Identificación Morfológica y Molecular de Hongos Micorrízicos de Especies del Género Dracula y Epidendrum (ORCHIDACEAE)

For this investigation, mycorrhizal fungi were isolated from root samples belonging to the genera Dracula and Epidendrum ORCHIDACEAE, which were planted in commercial PDA medium. The isolated mycorrhizal fungi were morphologically identified by means of microscopic observation and molecular identification by sequencing the ITS region to know the fungal species that perform symbiosis with the orchids under study. Sequence analysis in computer software identified 19 mycorrhizal fungi of the Ascomiceto phylum, 1 mycorrhizal fungus of the phylum Basidiomycete and two taxonomically unclassified fungi identified as Fungal sp. Subsequently, cellulose degradation tests were carried out using the DNS method to quantify reducing sugars in order to know if the isolated species, through degradation of organic matter, could provide the necessary nutrients to the orchid species with which they are related; Although all the fungi showed a degrading behavior, the Cantharellales sp. as the strain with the greatest degrading capacity. It was shown that the relationship between orchid and mycorrhizal fungus is specific in some fungal species and very generalist in other species such as Trichoderma.