Dr. Stephen P. Bentivenga, Ph.D

Professional and Research Interests:

Fungi are everywhere. When most people hear the word "fungus", they think of athlete's foot or something nasty growing in the refrigerator. The negative connotation of fungi is partially due to the tremendous amount of human suffering and economic loss caused by crop plant diseases and postharvest rots. However, the vast majority of fungi are beneficial to humans. They decompose organic matter and recycle nutrients. Fungi are utilized by humans to bake bread, brew beer, and produce many industrially and medicinally important compounds. Fungi have a fascinating lifestyle which enables them to grow through their substrate, secreting an enormous array of enzymes to digest their meals outside their bodies. Neither plant nor animal, they are of another realm altogether. Long considered to be allied to the plants, the weight of evidence now indicates they are more closely related to animals. I'm interested in all aspects of plant-fungal interactions, both pathogenic and mutualistic. My specific expertise is in symbiotic soil fungi called mycorrhizal fungi. These fungi form a mutualistic association with many plant species by colonizing the roots, and assisting in nutrient acquisition. There are different types of mycorrhizal fungi, and I study a group called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) which are placed in their own phylum, the Glomeromycota. The Phylum Glomeromycota consists of only about 180 species, yet they colonize an estimated 80% of all plant species. I am interested in various aspects of the diversity of these fungi.

Specific questions I'm pursuing include: What accounts for the diversity of glomalean fungi? Is a diverse population of mycorrhizal fungi beneficial for plant growth? How do different fungal genotypes interact to help (or hinder) a plant? Is there a relationship between fungal diversity and plant diversity? The mycorrhizal symbiosis is ancient, having evolved some 400 million years ago (shortly after plants colonized land). I am interested in the systematics of AM fungi, and use ultrastructural, morphological, and molecular characters to help elucidate phylogenetic relationships within the phylum.  I am also curious about the potential ancestors of AM fungi, since they are quite different from all other extant fungal groups.  Lastly, I consider myself a soil ecologist and I am also interested in the role that AM fungi play in native ecosystems. For example, many tallgrass prairie plants are obligately mycorrhizal in low nutrient soils.  I am investigating the potential role of AM fungi in prairie revegetation efforts.  Funding to support my research has come from a variety of sources, including the National Science Foundation. 

Scanning electron micrograph of Acaulospora tuberculata VZ103A, showing details of the spore wall layers. 

Representative Publications:

• Ji, B., Bentivenga, S.P., and Casper, B.B.  2010.  Evidence for ecological matching of whole AM fungal communities to the local plant-soil environment.  Ecology (in press).  doi: 10.1890/09-1451
• Casper, B.B., Bentivenga, S.P., Ji, B., Doherty, J.H., Edenborn, J.M., and Gustafson, D.J.  2008.  Plant-soil feedback: Testing the generality with the same grasses in Serpentine and prairie soils.  Ecology 89: 2154-2164.   
• Morton, J.B., Koske, R.E., Stürmer, S.L. and Bentivenga, S.P.  2005.  Mutualistic arbuscular endomycorrhizal fungi.  pp. 317-336,  In: Bioiversity of Fungi: Inventory and Monitoring Methods.  Mueller, G.M., G.F. Bills, and M.S. Foster, eds.  Elsevier Academic Press, Boston, MA.   
• Bentivenga, S. P. and Abler, S.W.  2003.  Potential role of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi in the restoration of an abandoned surface mine site in Wisconsin.  The Michigan Botanist 42: 155-162
• Bentivenga, S.P. and Morton, J.B.  1995.  A monograph of the genus Gigaspora, incorporating developmental patterns of morphological characters.  Mycologia 87: 720-732.  
  

Abstracts (since 2005):

