mutualism

Examples of mutualism in the following topics:

• Symbiosis

  • Commensalism, mutualism, and parasitism are three symbiotic ways organisms interact with each other with differing degrees of benefit.
  • A second type of symbiotic relationship, mutualism, is where two species both benefit from their interaction.

• Mutualistic Relationships with Fungi and Fungivores

  • Lichens are not a single organism, but, rather, an example of a mutualism in which a fungus (usually a member of the Ascomycota or Basidiomycota phyla) lives in close contact with a photosynthetic organism (a eukaryotic alga or a prokaryotic cyanobacterium).
  • Fungi have evolved mutualisms with numerous insects.

• Community Ecology and Ecosystem Ecology

  • Mutualism is a form of a long-term relationship that has coevolved between two species and from which each species benefits.
  • For mutualism to exist between individual organisms, each species must receive some benefit from the other as a consequence of the relationship.

• Glomeromycota

  • It appears that most members of this family form arbuscular mycorrhizae: the hyphae interact with the root cells forming a mutually-beneficial association where the plants supply the carbon source and energy in the form of carbohydrates to the fungus while the fungus supplies essential minerals from the soil to the plant.

• Marine Biomes

  • Corals found in shallower waters have a mutually symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic unicellular algae, which provides corals with the majority of the nutrition and the energy they require.
  • The waters are nutritionally poor; therefore, without this mutualism, it would not be possible for large corals to grow.

• Rules of Probability for Mendelian Inheritance

  • The sum rule is applied when considering two mutually-exclusive outcomes that can result from more than one pathway.
  • It states that the probability of the occurrence of one event or the other, of two mutually-exclusive events, is the sum of their individual probabilities.

• Evolution of Gymnosperms

  • The scorpionflies probably engaged in pollination mutualisms with gymnosperms, long before the similar and independent coevolution of nectar-feeding insects on angiosperms.

• The Role of Species within Communities

  • Corals themselves are not photosynthetic, but harbor symbionts within their body tissues (dinoflagellates called zooxanthellae) that perform photosynthesis; this is another example of a mutualism.