Three helmet-orchid species share abundant fungi of Serendipitaceae regardless of altitude

Botany, Ahead of Print.
The tiny terrestrial orchids (plant height less than 8 cm) in the genus Corybas dependent on mycorrhizal fungal (OMF) partners for seed germination and seedling development. The OMF community of the Corybas remains poorly understood, although the relevant knowledge is very important for in situ and ex situ conservation of these orchids. In this study, we characterized OMF richness and compositions of three helmet-orchid species, i.e., Corybas geminigibbus, C. himalaicus, and C. shanlinshiensis, from their natural habitats by using Illumina sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 2 region. We found that fungal colonization was restricted in the rhizomes of the helmet-orchids instead of their tuberoids, and serendipitoid fungi were predominant, while tulasnelloid were absent in the three investigated Corybas species regardless of their altitude. The three Corybas species shared 27 serendipitoid operational taxonomic units that are different to those of their related orchids, the genera of Cyrtostylis and Stigmatodactylus. Corybas shanlinshiensis alone had a range of ectomycorrhizal fungi (mainly russuloid and thelephoroid) broader than C. himalaicus and C. geminigibbus. Our study provides new information about terrestrial orchid–fungi associations and may further contribute to orchid conservation.