• Bentivenga, S.P., T.K. A. Kumar, L. Kumar, G.J. Celio, R.W. Roberson, and D.J. McLaughlin.  2009.  Cellular organization in germ tube tips of the Glomeromycota: the taming of Gigaspora.  Abstracts of the Mycological Society of America Conference, Snowbird, UT. 
• Bentivenga, S.P., T.K. A. Kumar, L. Kumar, G.J. Celio, R.W. Roberson, and D.J. McLaughlin.  2009.  Cellular organization in germ tube tips of Gigaspora.  Abstracts of the 6th International Conference on Mycorrhiza, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.  p. 34. 
•  Doherty, J.H., Bentivenga, S.P., and Casper, B.B.  2008.  Do soil factors shape arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities in a serpentine grassland?  93rd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Milwaukee, WI. 
• Henning, J.H., Bentivenga, S.P., Lee, T., and Weiher, W.  2008.  Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community structure in a manipulated prairie.  93rd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Milwaukee, WI. 
• Leinhauser, J., Doherty, J.H., Bentivenga, S.P., and Casper, B.B.  2008.  Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities across a heavy metal contamination gradient and their relationships with indigenous Deschampsia flexuosa.  93rd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Milwaukee, WI. 
• Loehr, S.M. and Bentivenga, S.P.  2008.  Impact of elevated carbon dioxide and ozone on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities in an aspen forest.  93rd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Milwaukee, WI. 
• Stefanski, A., Lee, T., Weiher, E., and Bentivenga, S.P.  2008.  The effects of reduced mycorrhizae and soil N availability on plant growth and native vs. non-native species in a prairie restoration experiment.  93rd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Milwaukee, WI. 
• Weiher, E., Bunton, T., Stefanski, A., Anderson, J., Freund, D., Bentivenga, S.P, and Lee, T.  2008.  Diversity, functional traits, and ecosystem processes: Cause or coincidence?  93rd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Milwaukee, WI. 
• Casper, B.B., Ji, B. and Bentivenga, S.P.  2007.  Arbuscular mycorrhizal communities are ecologically matched to plants and soils.  92^nd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA. 
• Haider, K., Fell, M., Freund, D., Stefanski, A., Bunton, T., Bentivenga, S., Lee, T.D., and Weiher, E.  2007.  The effects of planting mixture, mycorrhizal fungi, and nitrogen on grassland restoration: native vs. non-native richness, functional composition, and floristic quality.  92^nd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA. 
• Fell, M., Lee, T.D., Bentivenga, S.P., Weiher, E.  2007.  The effects of suppressed mycorrhizal fungi and increased nitrogen on above- and belowground competition intensity in two native plant species during grassland restoration.  92^nd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA. 
• Ji, B.  Kennedy, S., Casper, B.B. and Bentivenga, S.P.  2007.  Intraspecific variation within AM fungal populations associated with different host plant species.  92^nd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA. 
• Lee,T.D., Stefanski, A., Bentivenga, S., Weiher, E.  2007.  Leaf level gas exchange is modulated by the effects of mycorrhizae on aboveground production and soil moisture in a prairie restoration experiment.  92^nd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA. 
• Stefanski, A., Fell, M., Dahlheimer, C. Freund, D., Bentivenga, S., Lee, T., and Weiher, E.  2007.  An experimental evaluation of the roles of dispersal history, mycorrhizal fungi, and nitrogen on grassland assembly: Diversity, plant community composition, and functional community parameters.  92^nd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA. 
• Thomas, D., Dahlheimer, C.I., Haider, K., Fell, M., Bentivenga, S., Lee, T.D., and Weiher, E.  2007.  Linkages between patterns of community assembly and interactions in an experimental grassland.  92^nd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA.
• ·Weiher, E.  Lee, T.D.,   Bentivenga, S.P.  2007.  Tactics, opportunities, and obstacles of trait-based approaches to the restoration of ecological structure and function.  92^nd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA. 
• Ji, B., Casper, B.B. and Bentivenga., S.P.  2006.  Negative plant/soil feedback and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in grasslands.  91^st Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Nashville, TN. 
• Badtke, D.L. and Bentivenga, S.P.  2005.  An examination of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities associated with common beachgrass (Ammophila breviligulata) in successional sand dunes.  Soil Ecology Society, Argonne, IL. 
• Bentivenga, S.P and Badtke, D.L.  2005.  Successional changes in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities may occur in the absence of host species variation.  90^th Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Montréal, Quebec. 
• Ji, B., Doherty, J.H., Bentivenga, S.P. and Casper, B.B..  2005.  Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities in Eastern U.S. serpentine soils and Midwestern U.S. prairie. 90^th Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Montréal, Quebec. 

Recent Students in My Lab:

• Jeremiah Henning, M.S. 2010
• Casey Robers, B.S. (expected, Dec. 2010)
• Stephanie Loehr, B.S. 2008 (presently at Penn State University)
• Alexsia Richards, B.S. 2007 (presently at Milwaukee Medical College)

Mycological and Mycorrhizal Links of Interest:

• International Culture Collection of Arbuscular and VA Mycorrhizal Fungi (INVAM)
• The International Bank for the Glomeromycota
• Mycorrhiza Information Exchange
  
• Artur Schuessler’s Glomeromycoton Phylogeny Site
  
• Januz Blaszkowski’s Glomeromycotan Taxonomy Site
  
• Glomeromycota at the Tree of Life (by Dirk Redecker) 
• Mycological Society of America
  
• Wisconsin Mycological Society