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Analysis of fungal diversity in Orchis tridentata Scopoli

  • Research Article
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Central European Journal of Biology

Abstract

We have assessed the identities of fungi associated with Orchis tridentata, an endangered orchid species growing in open woodland and poor grassland of Central and Southern Europe. Fungal diversity in ten O. tridentata adult individuals collected in two protected areas of Central Italy was analysed by means of morphological and molecular methods. Sequencing of the cloned ITS fungal inserts corresponding to the dominant PCR products obtained from amplification of total root DNA with ITS1F and ITS4 primers revealed a variety of fungal species occurring in O. tridentata roots. Among them, members of the basidiomycete families Ceratobasidiaceae, Tulasnellaceae and Hymenogastraceae were recovered, together with ascomycetes belonging to Leptodontidium and Terfezia. The implications of these results in the understanding of O. tridentata biology and for the conservation of this threatened orchid species are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, 51014, Tartu, Estonia

    Lorenzo Pecoraro & Tiiu Kull

  2. Department of Plant Biology, University of Torino, 10125, Torino, Italy

    Mariangela Girlanda & Silvia Perotto

  3. Department of Environmental Sciences “G. Sarfatti”, University of Siena, 53100, Siena, Italy

    Claudia Perini

Authors
  1. Lorenzo Pecoraro
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  2. Mariangela Girlanda
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  3. Tiiu Kull
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  4. Claudia Perini
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  5. Silvia Perotto
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Correspondence to Lorenzo Pecoraro.

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Pecoraro, L., Girlanda, M., Kull, T. et al. Analysis of fungal diversity in Orchis tridentata Scopoli. cent.eur.j.biol. 7, 850–857 (2012). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-012-0071-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-012-0071-y

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