Interaction With Fungi Promotes the Accumulation of Specific Defense Molecules in Orchid Tubers and May Increase the Value of Tubers for Biotechnological and Medicinal Applications: The Case Study of Interaction Between Dactylorhiza sp. and Tulasnella calospora.

ABSTRACT: Terrestrial orchids can form tubers, organs modified to store energy reserves. Tubers are an attractive source of nutrients, and salep, a flour made from dried orchid tubers, is the source of traditional beverages. Tubers also contain valuable secondary metabolites and are used in traditional medicine. The extensive harvest of wild orchids is endangering their populations in nature; however, orchids can be cultivated and tubers mass-produced. This work illustrates the importance of plant-fungus interaction in shaping the content of orchid tubers in vitro. Orchid plants of Dactylorhiza sp. grown in asymbiotic culture were inoculated with a fungal isolate from Tulasnella calospora group and, after 3 months of co-cultivation, tubers were analyzed. The fungus adopted the s

SUBMITTER: Hampejsova R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9282861 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature