Tulasnella sp. 425 growing in the lab. [Photo credit: Dr. Lawrence Zettler]

Tulasnella sp. 425

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 sp. 425 was isolated from the roots of the orchid Platanthera paramoena in Fayette County, Illinois, USA. There are few reports of orchid endophytes isolated from this Platanthera species anywhere in North America. It is also one of the few Tulasnella fungi isolated from orchids inhabiting tallgrass prairies to date (Thixton et al. 2020). This fungus was obtained from an unusually diverse tallgrass prairie site that apparently was never tilled.