Specific mycorrhizal associations involving the same fungal taxa in common and threatened Caladenia (Orchidaceae): implications for conservation.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

In orchid conservation, quantifying the specificity of mycorrhizal associations, and establishing which orchid species use the same fungal taxa, is important for sourcing suitable fungi for symbiotic propagation and selecting sites for conservation translocation. For Caladenia subgenus Calonema (Orchidaceae), which contains 58 threatened species, we ask the following questions. (1) How many taxa of Serendipita mycorrhizal fungi do threatened species of Caladenia associate with? (2) Do threatened Caladenia share orchid mycorrhizal fungi with common Caladenia? (3) How geographically widespread are mycorrhizal fungi associated with Caladenia?

Methods

Fungi were isolated from 127 Caladenia species followed by DNA sequencing of the internal transcibed spacer (

SUBMITTER: Reiter N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7539350 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature