Mycorrhizal "Little Trees"

Click here to see a JPEG of this microbe.

These white bushy creatures are mycorrhizal fungi living inside the cells of roots. Because these mycorrhizae live inside root cells, they are called "Endomycorrhizal fungi" ("endo" means inside). These fungi form structures inside the cells of plant roots called "arbuscules" which means "little trees." The branches of these little trees are the site of interaction between the cell and the fungus.