What term describes the symbiotic association between soil fungi and the roots of vascular plants, where the fungal hyphae dramatically increase water and phosphorus absorption in exchange for photosynthesized sugars?

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: C. Mycorrhiza

  1. Step 1: Over 90% of all terrestrial land plant species rely on mutualistic root-fungus associations for survival in natural soils.
  2. Step 2: Mycorrhizal networks (both endomycorrhizae and ectomycorrhizae) extend fungal hyphae far beyond root depletion zones, multiplying the effective absorptive surface area for scarce minerals like phosphorus and improving drought tolerance.
Answer
Mycorrhiza
Why not the others: 'Lichen' A lichen is a composite organism formed by a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and a photosynthetic partner (alga or cyanobacterium); 'Rhizobium' Rhizobium is a genus of nitrogen-fixing bacteria forming root nodules on legumes, not a fungal association; 'Endophyte' An endophyte is an endosymbiotic organism (often a bacterium or fungus) that lives within plant tissues without causing apparent disease.

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