Tulsanella inquilina UAMH
7632
Orchid seeds require organic carbon acquired from mycorrhizal
fungi to germinate and develop. To better understand the genome
evolution of fungi that participate in the orchid mycorrhizal
symbiosis, we are sequencing a variety of fungal species that have
been demonstrated to germinate orchid seeds. Analyses of these
genomes will reveal patterns that may explain their ability to
interact with orchids.
Tulasnella inquilina UAMH 7632 was isolated from the
lateral roots of the orchid, Platanthera integrilabia in
Greenville County, South Carolina, USA. This fungus (previously
described as Epuhorhiza inquilina in Currah et al. 1997)
was effective at germinating seeds of the same species (P.
integrilabia) as reported in Zettler and McInnis (1992, 1994),
leading to the soil establishment of seedlings ex vitro.
We have also observed early stages of in vitro seed
germination in Peristylus (Platanthera)
holochila from Hawaii in an ongoing experiment. Since
being deposited into the
UAMH under cryopreservation shortly after its isolation and
description, this fungus has retained its effectiveness at
facilitating seed germination during the past 30 years. It is
noteworthy that seeds of P. integrilabia stored at -7
°C for 28 years germinated with this fungus after repeated
subculturing over roughly the same time period (Helmich et al.
2017- WOC22).
References:
- Currah, R.S.; Zettler, L.W. & McInnis, T.M. 1997. Epulorhiza inquilina sp. nov. from Platanthera (Orchidaceae) and a Key to Epulorhiza species. Mycotaxon 61: 338-342
- Zettler, L.W. and T.M. McInnis, Jr. 1992. Propagation of Platanthera integrilabia (Correll) Luer, an endangered terrestrial orchid, through symbiotic seed germination. Lindleyana 7:154-161.
- Zettler, L.W. and T.M. McInnis, Jr. 1994. Light enhancement of symbiotic seed germination and development of an endangered terrestrial orchid (Platanthera integrilabia). Plant Science 102:133-138.
- Helmich, R, EE Bahler, and LW Zettler. 2017. Viability of orchid endophytes in prolonged cool (4-6 °C) storage for conservation purposes. 22nd World Orchid Conference, Guayaquil, Ecuador (poster)