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Molecular evidence supports simultaneous association of the achlorophyllous orchid Chamaegastrodia inverta with ectomycorrhizal Ceratobasidiaceae and Russulaceae

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Microbiology, August 2020
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Title
Molecular evidence supports simultaneous association of the achlorophyllous orchid Chamaegastrodia inverta with ectomycorrhizal Ceratobasidiaceae and Russulaceae
Published in
BMC Microbiology, August 2020
DOI 10.1186/s12866-020-01906-4
Pubmed ID
Authors

Lorenzo Pecoraro, Xiao Wang, Giuseppe Venturella, Wenyuan Gao, Tingchi Wen, Yusufjon Gafforov, Vijai Kumar Gupta

Abstract

Achlorophyllous orchids are mycoheterotrophic plants, which lack photosynthetic ability and associate with fungi to acquire carbon from different environmental sources. In tropical latitudes, achlorophyllous forest orchids show a preference to establish mycorrhizal relationships with saprotrophic fungi. However, a few of them have been recently found to associate with ectomycorrhizal fungi and there is still much to be learned about the identity of fungi associated with tropical orchids. The present study focused on mycorrhizal diversity in the achlorophyllous orchid C. inverta, an endangered species, which is endemic to southern China. The aim of this work was to identify the main mycorrhizal partners of C. inverta in different plant life stages, by means of morphological and molecular methods. Microscopy showed that the roots of analysed C. inverta samples were extensively colonized by fungal hyphae forming pelotons in root cortical cells. Fungal ITS regions were amplified by polymerase chain reaction, from DNA extracted from fungal mycelia isolated from orchid root samples, as well as from total root DNA. Molecular sequencing and phylogenetic analyses showed that the investigated orchid primarily associated with ectomycorrhizal fungi belonging to a narrow clade within the family Ceratobasidiaceae, which was previously detected in a few fully mycoheterotrophic orchids and was also found to show ectomycorrhizal capability on trees and shrubs. Russulaceae fungal symbionts, showing high similarity with members of the ectomycorrhizal genus Russula, were also identified from the roots of C. inverta, at young seedling stage. Ascomycetous fungi including Chaetomium, Diaporthe, Leptodontidium, and Phomopsis genera, and zygomycetes in the genus Mortierella were obtained from orchid root isolated strains with unclear functional role. This study represents the first assessment of root fungal diversity in the rare, cryptic and narrowly distributed Chinese orchid C. inverta. Our results provide new insights on the spectrum of orchid-fungus symbiosis suggesting an unprecedented mixed association between the studied achlorophyllous forest orchid and ectomycorrhizal fungi belonging to Ceratobasidiaceae and Russulaceae. Ceratobasidioid fungi as dominant associates in the roots of C. inverta represent a new record of the rare association between the identified fungal group and fully mycoheterotrophic orchids in nature.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 24 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 24 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 4 17%
Student > Bachelor 4 17%
Student > Master 3 13%
Professor 2 8%
Lecturer > Senior Lecturer 1 4%
Other 4 17%
Unknown 6 25%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 7 29%
Environmental Science 5 21%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 4 17%
Unspecified 1 4%
Unknown 7 29%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 August 2020.
All research outputs
#18,737,061
of 23,225,652 outputs
Outputs from BMC Microbiology
#2,272
of 3,228 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#300,660
of 398,585 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Microbiology
#58
of 117 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,225,652 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 11th percentile – i.e., 11% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,228 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.1. This one is in the 15th percentile – i.e., 15% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 398,585 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 14th percentile – i.e., 14% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 117 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 30th percentile – i.e., 30% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.