Mycorrhizal fungi can build networks, move nutrients, and sustain themselves for over a year without being connected to a plant root — they just need a fatty acid as fuel. This overturns the assumption that these fungi are wholly dependent on their plant partners to function.
1
When fed myristic acid (a fatty acid) without any plant host, AM fungal networks grew 10 times longer and covered up to 4 times more area than unfed controls.
2
Cytoplasmic flow speeds increased ~50% with myristic acid, with rare fast bursts reaching 10–30 µm/s; fluorescently tagged lipid flows averaged 3 µm/s and were unaffected by the carbon source.
3
Active cytoplasmic flows were detectable in asymbiotic fungal hyphae even one year after myristic acid application, demonstrating long-term autonomous viability.
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