Microbial Endophytes of Orchid Roots

The air spora of an orchid greenhouse

“…Penicillium species are also common in soil and decaying plant materials. A high percentage (27.5%) of the genera identified in the present study may be associated with the orchids, according to our isolations from the plants and literature data (Taubenhaus 1920;Currah et al 1997;Bayman and Tupac Otero 2006). A single fungus can behave as endophyte, mycorrhizal symbiont, pathogen or saprotroph.…”

“…Orchid mycorrhizal fungi play important roles both for seed germination and for plant survival. Some fungi recovered from necrotic orchid tissues were also present in air samples, many of them are known as pathogens or endophytes of orchids (Taubenhaus 1920;Currah et al 1997;Bayman and Tupac Otero 2006). Common plant pathogens like Botrytis, Fusarium spp., Myrothecium roridum and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides often cause epidemics in greenhouses.…”

“…PCR-based approaches to identify orchid endophytes are also limited, since such methods need specific PCR primers to preferentially amplify certain groups of fungi. Using more than one set of primers and varying amplification conditions may help reveal additional taxa (Bayman and Tupac Otero 2006). Several fungal species important from the point of view of orchid conservation may be remaining unexplored.…”

A mixotrophy is in question: new data on fungal community associated with photosynthetic terrestrial orchid Goodyera repens

“…Colletotrichum species were among the common fungal en do phytes in G. repens roots and rhizomes. These fungi are known as different tropical epiphytic orchid species RAF (Bayman & Otero 2006) and pathogens and endophytes in non-orchid plants. Stress-tolerance and growth promoting and productivity stimulating effects in host were shown for Colletotrichum.…”

“…Besides the mycobionts forming intracellular symbiotic interface within root cells, hyphal coils known as pelotons, orchids harbour a plethora of fungal root endophytes, sometimes referred as RAF (root-associated fungi), showing no specific intraradical structures (Bayman & Otero 2006, Kohout et al 2013. The interactions of such fungi with host plants are mostly unrevealed, but there are some reports on their plant-beneficial role due to ac ti vity against phytopathogenic microfungi and bacteria (Chen et al 2012, Zhao et al 2014.…”