Original images published in article: "Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal highways – What, how and why?"

Images of the formation of bacterial biofilms on the hyphae of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis in unsterile pot culture and under in-vitro conditions. (A–B) Scanning electron microscopy images showing bacterial cells and collapsed extracellular polymeric matrix on surface the hyphae of Rhizophagus irregularis extracted from a root-free compartment of a pot experiment described by Bukovská et al. (2018). The hyphae were fixed with 3% glutaraldehyde in cacodylate buffer, post-fixed with osmium tetroxide, dehydrated, then sputter-coated with 3 nm of platinum. (C–D) Bacterial biofilms developing along AM hyphae (R. irregularis) connecting root-free compartment filled with standard MSR medium and solidified with 0.3% Phytagel (Cranenbrouck et al., 2005; Rozmoš et al., 2022) and a hyphosphere compartment filled with γ-irradiated substrate inoculated by Paenibacillus sp.