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Recent studies have shown that M. elongata (M. elongata) isolated from Populus field sites has a dual endophyte–saprotroph lifestyle and is able to promote the growth of Populus. However, little is known about the host fidelity of M. elongata and whether M. elongata strains differ from one another in their ability to promote plant growth. Here, we compared the impacts of three Populus-associated M. elongata isolates (PMI 77, PMI 93, and PMI 624) on the growth of seven different crop species by measuring plant height, plant dry biomass, and leaf area. M. elongata isolates PMI 624 and PMI 93 increased the plant height, leaf area, and plant dry weight of Citrullus lanatus, Zea mays, Solanum lycopersicum, and Cucurbita to a much greater degree than PMI 77 (33.9% to 14.1%). No significant impacts were observed for any isolate on the growth of Abelmoschus esculentus or Glycine max. On the contrary, Glycine max significantly decreased in height by 30.6% after the inoculation of M. elongata PMI 77. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that M. elongata generally promoted metrics of the plant performance among a diverse set of importantly non-leguminous crop species. Future research on understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie strain and host variability is warranted. 

Summary Research on mycorrhizal symbiosis has been slowed by a lack of established study systems. To address this challenge, we have been developingSuillus, 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 manipulatingSuillusfungi 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 bySuillus, present a suite of protocols for working with the genus, and discuss howSuillusis emerging as an important model to elucidate the ecology and evolution of ECM interactions.