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The rare terrestrial orchid Nervilia nipponica consistently associates with a single group of novel mycobionts

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Abstract

Nervilia nipponica is a tuberous terrestrial orchid that has a highly restricted distribution within common secondary evergreen forest communities in central and western Japan. Such a limited occurrence could be attributable to a requirement for a specific mycorrhizal fungus. As part of a broader examination of this hypothesis, we sought to elucidate the mycorrhizal associations of N. nipponica. Seventy-five samples of mycorrhizae from forty individuals were collected at ten populations throughout the orchid’s range in Japan. The identity of mycorrhizal fungi was investigated by sequencing two genetic markers (nrDNA ITS and nrDNA 28S LSU) and their relationships were assessed via phylogenetic analyses. The most frequently encountered mycorrhizal fungi consisted of four closely related Agaricomycetes that infected an average of 78.7 % of individuals per population. All four formed a discrete, monophyletic clade with low sequence homology to other fungi registered in GenBank, indicating that they belong to a novel, unnamed family. Two additional fungal groups, belonging to Ceratobasidiaceae and “Group B” Sebacinales, were found in 22.0 and 21.5 % of individuals per population, respectively. The orchid probably uses these two groups opportunistically, because they were found at lower densities and always in combination with the unidentified Agaricomycete. These findings suggest that a group of novel Agaricomycete fungi constitutes the dominant mycobiont of N. nipponica.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank H. Abe and S. Fujimori for technical support in the laboratory, and M. Kubo and M. Saito for field assistance. This study was conducted as a part of research project of Ministry of the Environment, Japan, and is financially supported by a Grants-in-Aid to Scientific Research from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (No. 21370038).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tsukuba Botanical Garden, National Museum of Nature and Science, Amakubo 4-1-1, Tsukuba, 305-0005, Japan

    Naofumi Nomura, Hidetaka Umata & Tomohisa Yukawa

  2. Botanical Gardens, Tohoku University, Kawauchi 12-1, Aobaku, Sendai, 980-0862, Japan

    Yuki Ogura-Tsujita

  3. Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Lam Kam Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong

    Stephan W. Gale

  4. Kochi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden, Godaisan 4200-6, Kochi, 781-8125, Japan

    Ayako Maeda

  5. Department of Botany, National Museum of Nature and Science, Amakubo 4-1-1, Tsukuba, 305-0005, Japan

    Kentaro Hosaka

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  1. Naofumi Nomura
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  2. Yuki Ogura-Tsujita
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  3. Stephan W. Gale
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  5. Hidetaka Umata
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  7. Tomohisa Yukawa
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Correspondence to Naofumi Nomura.

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N. Nomura and Y. Ogura-Tsujita contributed equally.

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Nomura, N., Ogura-Tsujita, Y., Gale, S.W. et al. The rare terrestrial orchid Nervilia nipponica consistently associates with a single group of novel mycobionts. J Plant Res 126, 613–623 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-013-0552-8

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