New fern transcriptomes reveal repeated whole-genome duplications, unique gene families and distinct lignocellulosic evolution, providing a comprehensive database that underscores the ancient divergen...

Nice to see in their supplemental tables that mycorrhizal genes tend to be present in terrestrial, and absent in aquatic and epiphytic fern species. doi.org/10.1038/s414...

The Geosiphon-Nostoc symbiosis: recent elaboration, or remnant of an enduring association? AbstractBackground and Aims. Fungal associations with photosynthetic microbes have regularly been invoked as precursors to the evolution of land plants and

Enigmatic Geosiphon ❤️ doi.org/10.1093/aob/...