Suillus: an emerging model for the study of ectomycorrhizal ecology and evolution.

Research on mycorrhizal symbiosis has been slowed by a lack of established study systems. To address this challenge, we have been developing Suillus, a widespread ecologically and economically relevant fungal genus primarily associated with the plant family Pinaceae, into a model system for studying ectomycorrhizal (ECM) associations. Over the last decade, we have compiled extensive genomic resources, culture libraries, a phenotype database, and protocols for manipulating Suillus fungi with and without their tree partners. Our efforts have already resulted in a large number of publicly available genomes, transcriptomes, and respective annotations, as well as advances in our understanding of mycorrhizal partner specificity and host communication, fungal and plant nutrition, environmental adaptation, soil nutrient cycling, interspecific competition, and biological invasions. Here, we highlight the most significant recent findings enabled by Suillus, present a suite of protocols for working with the genus, and discuss how Suillus is emerging as an important model to elucidate the ecology and evolution of ECM interactions.

Fungal Fight Club: phylogeny and growth rate predict competitive outcomes among ectomycorrhizal fungi.

Ectomycorrhizal fungi are among the most prevalent fungal partners of plants and can constitute up to one-third of forest microbial biomass. As mutualistic partners that supply nutrients, water, and pathogen defense, these fungi impact host plant health and biogeochemical cycling. Ectomycorrhizal fungi are also extremely diverse, and the community of fungal partners on a single plant host can consist of dozens of individuals. However, the factors that govern competition and coexistence within these communities are still poorly understood. In this study, we used in vitro competitive assays between five ectomycorrhizal fungal strains to examine how competition and pH affect fungal growth. We also tested the ability of evolutionary history to predict the outcomes of fungal competition. We found that the effects of pH and competition on fungal performance varied extensively, with changes in growth media pH sometimes reversing competitive outcomes. Furthermore, when comparing the use of phylogenetic distance and growth rate in predicting competitive outcomes, we found that both methods worked equally well. Our study further highlights the complexity of ectomycorrhizal fungal competition and the importance of considering phylogenetic distance, ecologically relevant traits, and environmental conditions in predicting the outcomes of these interactions.

Sitting through the emptiness.

This article explores clinical encounters with experiences of the 'empty ego' which arise from early relational trauma. The ego's emptiness is held in repetitious complexes and arises out of affectively charged experiences between self and other which remain split-off from awareness. This kind of consciousness is viewed as dualistic, separating non-dual subjectivity from its dualistic objects of consciousness. In contrast, what I am calling healing void states of non-dualistic consciousness, when admitted to awareness, allow the individual to dis-identify from the traumatizing representations of self and other through an experience of non-duality. In contrast to an objectified, dualistic emptiness of the ego, healing void states come about in moments of non-dual, unified consciousness. These states occur in the ego-Self relationship by linking the ego's dualistic awareness in chronic subject/object splits to ones of non-dual pure consciousness. The healing void state is always incipiently present and potentially able to bridge the ego-Self connection in bogged-down treatment. The paper explores potential integrations with non-dual models of consciousness such as Vedantic and Kashmir Shaivism, among other mystical traditions. A combined Vedantic-Jungian understanding can provide a transcendent bridge that integrates Eastern concepts of non-duality in treating emptiness.

Cet article explore des rencontres cliniques avec des expériences d'« ego vide ¼ qui surviennent à partir de traumatismes relationnels précoces. Le vide de l'ego est maintenu dans des complexes répétitifs et survient à partir d'expériences chargées affectivement entre soi et l'autre, et qui restent clivées et inaccessibles à la conscience. Ce mode de conscience est envisagé comme dualiste, séparant la subjectivité non-duelle de ses objets de conscience dualistes. Par contraste, la guérison d'états de vide de la conscience non-dualistique, quand elle est admise à la conscience, permet à la personne de se dés-identifier de représentations traumatiques de soi et de l'autre, au travers d'une expérience de non-dualité. Par contraste avec un vide objectivé et dualiste de l'ego, la guérison d'états de vide advient dans des moments de conscience non-duelle, unifiée. Ces états se produisent dans la relation ego-Soi en reliant la conscience dualiste de l'ego dans des clivages chroniques sujet/objet avec des états de pure conscience non-duelle. L'état de guérison du vide est toujours présent de manière embryonnaire et est potentiellement capable de restaurer la passerelle du lien ego-Soi dans une cure qui piétine. L'article explore de potentielles intégrations avec des modèles de conscience non-dualistes comme le Shaivisme Védantique et du Cachemire, au sein d'autres traditions mystiques. Une compréhension combinée du Védanta et de la psychologie Jungienne peut offrir un pont transcendant qui intègre les concepts orientaux de non-dualité dans le traitement des sentiments de vide.

El presente artículo explora encuentros clínicos con experiencias de 'vació del ego' que emergen del trauma relacional temprano. La vacuidad del ego es sostenida en complejos repetitivos y emerge a partir de experiencias con alta carga emocional entre el self y otro, las cuales permanecen disociadas de la consciencia. Esta forma de consciencia es considerada como dualista, separando una subjetividad no-dual de sus objetos dualistas de consciencia. En contraposición, estados sanadores de vacío de consciencia no-dualista, cuando devienen conscientes, permiten al individuo des-identificarse de representaciones traumáticas del self y otro, a través de una experiencia de no-dualidad. A diferencia de un estado de vacío objetivado y dual del ego, estados de vacío sanadores se presentan en momentos de consciencia unitiva, no-dual. Estos estados ocurren en la relación ego-Self al vincular las disociaciones crónicas sujeto-objeto correspondientes a la percepción dualista del ego, a aquellas de consciencia pura no-dual. El estado sanador de vacío está siempre incipientemente presente y es potencialmente capaz de unir la conexión ego-Self en un tratamiento que se encuentra estancado. El trabajo presenta integraciones posibles con modelos de consciencia no-duales como el Shivaísmo Vedanta y de Cachemira, entre otras tradiciones místicas. Una comprensión combinada Vedanta-Junguiana puede proveer un puente trascendente que integre conceptos Orientales de no-dualidad en el tratamiento del vacío interior.

"Oh, that I might be parted from my body": mirror perplexity and the nonrelational self.

Psychoanalytic models have a commonly held view of necessary and accurate mirroring in the dialectic of emergent and already formed aspects of the self. Mirroring-perplexity, however, is a cognitive and affective state found in a group of patients for whom reflective mirroring results in a dissociative rather than a unifying experience of body and mind. A review of the myth of Narcissus reveals that mirroring requires a relational mediation of self and mirror image through another. This ontological organization affectively links the simultaneous sense of being in the body and in the reflected image after experiencing a state of dyadic union. Clinical vignettes illustrate the effects of missing maternal relational response initially made evident in unmirrored self-representations in the transference.