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Diverse non-mycorrhizal fungal endophytes inhabiting an epiphytic, medicinal orchid (Dendrobium nobile): estimation and characterization

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Abstract

Although the terrestrial and temperate orchids–fungal biology have been largely explored, knowledge of tropical epiphytic orchids–fungus relationships, especially on the ecological roles imparted by non-mycorrhizal fungal endophytes, is less known. Exploitation of the endophytic fungal mycobiota residing in epiphytic orchid plants may be of great importance to further elucidate the fungal ecology in this special habitat as well as developing new approaches for orchid conversations. The composition of fungal endophytes associated with leaves, stems and roots of an epiphytic orchid (Dendrobium nobile), a famous Chinese traditional medicinal plant, was investigated. Microscopic imaging, culture-dependant method and molecular phylogeny were used to estimate their entity and diversity. Totally, there were 172 isolates, at least 14 fungal genera and 33 different morphospecies recovered from 288 samples. Ascomycetes, coelomycetes and hyphomycetes were three major fungal groups. There were higher overall colonization and isolation rates of endophytic fungi from leaves than from other tissues. Guignardia mangiferae was the dominant fungal species within leaves; while the endophytic Xylariaceae were frequently observed in all plant tissues; Colletotrichum, Phomopsis and Fusarium were also frequently observed. Phylogenetic analysis based on ITS gene revealed the high diversity of Xylariacea fungi and relatively diverse of non-Xylariacea fungi. Some potentially promising beneficial fungi such as Clonostachys rosea and Trichoderma chlorosporum were found in roots. This is the first report concerning above-ground and below-ground endophytic fungi community of an epiphytic medicinal orchid, suggesting the ubiquitous distribution of non-mycorrhizal fungal endophytes in orchid plants together with heterogeneity and tissue specificity of the endophyte assemblage. Possible physiological functions played by these fungal endophytes and their potential applications are also discussed briefly.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express appreciation to Professor Thomas Sieber (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) and Dr. Zhang C L (Zhejiang University, China) for carefully revising the manuscript and providing informative suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Fuyang, China

    Zhi-lin Yuan & Yi-cun Chen

  2. Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Zhi-lin Yuan

  3. Nabanhe National Nature Reserve, Xishuangbanna, Yunan Province, China

    Yun Yang

Authors
  1. Zhi-lin Yuan
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  2. Yi-cun Chen
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  3. Yun Yang
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Correspondence to Zhi-lin Yuan.

Electronic supplementary material

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11274_2008_9893_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Supplementary Fig. 1. Endophytic fungal conidia (left) and mycelium loop (right) intracellularly occurred in stem cells under light microcopy. (Bar = 50 μm, stem tissues were cross-sectioned with a razor blade and stained in 0.05% trypan blue) (PDF 613 kb)

11274_2008_9893_MOESM2_ESM.pdf

Supplementary Fig. 2. Morphological characteristics of endophytic Trichoderma chlorosporum (A, B) and Clonostachys rosea (C, D, E) on PDA medium. (Bar = 20 μm) (PDF 250 kb)

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Yuan, Zl., Chen, Yc. & Yang, Y. Diverse non-mycorrhizal fungal endophytes inhabiting an epiphytic, medicinal orchid (Dendrobium nobile): estimation and characterization. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 25, 295–303 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-008-9893-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-008-9893-1

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