Abstract
Some orchid species are present as epiphytes and lithophytes in the same habitat, but little is known about the differences of their mycorrhizal fungal communities. We used Coelogyne viscosa, which occurs both as an epiphyte and a lithophyte, as a study system to investigate orchid mycorrhizal fungal communities in lithophytes and epiphytes in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve (Yunnan Province, China). Twenty-three fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) from 18 sampling sites were identified. Results indicated that mycorrhizal fungal community composition was different between epi- and lithophytes. When we analyzed the Tulasnellaceae and Sebacinales communities separately, we found that the Sebacinales fungal communities were significantly different in the two growth habitats, but the Tulasnellaceae fungal communities were not. Our results provide evidence for distinct orchid mycorrhiza fungal communities depending on the growth habitat of the orchid. Consistent with some recent investigations of mycorrhizal fungus community composition, this study suggests that for one orchid, growth habitat affects mycorrhizal symbioses.
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Acknowledgments
This research was financially supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (No. 81274197). We thank Randy Molina and the two anonymous referees for the useful comments on this manuscript.
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Appendix S1
Spatial distribution of nine sampling sites for lithophytic and epiphytic Coelogyne viscosa, respectively, in a 70 × 60 m plot sampled in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. (DOC 25 kb)
Appendix S2
Maximum-likelihood trees constructed with operational taxonomic unit (OTU) sequences from three fungal taxa, that is, (a) Tulasnellaceae (b) Sebacinales and (c) Ceratobasidiaceae observed in C. viscosa roots collected from lithophytic and epiphytic habitats. Tulasnellaceae trees (a) were rooted Tulasnella violea (GenBank accession number DQ520097). Sebacinaceae (b) and Ceratobasidiaceae (c) were rooted with Sebacina allantoidea (GenBank accession number AF490396) and Botryobasidium subcoronatum (GenBank accession number DQ200924), respectively. Bootstrap values <50 are not shown above nodes. Scale bar in the figure represents estimated number of DNA substitutions per site. Sequences downloaded from GenBank are shown with accession numbers. OTU sequences from this study are shown in Blue. E, epiphytic; L, lithophytic; E + L means this OTU was found in both epiphytic and lithophytic orchids. (DOC 32 kb)
Appendix S3
Frequency distribution of identified operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in epiphytes and lithophytes of Coelogyne viscosa. (a) All plants; (b) Lithophytes only; (c) Epiphytes only. (DOC 24 kb)
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Xing, X., Gai, X., Liu, Q. et al. Mycorrhizal fungal diversity and community composition in a lithophytic and epiphytic orchid. Mycorrhiza 25, 289–296 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-014-0612-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-014-0612-5