If you missed the Friday, October 4th presentation by Danika Thiele about fungi and Arizona's iconic Saguaro cactus, we have the recording and related materials available here!

Click HERE for the recording of the Zoom Recording

You can check out the slides from the presentation here. Danika's presentation also touched on a couple key studies.

You can read up on methods for DNA sequencing of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on this Lee et al., 2008 paper entitled, Improved PCR primers for the detection and identification of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and this one by et al. named, DNA-based species level detection of Glomeromycota: one PCR primer set for all arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

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Even in the dry desert environs of Arizona, fungi provide a crucial role. You may be familiar with the "wood-wide web," the network of mycorrhizal fungi that grow underneath forest soils to connect trees into a network of of shared nutrients and resources. However, you may be surprised to hear that this same network occurs in desert ecosystems, where extreme conditions make mycorrhizal partnerships particularly of value.

In 2024, Danika Thiele was awarded the Dr. Chester Leathers Graduate Scholarship to support her research into fungal relationships with Saguaro Cacti. She is specifically looking into how changes such as from wildfire and invasive species affect the presence and relationship between arbuscular mycorrhizae and Saguaros. 

Danika generously offered to share more information about her research with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on Saguaro cacti and talk about some of the preliminary findings of her work. This is a great opportunity to learn more about current research on fungi and one of Arizona's keystone ecosystem species.