Mycorrhizal helper bacterium that enhances ectomycorrhizal establishment

Pseudomonas fluorescens BBc6R8M. This strain was isolated from a sporocarp of Laccaria bicolor strain S238N in a Douglas fir plantation. It is a Mycorrhiza Helper Bacterium (MHB) that enhances ectomycorrhizal establishment resulting from fungal-bacterial interactions where the bacteria improve the survival and the growth of their fungal partner. Seedlings inoculated with this organism show improved growth, and therefore, this organism is of interest in agriculture. This strain is able to alter the transcriptome of its fungal partner Laccaria bicolor and is therefore being investigated for the tripartite bacterial-fungal-tree symbiotic interactions.