Mycorrhizal Associations and Trophic Modes in Coexisting Orchids: An Ecological Continuum between Auto- and Mixotrophy.

ABSTRACT: Two distinct nutritional syndromes have been described in temperate green orchids. Most orchids form mycorrhizas with rhizoctonia fungi and are considered autotrophic. Some orchids, however, associate with fungi that simultaneously form ectomycorrhizas with surrounding trees and derive their carbon from these fungi. This evolutionarily derived condition has been called mixotrophy or partial mycoheterotrophy and is characterized by ¹³C enrichment and high N content. Although it has been suggested that the two major nutritional syndromes are clearly distinct and tightly linked to the composition of mycorrhizal communities, recent studies have challenged this assumption. Here, we investigated whether mycorrhizal communities and nutritional syndromes differed between seven green orc

SUBMITTER: Jacquemyn H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5583604 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature